[danielsoneg]

I was briefly skeptical, but on reflection, I like this for three reasons:

First, email just doesn't work for contacting Congress. They get entirely too much, and it's entirely too easy to get lost in the pile. It's the preferred means of communication for most of us on HN, but it's just not effective outside our industry. Phone is better, but there's nothing quite like flooding someone's office with paper to convey the will of the electorate.

Second, SendWrite is one of the companies that would be hurt by the bill - being able to generate volume like this shows the reach and effectiveness of their lobbying efforts. Sacks of cash are the backup currency of Congress - Votes are still the coin of the realm.

Finally, you guys are putting your cash on the line for this - that's a powerful statement, and I applaud you for doing so.

[OstiaAntica]

Email works better, actually. All of Congress uses web forms that categorize and route the messages directly to their CRM systems. So it is easy for them to tally and respond. Mail, on the other hand, has to get irradiated for bioterror and takes 4-6 weeks to arrive. The letters are made brittle and staff dislike handling them, and they have to be typed or scanned into the office CRM.

[chimeracoder]

Congress uses multipliers to figure out how predictive each piece of communication is (ie, how likely it is that a certain piece of communication will result in a change in voting behavior).

I don't remember the exact numbers, but the hierarchy goes (in descending order): in-person visit to DC office, in-person visit to local office, physical handwritten letter, physical typed letter, phone call, email. The multiplier attached to email is close to zero.

(The exact method varies by congressman/senator, but the relative rankings are the same throughout).

[xbryanx]

OK, so who's going to start sendperson.com?

[gcb]

If this is real, it's a great example of why this kind of government is way overdue.

millions of people affected by some law, 0.01

one retired guy pissed of by something minor, but that happens to live close by, 700

[chimeracoder]

Not exactly. The person would have to be a constituent, so he would live no further than any other people in the district.

You could make a statement about wealth and lobbying, but to be honest, those are considered in a different category anyway.

It's actually rather accurate. If someone takes the time to write a handwritten letter and mail it, it means a lot more than just clicking a DemandProgress button that has all of your personal information pre-populated. The Internet lowers the cost (effort) of communication, but on the other hand, the non-material cost is a way of showing that the issue is important to you.

[gcb]

"in-person visit to DC office" at the top of the list

[chimeracoder]

Yes, but only constituents' opinions are relevant, and all constituents must live within the district.

[pasbesoin]

I've used faxes reasonably effectively. With my former representative in Congress, I always received a written response in a timely fashion. (Swing district, and they were taken out in the last "swing".) Faxes (well, letters sent as faxes) have some of the impact of a physical letter, but can be delivered on short notice and escape the scenario the parent describes -- if that is indeed what is happening.

I've put some considerable time and thought into a few letters that I've in turn faxed.

If you have a Windows machine with a modem, and a landline, you already have a fax. I presume *NIX boxes have or can acquire software that will do the same job.

[lwat]

Actually from your description it sounds like letters are the way to go.

[KleinmanB]

If Google understands what's at stake hear, they need to stage a "government backed hijacking of their search engine" for a couple hours during peak business with a written statement explaining the evil of the bill.

[TeMPOraL]

Or just blacklist all government IP addresses for a day or so. That could bring some attention to the issue.