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I've always wondered if senators actually read these letters and then do something about the issues addressed :\
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On September 14 2010 04:16 Humbug wrote:
I've always wondered if senators actually read these letters and then do something about the issues addressed :\
99/100 you will get a letter with a generic response from an aid, and it will have no effect on thier policy, but if they get enough letters on one side of a single topic it could possibly effect policy.
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On September 14 2010 04:16 Humbug wrote:
I've always wondered if senators actually read these letters and then do something about the issues addressed :\
They will - provided that corporations stay out of politically issues and no one else mails them,
They will - But you would have to wait for a while before it happens.
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On September 14 2010 04:23 jamesr12 wrote:Show nested quote +On September 14 2010 04:16 Humbug wrote:
I've always wondered if senators actually read these letters and then do something about the issues addressed :\ 99/100 you will get a letter with a generic response from an aid, and it will have no effect on thier policy, but if they get enough letters on one side of a single topic it could possibly effect policy.
Yes you will get a generic response from an aid, but from what I have heard they do take letters and emails into consideration. If you are passionate enough to send a letter then you certainly are passionate enough to vote, and thats what makes them take action. One letter is not generally enough to make them completely reverse positions on an issue, but it does have an effect.
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If they get a handwritten, short letter addressed and written by an average person, I think they'll read it. At the very least, somebody will.
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It shouldn't matter on the number of letters they get, it should matter the content of the letter.
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I think it's time (at least for all you Americans) to stop hypothesizing and start writing :D
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On September 14 2010 04:16 Humbug wrote:
I've always wondered if senators actually read these letters and then do something about the issues addressed :\
I interned in a congressman's office this summer, and the interns and aids will read and respond to your letter, unless you are from a major union/organization or you know the senator personally your letter will not be seen by the senator. However, if there are a huge amount of letters/emails on one issue, they might let the senator know. Most likely your letter won't make a difference unfortunately.
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Wouldn't an email be even easier? Even senators log on to Facebook or have their own websites.
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On September 14 2010 05:20 NFLisFixed wrote:
It shouldn't matter on the number of letters they get, it should matter the content of the letter.
The number of letters is what matters. Elected representatives are elected to, you know... Represent their constituents. So if the majority of the people in their district want something, the Senator or Congressmen has an obligation to change their policy to comply with the majority.
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On September 14 2010 06:48 Fulgrim wrote:Show nested quote +On September 14 2010 04:16 Humbug wrote:
I've always wondered if senators actually read these letters and then do something about the issues addressed :\ I interned in a congressman's office this summer, and the interns and aids will read and respond to your letter, unless you are from a major union/organization or you know the senator personally your letter will not be seen by the senator. However, if there are a huge amount of letters/emails on one issue, they might let the senator know. Most likely your letter won't make a difference unfortunately.
this is exactly what I thought happened.
Sad. But then again, I realize that one senator cannot feasibly read every letter that gets sent to him.
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Everyone in my government class in high school had to write a letter to a congressman and a few of us actually had replies. Our teacher had us read the replies and you could easily tell that the letters were very generic and open, stating how they are working on our problem and how they want to help us, the citizens.
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On September 14 2010 07:17 Sentenal wrote:Show nested quote +On September 14 2010 05:20 NFLisFixed wrote:
It shouldn't matter on the number of letters they get, it should matter the content of the letter. The number of letters is what matters. Elected representatives are elected to, you know... Represent their constituents. So if the majority of the people in their district want something, the Senator or Congressmen has an obligation to change their policy to comply with the majority.
What if the majority of people who write in to New York state elected representatives what to take away the rights of the muslim population? Shouldn't the rep do what his constituents want?
Like prohibition of alcohol, like prohibition of happy endings at massage parlors
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On September 14 2010 09:32 NFLisFixed wrote:Show nested quote +On September 14 2010 07:17 Sentenal wrote:On September 14 2010 05:20 NFLisFixed wrote:
It shouldn't matter on the number of letters they get, it should matter the content of the letter. The number of letters is what matters. Elected representatives are elected to, you know... Represent their constituents. So if the majority of the people in their district want something, the Senator or Congressmen has an obligation to change their policy to comply with the majority. What if the majority of people who write in to New York state elected representatives what to take away the rights of the muslim population? Shouldn't the rep do what his constituents want? Like prohibition of alcohol, like prohibition of happy endings at massage parlors
You do understand the basic ideas behind Democracy, right? I'm not talking about right and wrong, I'm talking about how representatives are obligated to act based on the system.
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what are you writing them about?
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Lack of funding for spacebound organizations and initiatives. We need some good old fashion asteroid mining happening in the near future.
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On September 14 2010 06:48 Fulgrim wrote:Show nested quote +On September 14 2010 04:16 Humbug wrote:
I've always wondered if senators actually read these letters and then do something about the issues addressed :\ I interned in a congressman's office this summer, and the interns and aids will read and respond to your letter, unless you are from a major union/organization or you know the senator personally your letter will not be seen by the senator. However, if there are a huge amount of letters/emails on one issue, they might let the senator know. Most likely your letter won't make a difference unfortunately.
So depressing U-U
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I once wrote a letter to President Obama a few months ago after he went to a meeting on global warming. I told him he wasn't aggressive enough and that USA needs to set an example because we have one of the highest amounts of green house gas emissions in the world. (He was being passive because other countries were not setting good enough goals).
I doubt it ever reached the president, but it makes you feel good. The fact that you can write your opinions and send them to be heard is something that we are very lucky to have. It makes you feel how lucky we are to have a democracy in our country.
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On September 14 2010 11:29 GrayArea wrote:
I once wrote a letter to President Obama a few months ago after he went to a meeting on global warming. I told him he wasn't aggressive enough and that USA needs to set an example because we have one of the highest amounts of green house gas emissions in the world. (He was being passive because other countries were not setting good enough goals).
I doubt it ever reached the president, but it makes you feel good. The fact that you can write your opinions and send them to be heard is something that we are very lucky to have. It makes you feel how lucky we are to have a democracy in our country.
yeah but what if your opinions were not heard? do you still feel good?
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On September 14 2010 10:27 Sentenal wrote:Show nested quote +On September 14 2010 09:32 NFLisFixed wrote:On September 14 2010 07:17 Sentenal wrote:On September 14 2010 05:20 NFLisFixed wrote:
It shouldn't matter on the number of letters they get, it should matter the content of the letter. The number of letters is what matters. Elected representatives are elected to, you know... Represent their constituents. So if the majority of the people in their district want something, the Senator or Congressmen has an obligation to change their policy to comply with the majority. What if the majority of people who write in to New York state elected representatives what to take away the rights of the muslim population? Shouldn't the rep do what his constituents want? Like prohibition of alcohol, like prohibition of happy endings at massage parlors You do understand the basic ideas behind Democracy, right? I'm not talking about right and wrong, I'm talking about how representatives are obligated to act based on the system.
Democracy,
terrible things, you've done terrible things, never look back into the past, The past is a wilderness of horrors.
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United States4126 Posts
I volunteered at a senator's office a few years ago. In that office branch, there was a sorted database of letters on an excel file that had the person's name/address/complaint/etc and they'd slowly go through the whole list for important ones to respond to.
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EPT
