Hi, all, and happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend. This morning I want to “turn the floor over” to subscriber Sherry F. Sherry wrote to me a few weeks ago to tell me she’d attended her first-ever meeting with her NY state legislators; she added that it had been a really satisfying experience. As most of you know, I’m a huge advocate of attending meetings with our lawmakers, both state and federal, so I asked Sherry if she could write a brief description of her experience with the hope that it might encourage the rest of you to try it.
In addition to phoning and visiting the local office of your legislator, one can even set up a zoom call with the representative or staff member, allowing more constituents from a wider area to attend, especially those who still need to isolate to keep well. One of our local political groups has a quarterly zoom meeting with one of our US Senators. Mostly it is a staff person or two talking to the group, but occasionally, when available, the Senator drops in for a brief visit by joining the zoom call from their office in DC.
When you set up a regular schedule with your representative, they become very aware of you and really listen to what you want. Several dozen local women formed a group over 15 yrs ago to work on local issues, and some of us would drop into our County Board of Supervisors meetings any time they were discussing something we were interested in. It was always so fun for the group to enter the Board chambers and watch all the Supervisors suddenly sit upright and snap to attention as we entered. They knew who we were, and they expected us to present well thought out opinions and options to the issue at hand. And they knew the influence we had with other voters because of our years of work in the community. So our opinions always carry a lot of weight with them.
As more and more dark money flows to our Congress Critters, and their personal wealth increases, doesn’t it seem like an extreme conflict of interest for them to be voting tax breaks for the wealthy while the “average” American bears the burden of taxation??
I see this system as fundamentally flawed, and should be called out.
In support of the week of "offensive" and in agreement with Simon Rosenberg "Get Loud," The Downtown Nasty Women Social Group created this petition to demand that our MoC VOCIFEROUSLY support and RELENTLESSLY pursue the legislation below that protects women in the face of the extremist right-wing states currently denying women access to lifesaving medication:
The Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Healthcare (EACH) Act would repeal the Hyde Amendment and lift unjust abortion overage restrictions for those who depend on Medicaid and other government-sponsored health plans.
HR27 condemns all forms of political violence targeting reproductive healthcare facilities.
HR 28 condemns the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood v Casey and reaffirm a commitment to advancing reproductive justice and judicial reform.
Protect Reproductive Freedoms! Just text SIGN PLZEMX to 50409!
I think meeting with your representatives is a great idea. Getting involved and letting them know you are paying attention to what they’re doing is good.
And meeting with representatives who don’t think exactly the way you do is good too. As long as you both operate from the same reality, and can agree that facts are facts and no one there is operating in “alternative facts.”
Which leads me to my representatives: John Cornyn and Ted Cruz.
Michael McCaul is a skosh better, but not enough to mean much.
Even if I requested a meeting with them, I doubt they would see me. As far as I know Cancun Cruz still isn’t taking appointments at any of his Texas offices.
I’ve sent so many letters to their offices, asking them to support what I know they will never support, and railing against their lies and ignorance, (not in an ugly way but getting my point across) that they probably have my name on a list with other “libs they don’t really represent.”
Every letter I have sent, I receive a stock response arguing, albeit inadequately and with no regard for truth, as to why they don’t agree.
I just cannot fathom how meeting with representatives like mine will get me anywhere except ulcer-ridden and angrier than I already am.
This doesn’t mean I’ll stop sending letters and signing petitions, I just don’t see the point of meeting with them in person.
And it doesn’t mean I don’t support others meeting with their reps. In my case tho, as is the case of every liberal in a red state, who lives in a far right loon’s area, our votes don’t make a difference.
And for that reason, because our representatives are what they are, that means our voices don’t count.
In addition to phoning and visiting the local office of your legislator, one can even set up a zoom call with the representative or staff member, allowing more constituents from a wider area to attend, especially those who still need to isolate to keep well. One of our local political groups has a quarterly zoom meeting with one of our US Senators. Mostly it is a staff person or two talking to the group, but occasionally, when available, the Senator drops in for a brief visit by joining the zoom call from their office in DC.
When you set up a regular schedule with your representative, they become very aware of you and really listen to what you want. Several dozen local women formed a group over 15 yrs ago to work on local issues, and some of us would drop into our County Board of Supervisors meetings any time they were discussing something we were interested in. It was always so fun for the group to enter the Board chambers and watch all the Supervisors suddenly sit upright and snap to attention as we entered. They knew who we were, and they expected us to present well thought out opinions and options to the issue at hand. And they knew the influence we had with other voters because of our years of work in the community. So our opinions always carry a lot of weight with them.
As more and more dark money flows to our Congress Critters, and their personal wealth increases, doesn’t it seem like an extreme conflict of interest for them to be voting tax breaks for the wealthy while the “average” American bears the burden of taxation??
I see this system as fundamentally flawed, and should be called out.
In support of the week of "offensive" and in agreement with Simon Rosenberg "Get Loud," The Downtown Nasty Women Social Group created this petition to demand that our MoC VOCIFEROUSLY support and RELENTLESSLY pursue the legislation below that protects women in the face of the extremist right-wing states currently denying women access to lifesaving medication:
The Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Healthcare (EACH) Act would repeal the Hyde Amendment and lift unjust abortion overage restrictions for those who depend on Medicaid and other government-sponsored health plans.
HR27 condemns all forms of political violence targeting reproductive healthcare facilities.
HR 28 condemns the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood v Casey and reaffirm a commitment to advancing reproductive justice and judicial reform.
Protect Reproductive Freedoms! Just text SIGN PLZEMX to 50409!
I think meeting with your representatives is a great idea. Getting involved and letting them know you are paying attention to what they’re doing is good.
And meeting with representatives who don’t think exactly the way you do is good too. As long as you both operate from the same reality, and can agree that facts are facts and no one there is operating in “alternative facts.”
Which leads me to my representatives: John Cornyn and Ted Cruz.
Michael McCaul is a skosh better, but not enough to mean much.
Even if I requested a meeting with them, I doubt they would see me. As far as I know Cancun Cruz still isn’t taking appointments at any of his Texas offices.
I’ve sent so many letters to their offices, asking them to support what I know they will never support, and railing against their lies and ignorance, (not in an ugly way but getting my point across) that they probably have my name on a list with other “libs they don’t really represent.”
Every letter I have sent, I receive a stock response arguing, albeit inadequately and with no regard for truth, as to why they don’t agree.
I just cannot fathom how meeting with representatives like mine will get me anywhere except ulcer-ridden and angrier than I already am.
This doesn’t mean I’ll stop sending letters and signing petitions, I just don’t see the point of meeting with them in person.
And it doesn’t mean I don’t support others meeting with their reps. In my case tho, as is the case of every liberal in a red state, who lives in a far right loon’s area, our votes don’t make a difference.
And for that reason, because our representatives are what they are, that means our voices don’t count.
Thanks Jessica, I'm honored.
Thank you for this! I look forward to your email every day! hoping for some action around the IPCC report released today tomorrow?