To the editor:

On Saturday, Feb. 20, about 30 people, including six MoveOn Whidbey members, met with Congressman Rick Larsen at the Skagit College campus in Oak Harbor from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Larsen spoke for about a half an hour; then had another hour for questions and answers.

He began by distributing a column written by Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute that was published in the Washington Post on Jan. 31, 2010 (http://waters.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=168625). The article, “A Very Productive Congress, Despite what the Approval Ratings Say” documents how much has been accomplished by the current administration and this Congress.

As Ornstein says, “This Democratic Congress is on a path to become one of the most productive since the Great Society 89th Congress in 1965 to ’66, and Obama already has the most legislative success of any modern president … and that includes Ronald Reagan and Lyndon Johnson.”

Here is what Larsen believes should be done: Reduce unemployment, invest in manufacturing (especially clean-energy jobs), help struggling families, help community banks make loans to small businesses and reform Wall Street.

He pointed out that despite what you have or have not heard about what Congress is doing, here are some of their accomplishments, i.e. bills that have been signed into law: Cash for Clunkers; Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act; Helping Families Save their Homes Act; healthcare for 11 million children (S-CHIP); FDA regulation of tobacco; Omnibus Public Land Management Act; Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights; Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act; defense procurement reform; Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; stronger TARP oversight; Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act.

So, when you hear the right (and many progressives for that matter) trashing this administration — pass on some of this information, and stay focused on continuing to make things happen.

Carolyn Tamler

MoveOn Whidbey Council Coordinator