# So, you gonna call your congressmen? (As requested by POTUS) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 26, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421 "2011-07-26T19:48:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/1 "2011-07-26T19:48:44Z")
I tried and got hung up on. Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/2 "2011-07-26T19:57:44Z")
I tried to send a note to one of my senators, Jim DeMint, this morning and couldn’t get his senate page to load. ---
**Author:** ![yanceylebeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yanceylebeef/32/12290_2.png) [@yanceylebeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yanceylebeef)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/3 "2011-07-26T19:58:27Z")
Already did. Was directed to voice mail system with guaranteed response. Denver, CO. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/4 "2011-07-26T20:00:50Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I tried and got hung up on. > > Texas. This is in reference to…? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/5 "2011-07-26T20:07:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > This is in reference to…? Obama gave a speech last night. In it he requested that the American people call their congressmen and voice your displeasure for the Republican “no compromise” stance. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/6 "2011-07-26T20:27:51Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Obama gave a speech last night. In it he requested that the American people call their congressmen and voice your displeasure for the Republican “no compromise” stance. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/7 "2011-07-26T20:31:25Z")
No. I honestly don’t really care anymore. I know that’s bad, but I am burned out on politics. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/8 "2011-07-26T20:40:51Z")
Well, the problem seems to be mostly in the House, and my Representative is already on the same page as I am (given that I’m in Massachusetts, that’s not surprising). ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/9 "2011-07-26T20:45:53Z")
I am going to try tonight, but I am sure I will get voicemail at best. In a better time I had an office with a door and I would have called today. Tried email but his congressional page does not load. Seems to be a lot of that going around. If I had the number of his local office I would call that, but I bet they won’t be answering. But then again my congressman is a toad who rode into his seat on the coattails of the man now destroying the state as governor. His district is gerrymandered safely and he never ever faces a credible Democratic challenger, so I suspect his response will be for me to go suck eggs. Which actually would be the most amount of work he has done in the last ten years. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/10 "2011-07-26T21:01:53Z")
Obama is doing his best to imitate Reagan in enlisting public support and it’s not working. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/11 "2011-07-26T21:14:39Z")
> [@Al\_Bundy](#): > > Obama is doing his best to imitate Reagan in enlisting public support and it’s not working. I just tried to go to my Congressman’s webpage and it won’t load either. I’d say it’s working. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/12 "2011-07-26T21:18:47Z")
Already did, both email and phone call. And my rep is a Republican, so he got an earful (by proxy). ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/13 "2011-07-26T21:21:11Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > I just tried to go to my Congressman’s webpage and it won’t load either. I’d say it’s working. Unless communication lines have been pulled temporarily. In which case, if it isn’t working it’s not Obama’s or the public’s fault. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/14 "2011-07-26T21:23:41Z")
Illinois here: I called Senator Durbin’s (D) office a few days ago and got an immediate response. As in a nice young lady answered the phone on the first ring, listened to my comments and thanked me for them. Yesterday during the day, I wrote to his office via the website and went right through. Yesterday evening, I tried writing to Senator Kirk ® and had to wait until after midnight for the page to load. I tried throughout yesterday night and a couple times this morning and can’t get through Representative Kinzinger’s ® site past the front page. Just tried now and his site crashed my Firefox but probably for unrelated reasons. It’s been acting flaky on some sites. Looked like the contact page was loading though. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/15 "2011-07-26T21:29:46Z")
My congressman is Anthony Weiner–I think we’re already on the same page. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/16 "2011-07-26T21:30:42Z")
Wrote eletters to both senators and my Congressional Representative this morning. No problems gettng through ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/17 "2011-07-26T21:47:30Z")
> [@Al\_Bundy](#): > > Obama is doing his best to imitate Reagan in enlisting public support and it’s not working. [The Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/members-of-congress-flooded-with-calls-after-obama-boehner-debt-speeches/2011/07/26/gIQA2xlkaI_blog.html) disagrees. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/18 "2011-07-26T21:49:48Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > [The Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/post/members-of-congress-flooded-with-calls-after-obama-boehner-debt-speeches/2011/07/26/gIQA2xlkaI_blog.html) disagrees. From that link: > [@](#): > > A spokeswoman for Rep. David Schweikert said that the level of phone calls received at the Arizona Republican’s office was “comparable to that during the ‘continuing resolution’ debate of several months ago.” > > “Most of the calls we are receiving are organic, positive, ‘hold the line’ calls,” said Rachel Semmel, Schweikert’s spokeswoman. She added that “the calls requesting Rep. Schweikert to sign on to the Reid, Obama plan all seem to be very scripted and Astroturf-like.” Spin, spin, spin. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/19 "2011-07-26T21:58:05Z")
My congressman is David Wu, and he’s not taking any calls. Probably prancing around in his tiger outfit and looking for a new job. [http://www.nowpublic.com/world/david-wu-tiger-suit-photo](http://www.nowpublic.com/world/david-wu-tiger-suit-photo) ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421/20 "2011-07-26T22:04:50Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > From that link:Spin, spin, spin. LOL. I must have missed the secret rehearsal meeting we all had to practice our “lines”. Did my invitation get lost in the mail? And where’s my astro turf dammit? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-gonna-call-your-congressmen-as-requested-by-potus/590421.md?page=2)