[glubGlub]

And nothing changes.

They were unrecognizable nobodies before, and now they are unrecognizable nobodies with more money. They will become unrecognizable nobodies again, next week, or next month, or next year, and move right along with the rest of their lives.

Conceptually, this is how legislation works. You start with politicians no one cares about, and you end with politicians no one cares about selling you out, because most of what they do is boring.

[Retric]

There is exactly one person in the house you vote for. So, rather than 535 nobodies, it's 3 people (1 house, 2 senate) you should pay attention to. At a minimum you should be able to name your congressional representatives and something about them. But, realizing people in the house have very small margins in absolute terms should embolden you as shifting 1,000 voters can swap many elections and most even vaguely competitive races are less than 10,000.

PS: Sure, if someone really annoys you then make a note to donate 20$ and to their competitor in either primary or general election depending on your party of choice.

[daveguy]

Here is the full list:

https://www.theverge.com/2017/3/29/15100620/congress-fcc-isp...

If you see your Congress people on the list you should help replace them with moderates in their primaries and call them more during the year.

Everyone needs to get to know their Congress. Even if they aren't on the list, find out who they are and how to contact them. You only have 3 of them! 2 statewide senators and your house rep. Just 3!

[logfromblammo]

My state does not have open primaries, and my rep tore his fax machine out of the wall to keep ResistBot from using it. Some of these people are like cockroaches. They scuttle into the closest hiding spot whenever the lights come on. Then they're back to crawling all over your food the instant the public gets distracted again.

And they can get away with it, thanks to safe districts.

What we need to focus on is purely algorithmic redistricting for 2020, and approval voting for all ballots. Gerrymandering and FPTP voting are deliberate impediments to political competition that must be removed if meaningful change is to occur.

Your voice will not be heard on net neutrality if your rep doesn't have to listen to you. Your voice will not be heard on data privacy if your rep does not have to listen to you. Your voice will not be heard on allowing local municipal broadband systems if your rep does not have to listen to you. Your voice will not be heard on anything so long as your rep can safely ignore you term after term after term.

So you really need to worry about your state legislature now, so you can abolish gerrymandering before 2020, and possibly also get rid of first-past-the-post voting.

[wodencafe]

Selling out your constituents isn't a part of conservative or liberal philosophy, just corrupt politicians.

And the Republican party have become the moderate party, there is no truly conservative party anymore.

[squozzer]

And more to the point -- the time to trash pols is before elections, not after. By the time November 2018 rolls around, no one will remember or care about the Net Neutrality Sellout of 2017. Which is a bummer.