Another Letter to Congress: NOT

well.. it started out well enough.. but I don't this I'll twit this shit to Congress... went just a LITTLE off track... oh well, such is life and the mind of Elyssa...



Dear Senators:

I am writing to you from TN District 51, and US House District 5 from Nashville, Tennessee. I am writing in support of the Employee Free Choice Act. I urge you as my Senator and Representative to vote yes on the final passage of the bill.

I am a recipient of Social Security disability and have tried unsuccessfully for several years to find a job that will allow me to earn a decent living wage and provide benefits so I can get off the state's welfare roles.

I never dreamed that it could be so difficult to (1) go through the initial application process and disability evaluation; and (2) to maintain my benefits and each August I must go through re certification process all over again.

I have not been successful in my endless search for a decent paying job, and even while in the employ of the State of Tennessee, I was not offered health benefits and was ineligible for unemployment or other benefits that would help me transition into a more permanent position.

I have an advanced degrees from Columbia University, and completed 63 of the 72 credit hours necessary to complete my PhD in public policy at Vanderbilt University.

To be clear, the longer I stay out of work, the more our taxpayers must pay to keep me in this perpetual state of poverty. There are many more out there like me...

People who just need a little support, a little guidance and a lot of encouragement. I live trapped within four walls in a prison of poverty.

There are a lot of things in the financial world that do not make sense. Such as having my tax return rejected from the IRS because someone had filed a tax return using my social security number.

Countless calls to the IRS, and although they were able to identify the person who had used my number fraudulently, they would not release that information to me so I could file a police report for identity theft (as I was instructed to do by regulatory authorities.) It took the IRS 9 months to send my refund, something that most people receive in less than 2 weeks.

So, after about a decade of this situation, and going through the motions year after year, to provide alternative forms of Income verification, I think I am well within my rights to be a little agitated.

This year I will be fling for an extension, as other related issues are currently under investigation.

Now I don't have much money, in fact I don't have any, but I find white collar crime despicable and repulsive.

When taken into account the substantial cost to society, not to mention the havoc it wreaked on my life, I respectfully think that maybe you should not assume that someone is making false claims just because you don't think it sounds "right."

Lots of things don't "sound right" however that doesn't mean they aren't true. Gotta go now, I have a date with eBay too auction my social security card to the highest bidder. Clearly, it is not worth anything to me so long as the authorities fail to do their part in ENFORCING the laws associated with Identity theft. Sure, it is easy to blame the victim as being irresponsible or somehow negligent in these situations, however I will refer you to some fascinating research that has been done on the emotional consequences of Identity theft.

The cost is far more than just an issue of financial discomfort, it is something that can ultimately leave you questioning your own identity.

It should be noted that Identity theft is a criminal matter, so whatever costs associated with such events, the victim is not reimbursed for any of the costs associated with having their life disrupted by something that is ultimately completely beyond their control.

It happens more often than you think, and it is a complicated, intricate, and time intensive to resolve such crimes. It is like trying to unravel multiple sets Christmas lights only to find that after you have put the time in, the damn things don't even work; and 2. Having to test each and every mini bulb in the chain to find the weakest link.

Now I don't fuck with Christmas lights, one I'm a jew, 2. I think they're tacky as hell, and 3. I have OCD OCD OCD- with fear of fire at the top of the list!

I once waited two years after moving in to
along the 1. They don't work the details only to find yourself in more complicated... To be continued...

I urge you as my Senator and Representative to vote yes on the final passage of the bill.

Thank you for your service,

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.
615.424.8810
ed70@columbia.edu
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile