Does emailing our Senators help?

[Blue_Roses]

EDITED to appeal to fairness.

As a resident of Texas and one who has CHIPS for my kids, I along with many others were devastated at Bush's veto, but since we all know how he treated children here when he was governor, it was par for the course.

But I still had hope. Hope that something could be done. Before this heated primary, I emailed Senator Clinton with my concerns in October. She was my pick and I went to her Senate website,writing a detailed letter expressing my concern. What I got was a disappointing response. I don't know if it was one of her "aides" who fired off the email, but the response was:

"Senator Clinton gets a lot of emails. Contact your local Senator who may better assist you with this matter."

My US Senator is John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchinson. Yeah, right. They're REALLY going to give a rats ass about sCHIPS. I was pretty disappointed, but I still continued to give her the benefit of the doubt. While I do believe she cares about sCHIPS, the response gave me, "I don't have time for this now," feeling.

And no, I didn't email Barack Obama, because in all honesty, I thought she was the one who would make the biggest stink in the Senate about this issue, since she is such a big advocate of healthcare. This was way before this race even had a spark under it.

Is it worth it to contact them--even in a presidential year--or does it go into a black hole...maybe a redundant question from the "little people."

[NoodleBoy]

1. that is a little unfair.

Senators get thousands of emails and letters, and it was most likely an automated response from a system that picks out emails sent from people outside of New York.

You should have sent letters to your Senators and Rep. Even though they're obviously against sCHIPS, if they received enough contacts regarding it their opposition might soften.

[Blue_Roses]

3. they got letters too...

I wasn't the only one writing either. I have several friends and my pediatrician who were mad about the veto.

[TwilightGardener]

2. To be fair, she's still a Senator, and most Senators don't reply to non-constituents--

even less so when they're famous and in the middle of running for President. Obama wouldn't have answered you either.

[Blue_Roses]

6. that's one of the reasons

I never posted anything about this. But she touts her passion for healthcare so much, it just falls on deaf ears.

[leftofcool]

4. She did make a big stink about it

So did Obama and most of the Democrats. It just didn't do any good. Any time you email a Sentaor or Rep out of our state, you will get that response. Actually, while you have a loser in KBH for a Senator, I would have personally emailed her. No she probably wouldn't have done anything, but you could have taken your email to her, spread it all over the net to say, "see Republicans just don't care."

Left of Cool

[Blue_Roses]

7. I did email both

but got no response.

[Occam Bandage]

5. That's not quite fair to her. It was undoubtedly an automatic response to all non-constituents.

Senators represent their constituents. Obama would likely have sent a similar email.

[cali]

8. Yep

though I do know that Senator Leahy's office has responded to non-constituents. Of course, he actually doesn't have that many.

[Blue_Roses]

11. you know, and I thought about this

knowing how personal it is, I thought yeah, you're right. But I thought if there was ever a time to make known how much one cares about the fight for sCHIPS now is the time.

[displacedtexan]

9. You're blaming Clinton (D-NY) instead of Bush & TX Republican Creeps?

Ahem.

From Hillary Clinton (Oct. 3, 2007):

"With the stroke of a pen, President Bush has robbed nearly four million uninsured children of the chance for a healthy start in life and the health coverage they need but can't afford. These children are invisible to this president, but they aren't invisible to the American people or to the overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress - and they aren't invisible to me."

"I was proud to help create the Children's Health Insurance Program during the Clinton Administration, which today provides health insurance for six million children. In New York alone, almost 400,000 children benefit from CHIP every month. The president's veto today stopped us from insuring an additional 3.8 million children, including 72,000 more children in New York.

"I will continue to fight to provide health insurance to all children - as I have proposed in the Senate - and to pursue quality, affordable health care for all Americans. No child should be invisible in our country or in our health care system."
*****

[Blue_Roses]

12. Oh, Bush was

at the top of the list, but this is something we are used to with him in Texas.

[Blue_Roses]

14. I'm not blaming her

and I shrugged it off as being one of the "little people" amongst many.

[rox63]

10. Perhaps you should have emailed her campaign web site n/t

[stellanoir]

13. I went through that sort of thing a brazilian times over the

EVM issue. "Thank you for your concerns. The_________ receives so many e-mails that. . ." blah blah blah. It is so-o-o frustrating, especially when one puts a lot of effort into crafting a letter.

Even my own reps responded inappropriately. I got four or five page Congressional document through snail mail about online voting from one of them which wasn't what I had written about at ALL.

Arghhh

I found that calling the Congressional Offices of reps from other states is far more satisfactory. I say "I'm not a constituent but I am a fan. . ."

One at least gets the impression that they make note of the call.

But who knows. . . ?

[Blue_Roses]

15. Yeah, I know it's a grab

for thin air to write these things, but when they say they want to hear from you, then why not? We were frantic here and I was really looking to someone who could at least calm my fears.

[stellanoir]

16. Often when one calls the Congressional aide will at least give you an affirmation

when they say "we've heard similar concerns from others" or a oblivious denial of "I'd not heard of that before."

I really honestly feel as though most of the letters go unread.

[Blue_Roses]

17. I know and that's why I rarely write letters

It makes you think that as a constituent and US citizen, you just are really "one of the little people," and no matter what concerns you have nobody gives a damn.