Want to participate in the governance of our country?
Asked by
ETpro (
34605
)
October 1st, 2013
Calling or writing the members of Congress has more impact than you might imagine. When thousands or tens of thousands of voters call, their message comes through loud and clear.
I called the following:
Speaker John Boehner
202–225-0600
Majority Leader Eric Cantor
202–225-2815
House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan
202–225-3031
Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy
202–225-2915
I got through to voicemail at the Speaker’s office and left a message. Both Cantor and Ryan’s voicemail boxes were full, so I will try again later. Congressman McCarthy’s line rang busy, so I’ll try again there too.
I won’t tell you what my message was. I will just say that it was respectful and expressed my opinion on using a government shutdown as leverage to try to kill the Affordable Care Act. If you agree that calling and participating directly in our democracy is a good idea, leave whatever message you feel is appropriate, but do be respectful. We don’t want Congress getting the idea that the people they are elected to represent are as petulant and childish as they are.
Spread the word. Share a link to this post on your Facebook Timeline as I did, Twitter account as I did, etc. If you are against the shutdown, you can use Credo’s action page to simplify calling and linking to Facebook.
Let’s pull together to prove democracy isn’t dead.
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13 Answers
Do you honestly believe they will care?
Do you believe they will even listen to it?
I have gone in to McCarthy’s office before. Never caught him there.
@ragingloli Yes. They want to stay in office, so even when someone’s outside their district, they recognize that angering people to the point they get active on social media (just like this and the Facebook and Twitter posts I mentioned) is a VERY bad idea. Republicans had a good shot at capturing control of the Senate in the 2014 midterm. This move and the economic pain and inconvenience it will cause Americans makes that almost certain not to happen now, and if it goes on more than a day or two, it will mean they will likely lose control of the House as well.
@Judi Maybe he has important things to do outside the office, like the DC Madam.
Truth is, I have met them all. They already know what I think. But GQ
Good on you @ETpro sometimes it takes one person to set precedent for others to follow….
I did this yesterday by email. Thank you.
I also emailed my Congresswoman and both my Senators and the President.
GQ, @ETpro! I have already emailed my concerns to the leadership as well as to the members of my own congressional representatives. @ragingloli I understand your doubt. I prefer action over cynicism.
I wanna’ hear you lay into them with one of your famous anti-religion rants. No really. I’d pay to hear you leave that message. You make the call, and I’ll promote it on YouTube. We’d make millions selling advertising to Atheist and Christian groups alike.
Let’s do this ET!
@RealEyesRealizeRealLies Sometimes even those of us who aren’t convinced there is a God can put the fear of Him into those who do. :-)
Emails and calls to those who want to keep the government funded and running are important too. It gives them stats to cite in floor debates and committee meetings. This graphic leads me to believe that this is an argument the GOP loses on its merits.
Is it improper protocol to swear at them?
@DWW25921 I think we can follow their own lead as to what’s allowed in criticizing someone when you disagree with them. :-)
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