Congressman Duncan, come back to reality

John J. Duncan, Jr. was elected to represent Tennessee’s 2nd District in the House of Representatives. You elected him and he is supposed to be your local voice in Washington. He is there to serve us. My only question is why is he not doing a better job.

I contacted his office and actually received a letter back. I was impressed to have received a response, until I read it. I am now forced to ask myself could he be much further from reality?

Duncan feels that we should drill for oil in ANWR. I do not have a problem with this if it was as a last resort. I feel that there are things that should be done long before we put ANWR on the table. Duncan does not agree with me on this issue. Duncan said in his own letter that there is only a 46% chance that ANWR will produce the oil that people think it will. There is a 54% chance that he will be wrong, yet he is comfortable risking America’s future by taking this chance.

Duncan feels that we should be willing to take this gamble with America’s future. I am not a gambling man myself, but I do know that a 46% chance is not that good. Duncan on the other hand seems comfortable with it. What he has not done is proposed what he will do if he is wrong. What are we going to do if ANWR does not pan out as well as they would like you to believe it will. After all there is a greater chance of failure in this case than success. What then Congressman Duncan?

What Duncan did not mention in this letter was conservation. He said how he enjoys parks and the great outdoors, but he also says he is willing to damage 12,000 acres of the greatest treasures in the world even in the face of a 54% chance of failure. Why then would he not mention a single thing regarding conserving oil? In all actuality every drop of oil we do not use is another drop of oil we do not have to buy from overseas. There is a 100% success rate when we conserve and I like these odds more than 46%.

Why did people elect someone who thinks 46% is good enough for America? This is the land of the free and the home of the brave, but betting on our future with a 46% chance of success is not brave it is just plain stupid. Would you bet your house if you knew there was a 54% chance that you would lose it? No, I wouldn’t either.

John J. Duncan, JR. is wrong on this issue. He is also wrong to compare this issue to a disagreement between married couples and it just goes to show how out of touch with reality he really is. His priorities are not on the best interest of our country. He is supporting ideas and legislation that could potentially do more harm to our country than good. It is time we stand up and take our country back one drop of oil at a time.