novelnext Chapter 27 offers him something he can't refuse.
Chapter 27 offers him something he can't refuse.
Leo and Sarah spent a week completing a fifty-page federal funding application.
The report had only one core objective: to persuade Washington bureaucrats to invest federal funds in Pittsburgh's working-class communities.
The report contains historical data compiled by Leo, demonstrating Pittsburgh's contributions during both World Wars and revealing just how alarming the community's unemployment and drug abuse rates are today.
The report also includes charts and stories created by Sarah, who incorporated the most authentic stories from the Pittsburgh Hearts channel into the report, giving concrete faces behind the cold data.
Ultimately, the report proposed a clear urban revitalization plan, the first step of which was to use the funds to completely renovate all public facilities in several working-class communities in the south, including the Steelworkers Community Center.
Leo printed it out and bound it neatly.
He submitted this report, which embodied all their hard work, to the federal agency that managed this special fund—the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development—through the official electronic system.
Then came the long wait.
A day passed without any response.
Three days have passed, and there is still no news.
A week has passed, and the report has vanished without a trace.
Leo started trying to make a phone call.
He found a public consultation hotline on the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development's official website.
The person who answered the phone was an operator whose voice sounded completely emotionless.
After Leo explained his purpose, the operator transferred him to the "Urban Development and Reconstruction Fund" project office.
A staff member in the project office answered the phone and told Leo that applications from the Pittsburgh area should be handled by the regional office for the Mid-Atlantic region.
He then gave Leo a regional office phone number.
Leo has reached the regional office again.
The regional office staff also told him that all special fund applications related to "traditional industrial communities" were being processed by a dedicated review panel.
He then transferred Leo to that so-called review team.
Then, no one answered the phone anymore.
It's always just a pre-recorded voice message.
"Hello, this is the special fund review team. We are currently unable to answer your call. Please leave a message explaining your situation, and we will get back to you as soon as possible."
Leo left a comment once, twice, and three times.
He never received any reply.
He felt like a ball, being kicked around between different offices by this massive bureaucratic system.
Ultimately, he was kicked into a dead end made up of voicemail boxes.
"Welcome to Washington, son."
Roosevelt's voice was laced with sarcasm.
"Here, all those beautiful reports and application forms you write will only end up in a shredder in some corner of an office."
"You must understand that in Washington, documents don't walk on their own. You have to find someone, a flesh-and-blood person with their own political needs and self-interest, to sign your report and pave the way for it."
Leo felt a wave of weakness wash over him.
"But we don't know a single person in Washington."
"Then let's go find one," Roosevelt said, "one who needs us most right now."
Roosevelt instructed Leo to begin analyzing several federal congressmen representing the Pittsburgh area.
Pennsylvania has 17 seats in the House of Representatives, including two districts with representatives covering Pittsburgh and the surrounding area.
One is a Republican whose district is primarily composed of affluent white suburbs of Pittsburgh.
"He is not our target," Roosevelt stated directly. "He and the voters behind him want those poor communities in the Rust Belt to disappear from the map."
The other one is a Democrat.
Leo quickly found his information.
Representative John Murphy.
Sixty-two years old, a veteran politician who has spent more than twenty years on Capitol Hill.
The moderates within the Democratic Party rarely take a stand on any radical issues and are adept at mediating between the two parties.
His district is a "deep blue" district, mainly composed of working-class and minority groups in downtown Pittsburgh.
In the past few decades, he has been able to win re-election with ease every time.
But recently, the situation has changed somewhat.
Leo found an analysis of Congressman Murphy's election campaign on a local political news website.
The article points out that in the upcoming Democratic primary, Congressman Murphy is facing a strong challenge from a far-left radical candidate.
The young challenger, supported by the "American Democratic Socialists" organization, enjoyed immense popularity among young voters and in university communities.
Congressman Murphy, having spent too long in a "deep blue" district, has lost his former edge.
He was severely out of touch with the young voters and working class in his constituency.
He hasn't secured any significant federal investment for Pittsburgh in a long time.
His voting record in Congress also increasingly favored the interests of large corporations.
The latest polls show that his support in the party primary is less than five percentage points higher than that of the young challenger.
The election is in grave danger.
"A perfect object."
"What Murphy needs most right now is not more campaign funds; he already has enough backers."
"What he needs most right now is votes, to prove to the working-class voters in his district who are increasingly disappointed with him that he is still working for them."
"And you, Leo, are just the right person to personally deliver this achievement he has been dreaming of into his hands."
In the mayor's office in Pittsburgh.
Mayor Martin Cartwright is listening to his chief of staff Mark Jennings' weekly briefing.
At the end of his report, Jennings casually mentioned it.
"Mr. Mayor, regarding Wallace of that Urban Renewal Committee, my people report that he has recently been calling the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C., as if trying to apply for some federal funding."
Cartwright smiled dismissively.
He took an expensive Cuban cigar from his cigar box, cut it open, and lit it.
"Let him be." He exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. "A greenhorn who can't even find his way around City Hall wants to storm Capitol Hill? If he can get a single penny from those tightwads in Washington, I'll drink that fountain in front of City Hall right here and now."
"You're right," Jennings smiled. "Should I send someone to keep an eye on him?"
“Of course,” Cartwright said. “Just keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t cause any trouble in Pittsburgh. As for Washington, that’s where he’ll learn what true despair is.”
Leo was completely unaware of Cartwright's arrangements.
He and Sarah are trying everything they can to get hold of Senator Murphy's upcoming schedule.
Ultimately, they found the information they needed on Senator Murphy's official campaign website.
Next Monday is Labor Day in the United States.
Representative Murphy will return to Pittsburgh to participate in a large Labor Day family barbecue organized by several major local unions.
That will be his most important public event in winning over blue-collar voters.
"The opportunity has arrived."
Roosevelt's voice echoed in Leo's mind.
"Prepare your speech, son."
"We need to appear before him when he needs us most, in a way that he cannot refuse."