Whenever somebody says, “If you don’t like it, write a letter to your Congressperson” (well, they probably say Congressman but I want to be hip and PC), I wonder what kind of person actually does write a letter to their Congressperson.
Have you ever written a letter to your Congressperson? What was it about? What happened next?
I have, on several occasions. I wrote Rep. Ben Chandler one on election reform, Sen. Bunning one on the Cuba-WBC issue and just the other day, I wrote Sen. McConnell one about his immigration bill amendment that would require a passport or other federally-issued proof of citizenship to vote. :rolleyes:
Lotsa them. My congressman and senator too. I give my opinion and they send me nice letters in response. They are not all form letters either. It isn’t much but sometimes it is all you can do. I write whenever something pissses me off. I most recently complained about the internet tier bill.Its the first step in losing the internet and sometimes they are not well versed on the issue. Bush has internets you know.
I’ve written to my local members of Parliament (state and Commonwealth) on several occasions.
The state member rang me a couple of days later and we discussed the issue (which related to the internal workings of part of the NSW Health department bureaucracy). She’s actually the shadow minister of Health and was therefore able to give me some useful information.
When I’ve written to my federal member it’s been to urge him to vote a certain way on a bill before the Parliament. Each time I’ve just received the standard pro-forma acknowledgement of my letter.
I’m getting this Grampa Simpson mental image.
Yes, I have. It’s suprisingly easy after the first time or so. I ration them out, though, to avoid Priceguy’s apt Grampa Simpson comparison. (That one cracked me right the hell up.)
Mostly they’re about insanities that torque me off so badly that it seems worthwhile to take a chance that maybe, just maybe, some direct input from a reasonable, civil voting citizen might matter. Examples? The Iraq war mess, domestic surveillance and the ‘Patriot’ Act, same-sex marriage, disregard of international relations, etc.
Mini-rant follows: ignore at will
Sorting out the mess of influence and smoke-and-mirrors of politics is impossible. Spinning the mess is a lucrative industry in itself, and a more perilous hobby than on-line gambling for enthusiastic amateurs. But some basics survive the complicated hoopla. 1. Elected officials rely on elections. Votes matter. 2. Even byzantine party politics reluctantly respond to grassroots realites. 3. Some savvy pols are still dedicated to public service. They make the devil’s compromises sometimes but their their purpose survives their messy profession. 4. Most of 'em are vulnerable to ‘legacy’. Politics attracts opportunists and egotists, but the environment can ego can seduce even the worst.
Anybody who opts out is dead weight. Why doesn’t matter, only if.
Back to the topic…
For the moment, e-mail communications don’t carry the same punch or weight with pols. (This from a legislator not running for re-election, as well as various ‘insider’ advice elsewhere.) It might change, but for now they’re still too spam-prone for maximum effect.
Most legislators employ dedicated people. Sure they’re gatekeepers for the pol, but their job is to keep voters happy. They’re human, and therefore responsive to courtesy and good sense. Sweet reason will get the message through them to the pol more effectively than rants, threats, etc.
Sweeten the pot. Pols of any stripe or party love praise. They live for it and gatekeepers might remember it. It’s as close to a sure-pass onto a pol’s desk that exists. It costs a stamp and might stiffen the backbone when tough fights loom. Why cede feedback to talk show loons?
I write plenty of letters to people in government, although not so much to my MP as I imagine he doesn’t particularly care for the opinion of someone who ran against him.
One useful thing is that due to MPs’ franking privileges, letters to MPs are postage free.
Recent subjects have included: asking that a blind diabetic who fled his country due to death threats be granted refugee status instead of deported; asking for the facts regarding a report that Canadian forces in Afghanistan were helping to enforce laws against adultery and homosexuality; asking that transsexuals be allowed to change their legal gender without requiring surgery; and suggesting that the drivers’ licence people be able to issue ID cards to nondrivers, as is done in several US states.
Yup. I email my congressman and my senators from time to time. I’d do it more, but I usually agree with their general stances, so it’s usually unnecessary.
Yes, I write my Congresspersons fairly often … I’m not sure what the going rate is, so I don’t know how it stacks up to other people. I write them less frequently than I write to, say, my mom, and I vaguely try to keep it below the level that would get me marked as a crazy stalker.
I can definately say that their responses color my overall view of them as politicians and as candidates for re-election. My Congressperson’s replies (and I know that means his staff’s replies, that’s okay) are great. A frame of a form letter, yet someone takes the time to make sure any specific points in my letter are responded to.
One of my senators has a quick response time, which I appreciate, but there’s something about the form letter that annoys me. It’s as if the response starts by saying “Thank you for telling me how you feel, now I’m going to tell you how you should feel” and the rest is like a platform paper.
