You didn't give me anyone to reply to but you! Nevertheless.....

There are 2 (that's 'two') reasons that I wouldn't forward your attached email. First, with all it's different font sizes and colors it resembles a doctor's eye chart. Second, it doesn't appear to be accurate.

I did 1 (that's 'one') search on Google and ended up with this.....

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm

.....which may be equally inaccurate, but has the benefit of not appearing to be written by a frothing maniac. (I know that you're not a frothing maniac. You're just.....forwarding the froth onward.)

I'm under no illusions. I know that people of power and influence will always cut the best deal for themselves. Those who have much, want more. And they will
take more at the expense of those who have barely anything at all.

If we apply that truism to the world at large, we might see that
"The US consumes 25% of the world's energy with a share of global GDP at 22% and a share of the world population at 5%." - Wikipedia

Or that
"... 16 percent of the world's population is consuming some 80 percent of its natural resources. - As reported by CNN

If we did a little research, we might see that it's not just Congress that grabs more than it's share. As a nation, we are very greedy people!


"
Problems in Paradise

“If the levels of consumption that...the most affluent people enjoy today were replicated across even half of the roughly 9 billion people projected to be on the planet in 2050, the impact on our water supply, air quality, forests, climate, biological diversity, and human health would be severe.”

Today’s human economies are designed with little attention to the residuals of production and consumption. Among the most visible unintended byproducts of the current economic system are environmental problems like air and water pollution and landscape degradation. Nearly all the world’s ecosystems are shrinking to make way for humans and their homes, farms, malls, and factories. WWF’s Living Planet Index, which measures the health of forests, oceans, freshwater, and other natural systems, shows a 35 percent decline in Earth’s ecological health since 1970.

Environmental Impacts of Consumption
Calculations show that the planet has available 1.9 hectares of biologically productive land per person to supply resources and absorb wastes—yet the average person on Earth already uses 2.3 hectares worth. These “ecological footprints” range from the 9.7 hectares claimed by the average American to the 0.47 hectares used by the average Mozambican." - WorldWatch

However, I AM in favor of political activism, so 'screed' on. And get thee to a voting booth!

How many people will you forward this to?

I
may put it on my blog. (I'm not the only author, but you'll be able to pick out my posts.) I haven't posted there in many months. As I recall, my last post concerned hot dogs combined horribly with pasta. This will make a pleasant change. - Maggie (TiaHermanaMaggie)

ps: Oh, by the way, I've never written any of my opinions anonymously. The Offices of the former and the current Presidential Administrations can tell you that. But I must reciprocate the thoughtful offer you made during our last exchange. If you want me to expunge your name from this before I post it, I will happily do so.


Since I never received permission to use this person's name, I have expunged it.

- Maggie