Well, I went in this morning to visit with Sen. Gregg's representative this and to get the inside scoop on what the Senator thinks about the issues of the day. Audrey in the Selectmen's office was surprised that I came because, she said, "No one ever comes! He just sits in the corner, works on his laptop for an hour and leaves!"
Undeterred, I had my list of issues to ask about, and I introduced myself to a serious but friendly fellow by the name of Matt Leahy from Sen. Gregg's Concord office. I asked, naively as it turned out, about the Senator's thinking on the growing deficit, the war in Iraq, what steps we might take to ameliorate global warming, ways to make healthcare more available and affordable, immigration policy, etc. The answer to all questions was, "Talk to the Senator's Press Secretary in the Washington Office. She'll be glad to give you the Senator's position on all those matters."
The purpose of the visit, it turns out, was NOT to discuss major issues but rather to collect complaints about people's personal issues--the slow Medicare payment, the missing Social Security check, etc. So unless you had something like that to raise (and you consider your Senator your ombudsman in Washington), it wasn't worth much! And wouldn't be in the future! Chuck Bingaman
