An Open Letter to Ted Poe, Texas Representative

Dear Mr. Poe, I tried to reply to the email sent to me, but it goes to an unattended mailbox. Hmmm.
At the bottom of the automated response was a link to a different site... unfortunately, that link says "Request URL is not found" Another thing that makes me go Hmmm.  So I'm am posting your original email to me, and my reply, surrounded by the automatic reply message I got back. Chances you'll be reading this are fairly low. But hopefully a few other Texans googling Ted Poe might.
*******************************************
This mailbox is unattended.

Thank you for your correspondence, however to better serve the constituents of the 2nd District, I have established a contact form on my web site. Please go to: http://poe.house.gov/contact/contactform.htm

If you are contacting my office regarding casework or if your request is timely and requires an immediate response, please call one of my offices: Residents of Harris County, please call: 281-446-0242; Residents of Jefferson and Liberty Counties, please call: 409-212-1997; For my Washington, DC office, please call: 202-225-6565.

Sincerely,

Ted Poe
Member of Congress
Texas

-----Original Message-----
From: "Jo Leland"
Sent: 12/6/2011 12:27:41 PM
To: "Congressman Ted Poe" <TX02IMA@mail.house.gov>
Cc:
Subject: Re: A message from the office of Congressman Ted Poe

I don't agree with much of what you are suggesting. Again, it favors those with means over middle class and lower class American citizens. If I have to pay 23% sales tax on top of 8.25% state sales tax that reduces my buying power by 33 cents per dollar. With no disrespect intended, as a retired teacher, with insurance and medical costs that keeping get higher, and all of the impacts of the recent wall street frauds that as yet seem to go unpunished, that seems ridiculous.

While it is true that my one vote is not enough to remove a Representative from office, I will clearly never be able to vote for your return to Congress. I was pleased and proud to vote for you the first time, as I didn't really understand your positions clearly. The second time I was beginning to have doubts, but as a former teacher I believed that sharing alternative opinions with you was possibly a way to let you know your constituents don't all agree with them, and my civic duty. Now, it seems clear to me, that our visions of the future of America are so different, that it would be irresponsible for me to give you my support. I worked with children, while you worked as a judge, with the results of disenfranchised, uneducated adults among the many types of criminals.

You talk of individuals cheating the tax system, and if by that you are referring to corporations that don't pay their fair share of taxes, I agree. If you are talking about individual citizens, and you mean the 1% of the population that doesn't pay their fair share, I agree. Tax Preparation companies give JOBS to people and reassurance to customers, do you really want to do away with them? I trust our tax preparer fair more than you to protect my families welfare.

http://cotton-eyed-jo.blogspot.com/ http://www.etsy.com/shop/cottoneyedjo


________________________________
From: Congressman Ted Poe <tx02reply@mail.house.gov>
To: elegantdragonfly@yahoo.com
Sent: Tuesday, December 6, 2011 8:20 AM
Subject: A message from the office of Congressman Ted Poe

[http://poe.house.gov/images/poe_newsheader.png]


Dear Mrs. Leland :

Thank you for you for contacting me regarding taxes. I appreciate having the benefit of your views on this important issue.

Our tax system is broken. It is now so complicated that getting help for your taxes is a multi-billion dollar business. I believe we need to completely overhaul the system, close loopholes, and reduce the burden that we put on our taxpayers every April. There are many proposals out there, and I am open to new ideas that accomplish the goals stated above. One of those proposals is the Fair Tax Act of 2011, of which I am a cosponsor. The bill would replace the individual income tax, the corporate income tax, all payroll taxes, the self-employment tax, and the estate and gift taxes with a 23% national retail sales tax. We would no longer have the need for the IRS or a serious problem with people cheating the system and not paying their fair share. People simply would pay their taxes every time they purchased a good. But, there are many other good ideas as well. The important thing is that we reform our tax system and do it soon. Whatever tax vehicle we end up adopting, it n! eeds to result in a simpler, less burdensome tax code for households and small businesses.

I also believe we need to drastically cut the corporate income tax. At a combined government rate of 40%, the U.S. has the second highest corporate income tax rate in the world. This means that businesses are more likely to move to other countries where they will not be taxed as much as they are here. The result is we lose our jobs and become less competitive in the world market. We have to stop this trend and restore America to the business-friendly climate it once was. The U.S. corporate tax rate should be set at or below the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average of 26% to eliminate the incentive to move businesses and jobs overseas.

Thank you again for contacting me with your thoughts. Your continued input is important to me. For additional information regarding current legislation and my representation of the 2 nd District, please refer to my website: poe.house.gov. While you are visiting the website, be sure to sign up for my electronic newsletter.


If you are contacting the Office of Congressman Poe regarding casework or if your request is timely and requires an immediate response, please call one of my offices: Residents of Harris County, please call: 281-446-0242; Residents of Jefferson and Liberty Counties, please call: 409-212-1997; For my Washington, DC office, please call: 202-225-6565.

*******************************************************