Frank Kratovil

Congressman Frank Kratovil was the last person we contacted when our family experienced a life changing medical event that caused us to mortgage our home via Countrywide, through which we got caught up in the subprime mess. After pursuing numerous avenues with the federal, state and private sources, we had given up in getting a response and assistance from our lender on resolving our mortgage. Congressman Kratovil and his staff responded to our request, and within days we had received a personal phone call and immediate action from the lender in correcting our mortgage to be within the government guidelines, thereby saving us from losing our home.

In yesterday's mail I received a second piece of political propaganda in less than a week from Americans for Prosperity on behalf of Andy Harris, smearing Rep. Frank Kratovil and accusing him of "voting to spend nearly $2 million to study ants. " I think it is criminal and destructive to our democracy that groups outside of our district and our state are spending so much money, attempting to influence our state and local elections. This kind of thing is not in the best interest of the citizens of the 1st District.

Does Congressman Andy Harris (District 1) really want to hear from all of his constituents? Apparently not, based on my experience with his most recent virtual town meeting held the morning of March 23. To participate in this town meeting, one had to receive a robocall invitation. I thought it was odd that I, as a registered Democrat, received this invitation half-way through the meeting and too late to have my question answered. At the end of the meeting, participants were invited to leave their names and email addresses in order to ask the questions that were not heard on the call.

Maryland's congressional delegation met with Gov. Martin O'Malley in Annapolis yesterday to discuss a possible infusion of federal funds through a fiscal stimulus package and how that money could be used to prop up the state's economy. O'Malley convened a meeting at the governor's mansion for more than an hour with Sens. Benjamin L. Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski along with several congressmen, including newly elected Rep. Frank Kratovil, and Maryland State House leaders. The lawmakers, all Democrats, talked about the state's wish list of projects they would like to be funded.

Republican State Sen. Andy Harris officially filed his candidacy for Congress, his campaign announced Tuesday, setting up a rematch with Democratic Rep. Frank Kratovil in the First District. "I am running to be the next member of Congress for Maryland's First District to protect citizens from an out-of-control Congress," Harris, an obstetric anesthesiologist and three-term state senator, said in a statement. "After 18 months of bailouts, government takeovers, the largest national debt in history and trillion dollar spending schemes, it is clear we need new leadership in Washington."

At my hospital I recently cared for a woman with a limb infection. She used to have a job, an income and insurance. She had a small wound that was being managed by her outpatient providers. But then she lost her job, her home, her insurance -- and with that, her ability to afford ongoing care. She did what she could, improvising dressings using gauze and newspapers. Eventually the wound became infected, and she required expensive hospital care, treatments and surgery for a fairly preventable health problem.

In what can only be described as an amateurish, journalistic hatchet job, The Sun managed to insult the intelligence of any fact discerning reader, regardless of political affiliation, in its Nov. 17 article " Rep.-elect Harris in Health care mini-flap by Paul West. I had to read the article three times in an attempt to separate the few cogent facts in the article from the many conjectures, opinions and incoherent leaps of logic. Unfortunately, the article was a weak attempt at an editorial slam that took Rep.-elect Harris' comments and legitimate questions and forced a non-existent attachment to the national health care debate.

Members of Congress from Maryland, Pennsylvania and three other states under siege by the brown marmorated stink bug are asking federal authorities to allow farmers to fight back with pesticides that are not now approved for such use. Rallied by Maryland Republican Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, 15 members signed a letter Friday to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, arguing that "if we fail to take action … damage...

Player's obituary not front-page fare The Baltimore Sun seems to have some seriously misplaced priorities about what constitutes news and where it belongs in a newspaper. While the death of a local basketball player, who went on from a successful college career at Morgan State to a pro basketball career, is sad, it is hardly front-page news. Thus the article "Human Eraser" (April 9) belonged in the Sports section or in the obituaries. The same day that article ran, a ship sailing under an American flag had just been attacked by pirates for the first time in 200 years, and that story was buried inside the paper ("Navy ship on site of pirate raid," April 9)

A familiar song is being sung after Tuesday's loss by Republicans in a special congressional election in upstate New York. It tells a story about how a moderate Republican was pushed out by conservative ideologues, resulting in a Democratic victory in what would have been a safe Republican seat. Many in Maryland remember this song, as it was sung after the 2008 race in Maryland's 1st Congressional District. Conservative state Sen. Andy Harris defeated the incumbent, liberal Republican Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, in the primary.