The changes going on don't really affect me, do they?
Only if you live on another planet.

Why should I care about what happens to somebody else?
You think the CEO's don't stick together? They know what affects each one individually affects them all. If one of them get his/her assets seized, it might happen to all of them.

They are sticking together and most of them are sitting pretty. You didn't stick with anybody and look at you.

This is why you should care what happens to somebody else.

But one person can't really do anything, can they?
How many people do you know who are in the same boat as you? If you and all the people you know let you feelings be known, then there are a lot of people speaking out.

This is an election year. The politicians will listen to people in an election year. If they don't , you might vote for the other person.

Look at it this way; one vote changed control of the United States Senate.

OK. By now you either understand that you can help change things or you don't give a damn. If you don't care go do something else, but don't be whinning when you can't retire. If you care, read on.

OK. What can I do and how do I do it?.


The first question most people have is "Will the elected officals listen to me?"
The answer is YES. This is an election year and they want your vote. PAC's and others can give as much money as they want, but if people don't vote for them they don't get elected or reelected.

OK, I want to tell my elected officals what I think, but I don't have any idea what to do. Tell me how to do it step by step.

1. Find out who your US Senators and US House of Representative member(s) are.

2. To contact your Senators you can use the Senators web page on the Senate web site.

3. Scroll down to your state listing and select the Senator you want to contact. We suggest you always write to both Senators (each state has two Senators.) They both want to hear from you about your concerns.

4. You will then go the the Senator's web page. Somewhere on the web page is a link called something like "Contact Me", "Contact Senator X", "E-mail Me", etc.

5. To contact your Representative you can use the Write Your Representative Service on the House web site. This link will tell you which district you are in and who your Representative is.

6. Fill out the form and click "Continue to Text Entry Form" button.

7. The next step may vary depending on the Representative. You may go directly to a form where you can type in your message or you may go to the Representatives web page.

If you go directly to a form, just fill it out and click the "Submit" or "Send Your Message" button.

8. If you go to a page that says "You are in state_name X district and are Represented by The Honorable XXXXX." simply click on the Representatives name to go to the their web page. There will be a link somewhere on the page that says something to the affect of "E-mail Congressman XXXXX." This link will take to a form you can use to email your Representative.

Some points on writing your Senators and Representatives

1. Start off by saying something nice about them or something they have done that you agree with. Everybody likes to hear good things about themselves.

2. Be concise. Don't ramble. Tell them what you don't like and why you don't like a bill.
Always give the bill number and the title. It is also a good idea to give the section number of the bill you like or dislike. This way they know what bill you are talking about.

3. If you are a constituent, tell them at the very beginnig of your email. An email from a constituent carries more weight than an email from someone outside their district.

4. Don't use profane language and don't insult them. Nobody likes to be insulted.
Be polite. Remember, talk to them the way you want to be talked to.