My name is Sherri Welsh; I am the wife of Congressional Candidate Barry Welsh of Indiana’s 6th District.
I have been actively participating in my husband’s Congressional race opposing Mike Pence – this is my first Diary. The contents of this diary have not been vetted through my husband’s press secretary or my husband or for that matter anyone else. This diary is affording me the opportunity to speak my mind and express some of the things I see, hear and read in today’s issues and commentaries as well as being connected to my husband’s, Barry Welsh for Congress, campaign.
More…
I have had a large amount of exposure to the people, places and types of circumstances that lead to people questioning our current political administration on all levels; municipal, county, state and national.
What do we have to do? What is our role in making Change really happen?
This is the question I would like an honest answer to, the number of people commenting, lamenting, pleading for change is very evident, but what do we need to do to create change in our Political landscape?
Are we finding out what our current representatives are doing for us?
Are we trying to understand what impact to us our representatives have?
Are we in agreement with our political representatives?
If not, what are we doing to make a change?
Are we finding out if there are alternatives and what they will do for us?
Are we sharing what we find in and outside our realm of influence?
Are we helping?
Are we volunteering?
Are we donating funds, “in-kind services”?
Are we donating funds? YES funding is paramount if we want our choice to be recognized and known to constituents in our districts! We need $$$$ in order to travel distances to make sure that all counties, cities, towns and villages are aware of the alternative candidates. By the way, my husband Barry Welsh is a candidate in a district that encompasses 19 counties – that is 19 counties! We need $$$$ to pay for the flyers to tell people what the alternative candidate is pledging to do for the people of the district. We need $$$$ for the radio, newspaper and TV ads that reach further markets within the district telling the truth about their current representation and telling the truth to the people of the district about my husband Barry Welsh the progressive alternative.
Volunteers, in our opinion, are always welcome and there can never be enough volunteers in a campaign – especially the size of our district.
We have a message, people, and it’s a very important time period to make sure that the message is able to be broadcast to the people! People are, will be and always have been ultimately more important than an individual corporation – the greater good must be served if we want a change for the better. There needs to be a change in the present administration, there needs to be a change in the mindset of those that are in power as those in power seem to be getting more powerful and the people represented are losing their rights, dignity and respect. One would think that the numbers would reflect this change, after all, there are more PEOPLE than there are REPRESENTATIVES. You’d think that if the majority of people want change – there would be change, we have people that unfortunately have become hopeless, overwhelmed, discouraged, apathetic and cynical to the hopes of our future. This great country of ours deserves better, from the local sheriff races to the presidential races. 1968 was a pivotal year – from what I’ve been able to read, hear and see it was an age where people took back their country and insisted on accountability to the people, the political process and to the world.
I think there are a lot of people that have been able to lend their voice to the cry for change – we now need people to lend themselves to action and this brings up the questions noted above.
If 250 people contribute $100 that equates to $25,000 to Barry Welsh’s Congressional campaign, this may be a small drop in the bucket for some candidates, but for my husband’s campaign this would be very empowering. This campaign may not need millions but it is a necessary tool in order to get the truth out on Mike Pence and the differences between where we are and where we want to go in the future. Invest in the future with Barry Welsh for Congress and donate today!
If you think that representation outside your district doesn’t effect you -Do you really want Mike Pence in Congress?!
.
Thank you for stopping by at BooMan’s Frog Pond
IDEAL FOR YEARS 2006 thru 2008 ::
Let’s make things happen, lots of succes in your Campaign and reaching the hearts of people of Indiana and everyone open to the voice: “We’ve had enough, Congress needs to change the course of America!”
“But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
Merci Oui, thank you for the welcome and as we agree Congress MUST make a change for America.
Sherri, thank you so much for your diary.
Please e-mail me. Thanks.
Susan: Thanks for your comment, and I will email.
Welcome to the blog world, Sherrie.
I appreciate you and Barry very much, and your campaign against Pence is correct, patriotic, and moral.
Thanks for the welcome HoosierBluezer
Welcome, Mrs Welsh. It is good to hear from a wife. Yes women are out three for the person who will take up the charge for them. It is those who do not care about women that we want to get rid of…
I am not from your state. In fact, we here in TN, are in a process of changing of the guard so to speak. We hopefully will keep our governor but the one taking the place of frist is not much better in my opinion, even tho he is considered a democrat.
I will send money to those who I feel have the guts to charge the others for the win. I propably will send some your way. NOt just yet tho. I have to get my $$$$$ all straight for me first, then shell it out to others. YOu all are definately on my list. I have bookmarked your husbands site. Thanks for coming here. Do not stop once you get started in the campaign. I know I would love to hear how it is going for you all. Hugs and good luck…
Brenda: Thanks for such kind thoughts – I hope all goes well in TN and we will keep you posted. 🙂
Welcome to the frog-pond! It’s great to have you here. You’ll find a wide variety of personlities and opinions here and strangely, not one of them wrong.
