Letter to Rep. J. Eldridge

[Guest Sgt. Joe]

I have drafted this to send to my Rep. I am also going to send it to my State Senator, and then FWIW change it up a bit to send to DC.

I am looking for ideas for improvement, and your thoughts overall about how it sounds. I am not taking sides on the eligibility issue with this letter but am simply asking for what I feel should have already been in place, which obviously isnt.

I do think the two issues can be better addressed at state level rather than from the bunch we have in DC at present.

Any comments or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

The Honorable Jimmy Eldridge

Sir,

I am writing to you in hopes of getting you to Sponsor a new bill within our State that would require any and all State and Federal Candidates for office to make full disclosure of their eligibility to hold the office that they are running for before even being placed on our State's ballots. Disclosure without doubt.

I feel it is only fair to "We the People" that we have fully verified all candidates eligibility to hold the offices that they wish to hold. Eligibility beyond any doubt is something that I feel all of us deserve before even considering a vote for any candidate for any office.

There has simply been too much controversy concerning one of our nations highest offices since the election of 2008. Personally I have no idea if the man sitting in the office is even qualified to be there. His UN-willingness to provide absolute proof and using technicalities of the current law to do so has only fueled the debate and furthered the division among We The People. A new Bill or Amendment to our State Constitution as I have described would forever prevent this type of unneeded division. I feel that you have both the Honor and Integrity to lead the way in getting this Legislation going.

I have, over the course of my life had to provide proof of my own eligibility in order to become a member of the US Army, the FL and SC Army National Guard and then again for the Great State of Tennessee's Army National Guard. Even with the information being previously provided each and every time I have provided it again. I did so without question as I felt it was an Honor to serve my Country and the States that I was a resident of.

I, as many others feel that it is only fair that those who wish to Represent and Lead us provide that same eligibility information so that it could not be questioned or legally hidden from the We The People.

I am certain that you Sir, would have no problem providing such information to the people if you were asked. Therefore I ask that you sponsor a bill requiring that ALL candidates both State and Federal provide this information beyond doubt before even being put on our State and Federal ballots.

It is my understanding that at this time this proof has been left to the parties themselves to provide, If this is correct, who then provides the checks and balances provided for in our Constitution to be certain a party does not run an ineligible candidate?

No one, seems to me to be the answer at the present time, so in all fairness to the voters this must change. The Federal Government isn't going to change anything on their own, it is therefore left to the individual states and honest Legislators such as yourself to do so.

The parties of course will always have every right to place anyone they desire on the ballot as a Representative of their party. But we as voters should have every right to know without a doubt that the person is in fact an Eligible Candidate for that particular office.

If there is current legislation pending that I am not aware of I ask that you become a Co-Sponsor of it and if there is none at present, that you Sir, Sponsor the bill yourself and vigorously work to make it a part of our State Law, including, if required Amending our State Constitution to require this information for the people beyond any doubt.

These are "Historic Times", both in our Country and the entire world and we as a Nation are more divided than at any time I can recall in my lifetime. We simply can not continue to allow people to be placed on ballots and then possibly being put into offices that they are possibly not Constitutionally Eligible to hold. There is simply too much at stake for all of the people of our Great State and our Nation.

I do not feel that this is a "slippery slope" that we are on but rather a very steep cliff that we are approaching. The individual States simply must step up and stop the direction in which we are heading as a Nation.

I would also like to ask that you also Sponsor or Co-Sponsor an Immigration Bill modeled on the one just passed in Arizona. Our Federal Government has simply not been successful in carrying out one of their few responsibilities in securing our Nation's borders. It is time for Great Legislators from Great States to take the initiative to relieve the burden that those who are here illegally have put on our State Budgets. Again I look to you as my Representative to get this ball rolling in the right direction.

Lastly but certainly not least, I want to give you my Heartfelt thanks for your efforts in helping to restore our Second Amendment rights to protect ourselves against those who have no regard for the law. Overriding a Governor is no easy task and to do it twice within one year over the same issue speaks volumes for the majority's character within both of our State Houses.

I feel the time is NOW to begin to address the afore mentioned issues, let us not allow Tennessee to be but a follower, rather let us have the Great State of Tennessee be a leader during these historic times toward getting our Nation moving in the right direction. I am Proud to have you as my Representative, and I know you are capable of being a Great Leader concerning these issues.

So Sir, PLEASE consider leading the way concerning these issues as they are important to me and I am sure to you also and to the majority of the citizens of the Great State of Tennessee.

And again, I Thank You for all your hard work for all of us.

Respectfully,

[Guest 6.8 AR]

That's a great letter. Only thing you might consider would be to shorten the part about

eligibility to one paragraph. Not a big deal, though, but those congressmen have a short attention span.