[net.consumers] House/President's Phone Numbers

amra@ihuxj.UUCP (Steven L. Aldrich) (08/02/84)

    I saw the following reply to one of my articles a couple days ago.
    There are a few points in it I'd like to address. The article in
    question appears in its entirety, with the exception of "header"
    lines. My comments appear between the "---"'s and are pre-faced with
     "ED NOTE:".

    Without further rambling on my part here is the article.. Happy Reading.

From: werner@ut-ngp.UUCP (Werner Uhrig)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.followup,net.consumers
Subject: Re: Phone Numbers for House Switch Board & President's Office
Organization: Comp. Center, Univ. of Texas at Austin

hmmm,
	I'm torn in my reaction to this encouragement to call
	government officials ' OFTEN' or even 'AT ALL'.

	Wouldn't it be a lot more effective to write rather than
	call?  There'd be a document which could be photocopied,
	handed around, rather than a phone-memo, which certainly
	would not reflect the "IMPORTANCE" nor "URGENCY" of
	my OWN phrasing in a letter.  In a written statement,
	you can use all the tricks of convincing you know,
	from plain logic, to rhetoric and elegant style.
      -------------
       ED NOTE: While I agree it IS more effective to Write to
                government officials, calling is (or can be) 
                another viable alternative. There are people out
                there who don't have the time/inclination to sit
                down and write a letter/manifesto to government
                representitives. Calling is a faster, more 
                convient method of communication for some people.
                That's why I posted it, so that people who wanted to
                 have the numbers could use them. It wasn't meant to
                be a replacement for Written Communications.

                 I have also written numerous letters to the folks
                in Washington (D.C.) and know it is of great value
                to communicate in this manner.  Steve
  ------


	Or do you really think that a phone-memo could convince
	or even communicate as well and with as much impact as
	you can yourself, with a carefully phrased paragraph?

----------
   ED NOTE: Maybe a phone call doesn't have as much "impact" 
            as a letter, but IF ENOUGH PEOPLE CALL I'm convinced that
            it Will/Does have a significant influence on Government
             officials. Why not do BOTH?? -Steve
----------


	And, is it really reasonable to expect the government to
	have someone take your phone-calls, or even to have
	the "high official" be accessable to 'priority-interupts'
	by any and all?  At what cost to the tax-payer ?
----------
   ED NOTE: Hell yes it's reasonable! These people were elected to 
            SERVE the people, not the other way 'round. The "high
            official" may not be on the other end of the phone, but
            will probably see a summary of calls/letters/etc at regular
            intervals. It can't cost THAT MUCH to have someone available
            to answer the phone. Besides who knows, you may even get to
            speak with said "high official" on Rare Occassions. -Steve
-------------

	So, expect a flunky on the phone, who mutilates any message
	you are trying to send, when he takes down a few notes.
---------------
   ED NOTE: It has been my experiance that the "flunky" usually repeats
            the major/main points of your message BEFORE they hang up
            and ASK YOU IF IT'S CORRECT. Try it some time and find out.
--------------

	Of course, if your name was Mr.Big.Money.Contributor or
	Ms.Big.in.the.Media, you might expect to get through or
	at least, get your call returned by Mr.BigShot.in.the Govmt,
	but for the rest of us .......????

------------------
    ED NOTE: I'm in complete AGREEMENT with you on this point.
             Seems like many (most) elected officials only have
             time for the special interest and/or PAC crowd.
             That's why I consider it important to call/write
             often and hope others do also. Maybe if enough of US
             get involved, we can effect a change in this situation.
              Opinions anyone??? -Steve
------------------


Admitted, I never tried, so I am willing to learn from you all.
And writing gets me 'junk-mail' where Mr/s. Governement.Person
reports on his/her deeds which fits the image of me supporting.
I have the suspicion, that my Congressman keeps a profile of me
according to what causes I write about and support, and then has
his computer mail me only those letters, which fit my profile.
So as to only tell me about things I would support and keep me in
the dark about my representatives 'mis-deeds' and 'mis-votes'.
Can anyone confirm this?

-------------------------
   ED NOTE: Do you suffer from symptoms of "paranoia"?? "1984" is 
            a "state of mind" not a specific year/period in history.
            Orwell didn't even choose the title if I remember right.
            Big Brother only exists in "fiction", at least in THIS
            country. [ Right?!?!? :-) ]

	Werner	(calling my phone gets you a recording MOST of the time)
-----------------
   ED NOTE: Really, what groups/movies do I get? What's the number so I can
             call and get my "recording"? How often do you give this stuff
            away?? I'll be sure to get my recording fast before they are
            all gone. Is this a contest or something??? :-) 
------------------


    Well that about covers it I think, if anyone would care to comment
   on the above either send EMAIL to IHNP4!IHUXJ!AMRA or POST a reply
    to "net.consumers" or "net.politics". I will try to respond in a 
   reasonable amount of time. Thanks for your attention, have an 
   INTERESTING day/life.

                          Best Regards,
                         Steve Aldrich
                        ihnp4!ihuxj!amra