Thanks, I like your perspective – but a diverse variety of personalities is refreshing and certainly gives me a different viewpoint when looking at an issue. Sherri
I hope you stop in on a regular basis to get to know some folks. I can’t speak for others but I know there is a tremendous amount of frustration out here in us average folk that can be communicated in less than friendly terms. It’s been a series of hope for change followed by disillusionment in our leaders’ actions. That tension is a result of living the reality based consequences of decisions made by politicians who appear to be distanced from the same reality. Your participation here is appreciated and so is Barry’s in the possibility of an honest dialogue for real change.
Rumi:
Thank you for your comments, I know that both Barry and I want to have honest dialog as this is really the only way to make an effective change and we are average people too. We can’t keep sending rich people to congress and expect them to represent anyone other than other rich people. I will definately be back and I hope to get to know the bloggers here as well. I appreciate the frusteration and anger, we have been in similar situations after all, and I do understand the anxiety and seriousness of issues that we all face as “concequenses” due to decisions that have been made. The reality, in our local communities, is what is spurring us on in this race – if we sit by and watch – how can we expect a different outcome? Your words of encouragement are greatly appreciated.
I wish I had funds to donate to all the great candidates in each area that I support. I know it is vital to getting them elected. I will add a link on my blog for Barry and also another announcement about the official Welsh Gear at my site. We need more elected officials of Barry’s caliber across the nation.
refinish69 – thanks to your efforts and I especially appreciate your taking the time to read my diary! Sherri
Hi Sherri,
Thanks for the courage in jumping in here. I’ll take a stab at your question “what do we need to do to create change in our Political landscape?”
1. Something seems to happen to politicians once they are in DC. It seems that they forget whom they are supposed to be serving, and develop an addiction to “face time” in front of a TV Camera. I would like to see ALL House of Representatives commit to at least ONE real TOWN HALL type meeting monthly in their Districts.
a) Would be on a first come first serve basis, and charge no more then $5/person exempting the really lower income people. (Has the advantage of letting people “invest” in those representing them, regardless of their income level).
b) Congress person chooses the topic and has their communications staff send fliers to volunteers to post in their district. Volunteers can also find Public Building like a high school auditorium or gym which holds anywhere from 600 to 1000 people.
c) Congress person spends no more than 10-20 minutes introducing the topic then opens it up to the floor. Given the condition of our current public education it becomes part of a congress persons job to educate as well as elucidate.
d) Congress person stays to the very end, and mingles with people at refreshment table AFTER the meetings. In Northern New England, these meetings can range from 2 hours to 6 or 7 hours depending on the topic. Meeting is not over till most everyone has headed home.
This not only keeps congress person in touch with what his constituents are thinking, it also encourages more active voter participation and serves to expand consciousness of how a Democracy should work. It would also be nice if at least once a year the monthly meeting would include one of the States Senators.
2. I would like to see Congress and the Senate focus on two or three important issues, working together as a team. This reacting to the latest news cycle is wasted time and energy. If each Congressman, or even better, organizations like the DCCC, had an action type page then this would be the ideal scene.
a) The Action page would work somewhat like a Blog except not be so open ended. While Congress keeps their eye on the top priorities, the action page would alert constituents of actions they could and should take on issues. The action page would also serve as a logical coordination point for voter involvement.
Example, Chris Matthews called Dems terrorists and equated them to Osama Bin Laden. To put pressure that this type of behavior is unacceptable, average citizens can write letters to the editor, call and write the network, call and write the advertisers for the given show, and contact the FCC about licensing “The Peoples” airways for such unacceptable behavior on national airwaves.
b) The Action page would be interactive like a blog. Voters/constituents can insert ideas or actions they feel necessary. There can be nested pages to see what action who is taking by using their “blogger ID’s”. This way you won’t have everyone doing Letters to the editor, and all other actions not being addressed. It also serves to preserve privacy of constituents identities by having blogger or screen names.
c) Ideas, and their structure can be discussed before hand on Blogs like Boo Trib here, or Daily Kos, or any other Blogs. Blogs should be requested to link to the voters “action Page” from their Blogs.
d) One or more Congress staff people would be moderators for the Action page, deleting the childish or hateful screeds. These staffers should also have the authority to approve suggested voter ideas, or to write on the page, or send an email to individuals stating explicitly why something would not be a feasible idea. The voters/ constituents should have the direct phone numbers of these staffers in case there are questions on an action or a situation comes up which requires further direction. It is frankly so damn frustrating to have an intern answering the phone and saying in a semi bored voice “I’ll pass it on”, and it makes the voter feel as though their opinion is irrelevent.
a) The Civics/History classes could be modeled on the Marketing/ Business DECA classes and competitions. Grades 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12 would compete with each other. First locally, then countywide, then statewide, then by region of the country, with winners getting a week long trip to Washington DC courtesy of taxpayer money.
b) The national regional winners would be received by their congress person in their offices and feted accordingly. Staff can be delegated for tours or however the royal carpet is to be laid out for these students.
c) The “winners” of the Civic/History competitions would be honored in front of Congress, and receive the “Robert Byrd” award in a real session of congress. Younger kids can be excused at this point, with older kids being invited to witness the session. Having C-Span film this award, with copies being provided to the winning kids, and the local school districts would serve as an incentive to do it all even better for the next year. Congress people, including Senators, should plan to take these students to dinner one night during their stay in DC.
