Letter Sent to Congresspeople

[ChipsAhoya]

Would someone mind linking me up to the letter that was posted on the boards here to send to your congressperson or PMing me w/ the letter they wrote? I couldn't find it in the search...

Thanks!

-ChipsAhoya

[retleftolc]

Go to cardplayer.com they will send an automated one for you.

ret

[Mr.K]

[ QUOTE ]
Go to cardplayer.com they will send an automated one for you.

ret

[/ QUOTE ]

Automated letters get, and deserve, about zero attention in most congressional offices. If you want to influence an office, find out who your reps/senators are, and CALL THEM. Ask to speak with the staffer that handles Judiciary issues. Have the bill numbers and sponsor names in hand, and be ready to explain, in about 1 to 2 minutes why you feel how you feel. Give them your name and address, and ask for a written response. Ask the staffer what he or she is doing to make sure their office is responding to your concerns. Trust me on this one.

[BGnight]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Go to cardplayer.com they will send an automated one for you.

ret

[/ QUOTE ]

Automated letters get, and deserve, about zero attention in most congressional offices. If you want to influence an office, find out who your reps/senators are, and CALL THEM. Ask to speak with the staffer that handles Judiciary issues. Have the bill numbers and sponsor names in hand, and be ready to explain, in about 1 to 2 minutes why you feel how you feel. Give them your name and address, and ask for a written response. Ask the staffer what he or she is doing to make sure their office is responding to your concerns. Trust me on this one.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good advice. It would be wise if your not too well spoken to have cardplayers letter in front of you and have the key points somewhat memorized while you talk. We also need a better means of spreading this message throughout the forums and everyone should be spreading the word while they are playing. Providing a handy link while at a table would help. If everyone tells at least one person this will help put the pressure on our lazy-ass congressmen to take this seriously.

[hess]

http://capwiz.com/keep_it_legal/issues/alert/?alertid=8637406&type=CO

[Hock_]

[ QUOTE ]
If you want to influence an office, find out who your reps/senators are, and CALL THEM. Ask to speak with the staffer that handles Judiciary issues. Have the bill numbers and sponsor names in hand, and be ready to explain, in about 1 to 2 minutes why you feel how you feel. Give them your name and address, and ask for a written response. Ask the staffer what he or she is doing to make sure their office is responding to your concerns. Trust me on this one.

[/ QUOTE ]

How would you suggest starting the conversation? Ask what the Rep's position on the bill is? Ask simply for two minutes to state your position?

[Mr.K]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If you want to influence an office, find out who your reps/senators are, and CALL THEM. Ask to speak with the staffer that handles Judiciary issues. Have the bill numbers and sponsor names in hand, and be ready to explain, in about 1 to 2 minutes why you feel how you feel. Give them your name and address, and ask for a written response. Ask the staffer what he or she is doing to make sure their office is responding to your concerns. Trust me on this one.

[/ QUOTE ]

How would you suggest starting the conversation? Ask what the Rep's position on the bill is? Ask simply for two minutes to state your position?

[/ QUOTE ]

Good question. Look up the Rep or Senator's web site. Start with either http://www.house.gov or http://www.senate.gov. Get their main telephone line. When you call, a staff assistant will answer. Ask that person to speak with the LC ("legislative correspondent") that handles judiciary issues.

If you just start talking to the staff assistant about poker, you are not going to make any impact. Staff assistants answer hundreds of calls on damn never every issue under the sun every day. Go past them and get to the people who actually advise the member on the issue you want to talk about!!

Once you have the judiciary LC on the phone (will be an "LA" or legislative assistant in some house offices), indicate to them that you are calling about the net gambling bills, and that you are mainly concerned about how those bills treat POKER. Differentiate poker from other forms of gambling. State your case for no more than 2 minutes (prefereably less than 1 minute), and ask them to give you a rundown of where their boss (the Senator or Rep) is on the issue. Are they a co-sponsor of the bill? Will they be voting for it? If it comes up, would they consider carving out Poker -- a game of skill and part of the national pasttime -- from the covered activities in the bill. Explain why poker matters to you, and thank them for their time. Close by asking for a written response if you want one.

[SoftcoreRevolt]

And if for whatever reason you can't call, just send a real letter or email. Even if you can't articulate what you are saying as well as a form letter, it'll do a hell of a lot more good.

[ChipsAhoya]

Thanks for the replies...

Yeah, I know form letters do no good. I didn't think about calling an LC, though, that's a pretty good idea. I think I'll do that next Monday...

Is it easy enough to get through to them if you're polite and quick?

-ChipsAhoya

[ChrisAJ]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the replies...

Yeah, I know form letters do no good. I didn't think about calling an LC, though, that's a pretty good idea. I think I'll do that next Monday...

Is it easy enough to get through to them if you're polite and quick?

-ChipsAhoya

[/ QUOTE ]

They are there to take calls. And they usually get a lot of them. If you have to go into voicemail, that's fine - leave a brief message asking them to call you back about internet gambling bills. If they don't call back within 24 hours, call them back. If that doesn't work, call your reps district office and politely complain that you've tried the DC office and can't get a response.

If my old office is any indication, DC staff hate getting the phone call from the district director about upset constituents.

[Mr.K]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the replies...

Yeah, I know form letters do no good. I didn't think about calling an LC, though, that's a pretty good idea. I think I'll do that next Monday...

Is it easy enough to get through to them if you're polite and quick?

-ChipsAhoya

[/ QUOTE ]

They are there to take calls. And they usually get a lot of them. If you have to go into voicemail, that's fine - leave a brief message asking them to call you back about internet gambling bills. If they don't call back within 24 hours, call them back. If that doesn't work, call your reps district office and politely complain that you've tried the DC office and can't get a response.

If my old office is any indication, DC staff hate getting the phone call from the district director about upset constituents.

[/ QUOTE ]

ChrisAJ hit the nail on the head. The whole point of having LCs is to have them take calls and respond to letters. That is the core purpose of their job, and most of them will either be avilable to talk when you call or get back to you quickly if you leave a message.