The other senator doesn’t have a very good record of being responsive at all, much less in terms of content.
Yes, I do.
I’ve also called and e-mailed. I’ve even chided one senator for sending me a form letter back on an issue I knew about. All I needed to know was if he was going to co-sponsor the legislation. Instead, he sent me a synopsis of the legislation.
I made a copy of his letter and wrote him back, politely but pointedly telling him I knew about the legislation and I didn’t need a synopsis.
His response was a terse “Thank you for your views and I will keep your thoughts in mind.”
Sometimes I wonder if it does any good.
I’ve also called the White House comment line.
I wrote CA Senator Alan Cranston a letter about one of his pet projects, the Grace Commission. J. Peter Grace, whose family was a major recipient of federal largesse to the ship owing industry, headed a commission that investigated waste in government. Columnist George Will wrote a column detailing a sample of the many wrong assumptions, mistakes and other failures of the investigation. I sent a letter about this to Cranston, along with a copy of Will’s column.
In reply I received a letter from Cranston’s office thanking me for my support in his effort to improve government efficiency and assuring me that he would continue his heroic endeavor to eliminate federal waste of taxpayers’ money.
I now express my opinion by only by voting against such bastards. It’s a small thing but it’s all I can do in the face of Congressional indifference to letters. Only if your letter is one of many, many letters on the same side of the same subject will it make a difference. Unless it’s the vital issue of a dire threat to national security, like burning a flag, you are quite likely to be a lonely voice; just a lost lamb in the tall weeds.
I write both federal and state representatives fairly often concerning legislation I’m interested in. I always do this in an advocate capacity. My local county commissioner gets his earfuls in person or over the phone.
Then again I am at war with my county over property tax reassessments right now. They are, by God, going to reassess my property. There is no reason why the assessed value of my house should go up almost 40k in one year. This has increased the portion of my property assessment I pay taxes on almost 20k. Oh, and just this week, it is revealed that the county budget is 1.6 million dollars short. :dubious: Ok, I’m through bitchin’ about the wonders of Lee County, GA now.
You’re dangerously accurate on that one. As time marches on, the grumpiness rises. He’s just not yet that senile. Yeah, almost accurate.
Almost.
I’ve written both my state and federal representatives/Congresspersons a few times. In all but one or two cases, I received a form letter back.
Swampy, best of luck with the reassessment thing. Many years ago, I took on our assessor/treasurer. I didn’t really win, but they made an adjustment. :rolleyes:
In terms of responses, the responses I’ve received have ranged from detailed and on point to not especially responsive but at least referring to the same thing I was (i.e. “Thank you for your support of my blah, blah, blah” when you weren’t supporting it). The most detailed responses I’ve received are from the Quebec government: they either tell me what’s being done to implement what I proposed, or else why it is not possible (I’m not always convinced of this, but I appreciate being told.)
I received a detailed response to my question on our forces in Afghanistan - actually kind of interesting; I sent it in March, immediately got a postcard from the DND acknowledging receipt, then a form letter in April saying “your letter is taking longer than normal to answer, sorry.” Then in May I got a two-page letter detailing the answer. I’m not sure I buy the answer given, but I did appreciate the effort (even though our Minister of National Defence is still a slimy weapons contractor).
I also wrote tons of letters on the same-sex marriage issue when that was before Parliament. I took special care to write to all the Conservative MPs who supported SSM. I didn’t receive any responses back, but I imagine that all the offices were pretty much snowed under with mail on the issue.
Incidentally, my dad the journalist told me that when you write in to Parliament, regardless of the answer you get, it’s taken to be the opinions of 1,000 constituents who didn’t write in.
Yep, senators and the Governator, too (I got a form letter from an underling in his office saying he was too busy to read my letter).
On one occasion, I wrote GHW Bush while he was in office over environmental issues (I think I was 11). He “wrote” me back promising to recycle and sent a picture of himself at the Grand Canyon. It was pretty exciting getting a big letter from The White House when I was a kid.
Yes - As a member of my local town council, I’ve written both formally and informally. Zero Personal replies.
Several years ago, because of a local controversy here in South Texas, I wrote to the mayor of my city, all my representatives, senators and then Governor George Bush (who ofered no help, just a canned response). I got nice replies from the Governor’s office, from Kay Bailey Hutchinson and the local mayor, who asked me to come to his office and talk about the problem. Ms. Hutchinson actually offered real help. Other local state reps ignored my letter or blew it off with canned responses. It was very illuminating. Senator Phil Gramm was a real jerk.
Yes, I’ve written a few times. I got a nice letter back from one guy, and a form acknowledgement from another.