Things to Keep in Mind When Writing to a Congressperson

If there is a political issue or local issue that you have a problem with one of the ways that you can get action on it is to contact your representative in Congress. Every section of the United States is covered by a specific representative in Congress. If you are considering writing or communicating with your local representative in Congress here are a few things you should keep in mind.

High Volume of Letters. All communications with your local Congressman/woman will go through their district office. There are thousands of letters that come into the office daily. Try to keep this in mind and remain patient when contacting a Congressman/woman.

Short and Sweet. Due to the large amount of letters and emails that a Congressperson gets you will want to make your letter short and sweet. Try to say everything that you want to say in as little words as possible. Your Congressperson does not have all day to read a ten page letter. You are more likely to get results if you say what you want to say and leave it at that.

Edit and Proofread. While you might feel like writing a letter in the heat of the moment make sure that you properly edit and proofread your letters. This will allow you to make sure that you are saying what you want to say and that you come off intellectually. It might be a good idea to have someone else read it over so that you can make sure your ideas are presented and elaborated on properly.

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A Quick Rant about Politicking

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 13: Senate Minority ...
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I don’t normally get too involved in politics. Most of the time I can see the merits of both sides. I guess I’m not too liberal or too conservative. I fit somewhere right in the middle. Watching the recent lame duck Congress tread water, however, really has me steamed. Here we sit in a recession and they have the gall to create gridlock.

One of the most infuriating subjects is the Bush tax cuts. I think it’s great that the Democrats want to extend them for people earning under $250,000 a year. That means that people like you and me can save a little bit of money during a time when we need it most. Even if the tax cuts weren’t extended, though, I would still see them for what they were: expired tax cuts. And yet, Republicans continue to tell us that the President wants to raise taxes. It’s not really a tax hike. It’s an expiration of tax cuts. There’s a big difference, and those people know it.

See, this is one of the reasons that I have to keep my mouth shut when it comes to politics. As far as I can tell, the current system consistently prevents itself from making real headway that would fix our economy and turn the country around. The people that we vote into office, though, don’t think about those things. They think about how they can get re-elected. While people like us keep looking to find tax tips in order to save some money on our earnings, savings and investments. I wish that these Tea Party Republicans would try to fix things, but that’s unlikely seeing as how none of them believe that a federal government even can work.

There is little that the individual can do except try to make a good life for her family. At least I have the knowledge that I’m leading a good life instead of spreading lies and causing more problems.

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Constitution as Politics

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When pundits declare that modern politicians are trampling on the Constitution the declaration might be more of plea for attention than a statement based on fact. The United States was founded based on a code of laws that applied to the era. While an element exists to elevate the Constitution to the status of a sacred cow, the document was created by humans and is flawed despite its brilliance.

The Founding Fathers would not have recognized the nation they created 100 years after its birth let alone the modern United States. Technology has caused such an inconceivable shift in the way that humans live that laws created by those who grew up in the 18th Century could not possibly be the sole basis for governance in modern times.

Despite the understanding that change is inevitable, the Constitution has become a political issue lately. The debate centers on whether the Constitution is a living document or if it is open to interpretation. The debate between strict constructionists or those with a more liberal view of the Constitution became part of the media horse race between Republicans and Democrats. While the debate might create a strong narrative the argument is more about political stance than actual concerns with governance.

How could people that saw the horse and wind powered sails as the ultimate forms of transportation conceive of a world with instantaneous communication around the world? One of the most important aspects of the original draft of the Constitution was the power granted to Congress to declare war. All the combined fire power in the history of the world up to the lives of the Founding Fathers is dwarfed by the destructive power of a singular nuclear warhead.

As a result of this change in technology the president has the power to declare war almost at will. Congress has not declared war since World War II. With their own lives at risk political leanings ebb.

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How the U.S. Government System Works

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Often considered one of the best examples of democracy, the United States is actually a republic. With a true democracy, the people have ultimate governing power. In a republic, the people have control of the government, usually through elected officials, and the head of the government is not a monarch. Examples of a republic include the United States and France.

The United States government is divided into three distinct branches: the executive branch, legislative branch, and judicial branch. Powers were given to each group in the Constitution. Congress makes up the legislative branch, the President is the head of the executive branch, and the Supreme Court represents the judicial branch. Compromised of members elected by the people, Congress is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Though the President heads up the executive branch, the Vice President, Cabinet, and other officials help run this branch of government. Considered the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court handles cases related to the Federal Government, conflicts between states, and interpretation of the Constitution.

So that no one group becomes too powerful, checks and balance exist to keep the system running smoothly. For example, Congress can pass a law, but the President can veto the law. If it passes Congress and the President, the Supreme Court can hear a related case and declare the law unconstitutional.

State and local level governments actually have significant power as well. In fact, the 10th Amendment prohibits the Federal Government from taking over any area not given to it specifically in the Constitution. Generally, state and local governments have the most influence on people’s every day lives. Since states have their own laws, constitutions, and organizational systems, policies concerning property, crime, and health issues tend to differ from state to state.

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No climate change bill a loss for everyone

It comes as no surprise, sadly, that leading Democrats have backed off from pushing what would have turned out to be a sweeping climate change bill through Congress.

Bowing to partisan pressure, Democrats instead will focus on crafting a bill that will focus on tightening existing efficiency standards rather than aggressively regulate carbon emissions.

It is disappointing to see that, once again, our elected leaders do not have our best interests at heart. And, really, what could be more important than protecting the future of our entire planet?

How many more glaciers have to melt before we decide we have polluted enough? How much more extreme do our global weather patterns have to become before our leaders decide that global warming is a problem that must be dealt with sooner rather than later?

We’ve seen how little Republican leaders care about the environment. Many of their election campaigns are funded by major oil companies. We just survived a Republican president, George W. Bush, that thought nothing of pulling out of the Kyoto Treaty and tried to convince everyone that drilling for oil in a fragile Arctic wilderness was a good idea.

Now we have a Democrat president, Barack Obama, and democratic congressional leaders who seem to think that making money through auctioning off the right to pollute is a good way to go instead of aggressively clamping down on emissions and forcing companies to adapt cleaner safer technologies for their plants.

It is reasons like this that make the Green Party’s push for a greener and healthier Earth a timely and relevant stance. We need to stop bowing to political pressure and stop rewarding executives who think nothing of destroying the planet we live on all in the name of making a quick buck. It’s obvious that our current national leadership cannot be entrusted with our future and it is time we turn to new leaders who have a long-term vision and the courage to make good decisions instead of popular ones.

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