The point of the History/Civic classes would be to train future voters how to be involved, and will get current voters (the parents) involved because of their kids.
I hope this is what you were expecting. I’d be interested in what you and your husband think of the ideas submitted to you.
WOW! I knew there were very knowlegable and intellegent exchanges here on Booman but I LOVE the clarity and thoughtful responses to my questions. This is exactly what Barry and I are looking for, I want to see and understand more of what we can do to help. Thank you Grandma M for your insight and perspective of issues that we face everyday.
Barry is a strong proponent of fair, open and publically funded elections, we have to take the big corporate dollars out of decision making. Barry’s also a former teacher and an advocate of public education, he believes that the power to teach should be given back to the teachers and not directed by the administration toward a test.
Your comments on townhall meetings are a great idea and I agree with the open dialogue you support, but I know very well that Barry wouldn’t charge anyone to get in and participate in the discussions.
I also really like your action page idea on the DCCC for those to be not only informed of the current issues that the Representative is dealing with but how we as average people can participate in forming legislation.
Thank you for your very good input and I’ll be sure to make Barry aware of your excellent ideas.
Thanks, Sherri
Are we finding out what our current representatives are doing for us? YES
Are we trying to understand what impact to us our representatives have? YES
Are we in agreement with our political representatives?
If not, what are we doing to make a change? YES
Are we finding out if there are alternatives and what they will do for us? YES
Are we sharing what we find in and outside our realm of influence? YES
Are we helping? YES
Are we volunteering? YES!
Are we donating funds, “in-kind services”? YES Time and money.
Now… what are you doing? I’m a little harsh because you chastized a fellow blogger for being a blogger. You assumed that our words are all we have.
So campaign aside… as those are just words… and not even YOUR words but the words of your spouse.
What have you done to create change?
Do you protest?
Do you march?
Do you attend anti-recruiter rallies?
Were you in DC last September?
Have you held an Iraqi Veteran in your amrs?
Did you send phone cards to Walter Reed?
Have you been arrested for wearing a t-shirt or holding a sign asking Bush to step down?
Do you talk to homeless veterans?
Do you know anyone in the military?
How many hours do you volunteer at public education classrooms?
Do you volunteer read to children/adults?
How many hours did you put on your phone, life, speeches against the health SCARE in this country?
Have you seen a child waste away while waiting surgery for three months?
Have you made a difference ever in your life regarding LIFE AND DEATH ISSUES and have some “wife” tell you you just blog… you’re just words???
What have you done?
Janet:
I say this truthfully, I appreciate your candor and I also appreciate the time you took to read and comment on my diary.
As to your questions;
Yes I protest, yes I have marched, no I haven’t attended anti-recruiter rallies, and I was in DC in 2003 but haven’t been able afford to travel to DC lately. No I’ve not held an Iraqi Veteran in my arms but I’ve certainly shook hands, limbs and spoken with those that have been disabled due to their tour of duties in Iraq – in fact I met a republican disabled Iraqi Vet who asked for our help at one of Barry’s rallies. Yes I have sent phone cards to Walter Reed as well as other Military servicepersons actively on duty in Iraq. No I haven’t been arrested for wearing a T-shirt or sign asking Bush to step down. I’ve spoken to many homeless veterans, and my husband has personally driven them to the VFW to meet VA Vans to take them to the hospital. We have family that are in the Military and yes we know many that are currently in the Military. Barry is the Pastor of a church, do you really expect documentation of every hour of volunteerism that we do? Let’s be honest here. Both Barry and I have volunteered through out our lives to read to children and adults alike, Barry is a former teacher. How many hours do we spend on the phone, speeches and lives to speak out against the current Healthcare crisis???? EVERYDAY!!!!! If we aren’t having to visit those that are elderly and shifted from the hospital that they SHOULD be in to a nursing home because the hospital doesn’t want to be in a situation where they have NO HOPE of collecting on the hospital bill debt, Barry is an Emergency EMS Chaplin in our county – you bet, EVERYDAY!!!
And finally YES I have personally had my 3 year old have abscesses in her gums from poor health care and be admitted to the hospital after MORE than 3 months due to her teeth! Damn straight I’ve been there!!! Just because we don’t submit every detail about the sacrifices and the hardships we’ve endured due to lack of healthcare, doesn’t mean we haven’t experienced it – everyone UNFORTUNATELY has had this issue in some way personally effect their lives – my focus and the focus of my husband is to create solutions to pave the way for change.
Now, damnitJanet go to Mike Pence’s public blog and ask him these same questions, but you won’t find Mike Pence or his wife trying to engage the public. I’m really sorry if this comes off snippy or with ill feeling, that isn’t the intent of my comments. People are so used to candidates coming from some “separate pool” other than regular people and I guess we are one of the exceptions to that rule. If we were elitist candidates then your impressions and implications would be justified, but I at least hope this shows that we are regular people and my husband and I honestly believe that you can’t keep sending rich people to Congress and expect them to represent anyone other than rich people and that may be regardless of party.