[matterhorn]

The government of the United States is divided into three branches: executive, judicial, and legislative. Federal laws require either the agreement of the legislative and executive branches, or overwhelming support within the legislative branch alone. (A president can sign a bill passed by both houses of congress or he can veto it. A veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in each chamber of congress.)

Therefore, petitioning the White House for a law is ineffective and reflects a lack of understanding of constitutional government in the United States. Instead, try contacting your congressional representative or one of your senators.

[cmaher]

And the president can help to influence policy. For 100,000 online signatures, the White House gives an official response. It also tells the government what people everywhere want That seems a lot more effective than calling your congressman in Montana.

Maybe you'll recall this petition: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/make-unlocking-cel... and how a bill was announced soon after. Sure, the petition didn't cause the bill to come about, but it helped to show the will of the people and open up government a bit. Is that ineffective?

The government is far more complex than the Constitution would have you believe.