Elected officials apparently have no ears

It is a strange thing when the elected congressman and women in DC do not even have time to send pre-fabricated responses to all of us asking them not to pass Health Care reform in its current incarnation.

I was just watching a man on television talk about how his congressman would not return his phone calls, emails, or letters. He said “every time I contact him he just runs away”

Thats about how I feel today about my local elected official here in Virginia’s 5th District. This is honestly the first time I have written to a congressman and not at least received a pre-fabricated response? Usually when you write an email or even a letter to a congressman you will receive something re-written in response with generic statements about the official positions the congressman has taken on the issue raised in the correspondence.

The lack of response is an interesting factor as it means one of two things. Either Congressman Parriello’s staff has chosen not to respond directly to my request, or they are actually going to respond with something more than a canned bit of garbage. I somehow highly doubt it is going to be a serious response.

I think its time our elected officials stopped having an opinion on issues. It is time they stopped having a “position” on the issues. They need to do their job which is listening to the voters in their district and representing their interests on the national level. It is high time we remind those we elect just how powerful we voters are.

I can tell you one thing, I am going to remember that Congressman Parriello did not write me back, and depending on how he votes, will determine the level of my response in how much I help those who campaign against him.

I think the Lynchburg Tea Party in the 5th district and or the Republican party could use some of my SEO tallent in the next campaign. I am certainly not going to be able to unseat a congressman by myself, but I don’t think I am alone in my feelings about our local representation.

How many elected officials take the same response to the public when someone disagrees with them? How are we holding these men and women accountable to us?

How active are you in your district? Which district are you in? How can we force politicians to own up to their actions in washington and create a better dialogs with voters?