Do you contact your representatives

[Pepper]

I have, in the past, contacted my local councilmember or state senator for problems and ALWAYS received help, and problems always went away. That was true for Both parties; help was accorded, no differences re: party affiliation. Not at hyper local level.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

On occasion I've contacted my congressmen. On their web sites, I found them to be fully automated, so there's a menu of issues you want talk about. If what you want to talk about isn't on the menu, you're out of luck.
BTW, no one in the US Capital gets snail mail anymore, because of anthrax.

 

[JBR]

I used to occasionally write letters to my reps. Having come of age when the internet & email didn't exist in the form we know so well today, I persisted with letters. I had the idea, whether from reliable sources or not, that letters used to be taken a little more seriously than emails.

The reps are very busy people, so more recently I've taken some opportunities to speak with my reps' constituency-office managers. And on a few occasions, I've been able to sit and talk with a rep when he visited my immediate area.

I had the odd experience of being employed for a while in a grassroots project that formed due to my MLA (member of the provincial legislature) having championed the cause the project accorded with. I've been living more or less right in this MLA's home neighborhood (his home when he was not in Victoria, where the legislature convenes). But I couldn't feel comfortable getting real cozy with government, as I didn't want my personal thoughts and actions to be too swayed by people in power. It made sense at the time, though it's kind of ironic that I avoided getting to know this guy all the time I worked in the job. Kept my distance and spoke with him maybe 10 minutes, if totaled.

 

[MountainRa]

On their web sites, I found them to be fully automated, so there's a menu of issues you want talk about. If what you want to talk about isn't on the menu, you're out of luck.

I’ve found this drop down menu to be an issue too. For some reason graft, corruption, immorality, boneheadedness are never listed as options to chose. I usually just select “Ethics “.

 

[Trade]

Yes. I recently emailed the White House, my two US Senators and my congressman inquiring as to the status of any legislation pertaining to the taxation of Social Security benefits. I received no response from either the White House or my congressman. However from my two senators I was rewarded with canned responses consisting of a paragraph of non commital platitudes most likely sent out by one of their interns. Therefore my overall assessment is that it was a complete waste of time.

 

[Irishdude]

I do not as my congressman is Hakeem Jeffries, and I love him. He has frequent neighborhood meetings which I always seem to find out about the next day; he gives ample notice, but I check my email infrequently. Neighbors who have met him are very enthused.

He comes across as a pretty good guy on TV.

I don't comment on issues, but I once had to go to my congresswoman for help with an immigration issue concerning my adopted daughter. Her staff fixed the problem and I voted for her after that, even though she was on the "wrong" side of the aisle.

 

[ChiroDoc]

Yes, I write my state and federal reps/Congressmen several times a year. Occasionally I'll write a snail mail letter if the issue is IMO huge.

I don't expect my Emails to be read by the politician, but I do think that the yeas or nays on the issue written about are likely tallied by the politician. If they get enough contacts on one side of the issue, they likely pay attention.

 

[Eupher]

Yes, I do, but I NEVER provide my phone number. That's how the interminable begging for money starts. If they send a letter or a postcard, it goes right into junk mail never to be answered or even opened.

More often than not, I provide a letter/email on the critter's governmental platform, expressing my complaint/issue/opinion on the subject at hand, always expecting some sort of lame response in return -- maybe.

My current senators tend to reply almost always. My turd federal rep fails almost always. One need not wonder what I think about that, though all of them are within (allegedly) one political party.

My state rep is a damned good guy and I know I have his attention through previous encounters, even though I'm a nobody. My state senator, perhaps not so much, but my issues have been more local than with her more widespread area of concern.

 

[JustDave]

It's been a long time, but when I did, the answers just reinforced my feeling that no one above me actually cares. Although, I think letters for or against, go into a machine which counts them, before they are ultimately ignored in favor of the wishes of wealthy donors. Small donations carry about as much weight as letters, but you will get requests for more money, sometimes on a daily basis. But never under any circumstances has any of those letters ever asked me for my thoughts.