Barney Frank: here's how to not waste your time pressuring lawmakers

https://mic.com/articles/167878/barney-frank-heres-how-to-not-waste-your-time-pressuring-lawmakers#.JnUQHPOt0

by smacktoward • 9 years ago

71 28 9 years ago

mic.com

dano• 9 years ago

tl;dr

1. Make sure you’re registered to vote — lawmakers check.

2. Lawmakers don’t care about people outside of their district.

3. Your signature — physical or electronic — on a mass petition will mean little.

4. The communication must be individual. Email, Letter, Phone call.

5. Know where your representative stands.

6. Communicate — even if you and your representative disagree.

7. Say “thank you" - to reinforce the behavior you want

8. Enlist the help of friends in other districts. - they write their own reps

mercer• 9 years ago

4. The communication must be individual. Email, Letter, Phone call.

I've heard that calling is highly preferable to emails at least (and perhaps letters), because they have to answer calls but can do with automatic replies to emails (and relegate your message to 'cylindrical storage'). Can anyone confirm/deny that?

tptacek5• 9 years ago

My understanding, from a couple of different D staffers, one of which is "firsthand" (if Facebook threads count), is that email does not count even a little bit. I also don't believe voicemail counts, or if it does, it doesn't count consistently. The basic atom of political influence seems to be the live human phone call; anything less obnoxious is ignored.

trendia• 9 years ago

Strangely, he forgot to mention:

9. Donate lots of money.

A study found members of Congress are way more likely to meet with you if you've paid them [0].

"The offices who just thought they were being asked to meet with normal constituents, we almost never got a meeting with a member of Congress, or a chief of staff or a legislative director — the most powerful people in congressional offices," says Broockman. "On the other hand, when we reveal that the attendees were donors, they were more than three times as likely to get those meetings."

[0] http://www.npr.org/2014/03/26/294361018/how-to-meet-your-con...

wheelerwj• 9 years ago

its really surprising that he forgot that because he nailed the other main ways to force change:

Be thankful and only talk to people who represent you (no one).

tptacek5• 9 years ago

I think point (1) is there not because it matters but because Barney Frank wants you to be registered to vote. Having made a _bunch_ of calls over the past few weeks, and having made some first- and second- hand contacts with staffers: I don't believe they really check anything at all, at least not on issues that lots of people are calling them about.

The impression I have is that on big-ticket issues, they're just taking a yes/no tally of calls and letters, and that's it.

Agustus3• 9 years ago

When you made your phone calls, did you call from a phone in the area code they represented? Did they ask for your zip code?

tptacek5• 9 years ago

I called my IL reps/sens at their main DC office using my 312 cell phone. I suppose it's possible they look at caller ID, but it seems unlikely, since so many Chicago residents have non-Illinois numbers.

Nobody ever asked for my zip code, although I introduced myself as a voter from Oak Park, so maybe that sufficed.

I think there is literally no chance whatsoever that your reps are somehow checking whether you're registered to vote. They barely have time to make a tally mark for your position.

kasey_junk• 9 years ago

Neither of my senators asked for locality information when I call them, my representative asks for zip code.

dragonwriter• 9 years ago

For calls (even though this is somewhat dated, because people keep cell phone numbers when they move), Senators (who represent entire states) often just use area code information to determine whether a call is from a constituent, so they don't have to ask anything.

At least, that's what a number of things I've heard recently originating from Hill staffers have said; I've worked in a legislative office but not for a US Senator, and quite a while ago.

specialist2• 9 years ago

They check. Especially the closer you get to home.

Try to schedule a meeting out of district (city, county, state, fed). Even when you're lobbying on an issue they care about (a bill they cosponsored), you'll probably need a local with you to even get on their calendar. When you're out of district, you might get an automated "contact your own rep" reply, if you're lucky.

For hot issues, as you say, it's just triage.

Actually, it's all triage. Legislating is an information processing problem with attention being the scarcest commodity.

tptacek5• 9 years ago

How would they check? They don't ask for name spellings.

Agustus3• 9 years ago

#5 is great and should be amended to include understanding what interests the representative has in taking a particular stand.

Barney Frank is the same guy who was actively fighting (1) against George W. Bush's initiative to tighten up lending requirements ahead of the Great Recession; Barney Frank was against it due in part to then boyfriend, who he helped get a job, being on the executive committee (2). Getting him to change his opinion would have been night impossible.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW5qKYfqALE

2. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/05/26/rep-frank-admits-... I know it is Fox News, but only quick-link I can find to support my claims.

ndaiger• 9 years ago

That's a specious argument.

You linked to short, mild a speech on the House floor from 2005 encouraging primary home-ownership as a means of investing, and a Fox News report about responding positively to a question about hiring a qualified ex-lover for an entry-level job 14 years prior to that speech.

Neither has anything to do with the advice or article.

masonic• 9 years ago

It wasn't just his boyfriend; it was a male prostitute operating from Frank's own house per the Washington Post[0].

[0] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinto...

JSeymourATL• 9 years ago

Some additional perspective from a Congressional Staffer > https://twitter.com/i/moments/798297193559904258?lang=en

colinbartlett• 9 years ago

This is interesting content, but the format is atrocious. How is Twitter still relevant when posts like this must be made one sentence at a time?

LyalinDotCom• 9 years ago

Thanks for linking also a great read!

coldcode• 9 years ago

I wonder if this current environment is anything like a previous time regarding influence of a voter. For example the vote on Davos seems to have been more influenced by nearly $!M than any number of communications. For my own state Rubio got $100,000 in contributions to ignore what we in the state care about.

sidlls2• 9 years ago

The most important way to not waste time "pressuring" lawmakers is this: have money, connections, and influence over those connections.

None of the items on that list comes even close to that one.

mfringel• 9 years ago

It's true that money, connections, and influence will win against an unorganized electorate. The equation changes significantly if there's a coordinated effort by voters.

sidlls2• 9 years ago

That's a fairly broad statement and entirely dependent on the context. I'm struggling to think of an example in recent history where "a coordinated effort by voters" got some meaningful traction in the sense of this article. I'm far from omniscient, though, so this could very well be a huge blind spot in my own news information maintenance.

Barney Frank: here's how to not waste your time pressuring lawmakers

Related Stories