# Writing your Congressman is theraputic **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 6, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-your-congressman-is-theraputic/243925 "2004-05-06T22:56:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-your-congressman-is-theraputic/243925/1 "2004-05-06T22:56:05Z")
I just saw a quote from Sen. Evan Bayh on Yahoo that pissed me off royally. I immediately went to his website and told him off via e-mail. I could care less if he doesn’t read it or respond (I actually imagine he will), but MAN did that feel good! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-your-congressman-is-theraputic/243925/2 "2004-05-07T01:05:49Z")
Last time I wrote my senators, one of them didn’t respond, and the other sent me a long form letter that began with the sentence, “Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about _\_.” Yeah, the system _works_, baby. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-your-congressman-is-theraputic/243925/3 "2004-05-07T03:41:44Z")
I know it doesn’t make sense in this age of email, but Western Union used to offer a special rate (IIRC it was $4) to cable the President. I fired off a few to Reagan, but eventually decided that if I didn’t already have an FBI file, I was just askin’ for one. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-your-congressman-is-theraputic/243925/4 "2004-05-07T15:27:55Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > “Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about _\_.” > > Yeah, the system _works_, baby. Wrote a letter to one senator once making a point about the struggle for black rights and gay rights. Got a letter back (since I wrote it online) about funding for minority schools and a moratorium on the internet tax. Got a letter back from the other senator that didn’t address a single argument I made and told me he thanked me for my views/opinions (not his exact words) and told me he voted to uphold the tradition of marriage, or summat. Somewhat better, I guess. I haven’t gotten anything back from the pres, vp or anyone else in that cabinet, which surprises me nil. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2004, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-your-congressman-is-theraputic/243925/5 "2004-05-07T16:01:35Z")
It seems to me the only letters to members of Congress that get noticed by the member are those that begin, “Enclosed find $10000 check as a contribution to your reelection.” Columnist George Will once wrote a scathing rebuttal to the Grace Commission Report on waste in government. For Will to disagree with such a report would indicate to me that it must be pretty bad. California Senator Alan Cranston was a big fan of the Grace Commission so I wrote him a letter and sent a copy of Will’s column detailing the failures of Grace _et al_. The letter I got back said “Thank you for your support of our efforts to eliminate waste in government using valuable resources like the Grace Commission.”