DISQUS

Jennifer Leggio · 1 year ago

It's not a people power fight, but if the people understand how to lobby relative to their Congressperson's soft spots it could make a difference. For instance, I live in Silicon Valley, where tech businesses are the bread and butter of our economy. Pandora shutting down or other streaming music services being compromised due to the lack of time necessary for negotiating more fair fees, could impact our local economy and wellbeing. I posed this message to Rep. Mike Honda in an email and voicemail last night -- and heard back today. My message was received. How will he vote? I don't know if I can influence that. But I got his attention. Sending the message to people that only a big-time lobbyist can be heard is akin to saying "only one vote doesn't count." That breeds apathy. Passion can win; self-defeat only breeds loss.

ontarioemperor · 1 year ago

You do have a good point that some Congresspeople will listen more than others, depending upon their interests. I hope that my comments weren't construed to discourage people to contact House members on this. I was merely trying to point out that there are other interests at work here. This is probably why the message of "change" resonates so strongly in this election - whether your preferred candidate can achieve change or not, there is a thought that there are too many of these back-room affairs that are jamming up the legislative works.