with specific comments on something... he wrote me back with a generic reply that more or less presented his position on the issue at hand... and it was clear from the wording of the response... that an underling read my note, lumped it into a category, and grabbed the 'canned' response... and shot it back to me...

Question here is has anyone - right or left, Dem or Rep. Con or lib ever had a response that sounded authentic, and that was written in response to you specifically?

I love living in Las Vegas, even as I see my friends lose their homes left & right.  There's plenty of entertainment options, and we're ass deep in pretty ladies.  The letter that I got back was classic boiler plate "I'm not reading what you wrote, but thanks for writing".

Politically, we're on a rung close to Illinois.  We're the not-so-proud owners of the Senate Majority leader, without even getting an extra share of the spoils.  He's been corrupt since long before I moved to the state.  Our mayor is a former mob lawyer (and a damn good one, based on his record, lol).  There are plenty of others that wouldn't be known to the general public, most with past legal shenanigans.

Honestly, I'm hopeful that our current economic plight will be a good thing, in that as people stop moving here, the ones voting will have enough history to know who these dirt bags are.

I've writtem several letters to Barney Frank, although I'm not from MA, demanding that he resign. No response and I doubt the banking queen ever saw them.

had a health insurance coverage issue and wrote to my district representative (pretty liberal Dem) and he responded fairly quickly and did investigate and it got sorted out.

Can't recall now how close it was to the next election LOL.

is John Lewis, so reading and comprehension are just two meaningless words.  

-- Modified on 3/21/2009 2:19:49 AM

There are some things for which Congressmen are useful. I needed help with expediting some IRS documents for old tax returns. My Democrat Rep was quite responsive and helpful, but that was 25 years ago.

If you’re asking for help using a neutral tone even if your voter registration is in opposition, you will be met favorably in most cases, unless you are an activist in the opposition.

From what I’ve seen today, responding personally to correspondence considered “lobbying” from someone staff believes is not supportive is something that just doesn’t happen. Even if you are supportive you’re ignored unless you wield some sort of power. They do keep track of quantities though.

Nope. I wrote my Congressman when the stimulus bill was being debated, asking why no one was suggesting phasing out the Z visa programs that grants temporary work visas. Given that the bill was aimed at saving American jobs, it makes sense that we should be putting a stop to importing workers at a time when Americans need those jobs these workers are coming here to fill.

Whoever the idiot underling was that receieved my e-mail didn't even read it. They simply lumped it under the heading of "immigration" and sent back a canned reply that was obviously crafted years ago when Congress was debating immigration reform.

No worries. Congress has become thoroughly insulated from listening to their constituents via e-mails, phone calls, etc but they are not immune to getting a message loud and clear on election day when their ass gets kicked to the curb.

last year. I actually got a real response from my Congresswoman. I'll give her that. She stated that after reviewing documents and speaking with Sec. of Treasury Hank Paulson that not to pass the Financial Recovery Bill i.e. bailout would mean economic dieaster. I immediately wrote back but she did not reply.

I wrote to my senators and congresswoman, but the response was pure computer generated.  At least they keep track of the numbers.

It looks like the American people were right and political representatives wrong. We are still in a mess. But I am sure am glad (snicker, snicker) we were able to bail out our foreign bank friends and Goldman Sach's.

I agree that most people were against it. Our representatives were clearly not representing the people.

However, the second time around, there will be even more outcry.  

After a point, even the more liberal Dems will fear that they are getting their constituents angry.  (The moderate Dems are already getting fitted for life jackets to abandon ship.)

When the flow of money started heading into the financial firms, I started buying their stocks.  I've doubled my money on a few, so at least I'll have something to leave my heirs.  They'll need it to cover the mountain of debt we're creating.