Constituent Services and Response:
Why I Am Your Best Choice
As a Congressman, my most important priority is to uphold the Constitution by
voting and drafting bills that secure the rights and liberties of Americans.
My second most important priority is helping my constituents cut through
government red tape.
The government is so big now on so many levels, federal, state, local, etc.,
that it is hard to navigate. When you deal with a private company, you can
always ask for the supervisor or worst case stop doing business with them
entirely. But how can you opt out of government?
As a Congressman, I would be on your side against intrusive government. When you have problems
with government, I'm your man.
I would be the best possible choice for constituency services and response.
Why? For these reasons:
Cut through red tape: As a Libertarian I am
passionate about reducing the size and scope of intrusive government. I will
do everything I can to help you cut through red tape. Sharing your big
government problems with me will likely get two things done: first, I will
help solve your particular and pressing problem, and second, I will
immediately begin working on legislation to reduce that red tape permanently
for the future.
FAQs: As a web designer and
programmer, I would have the best online resources. I would have links and
automatic responses for frequently asked questions and services, such as
nominations to U.S. military academies, tours in Washington, D.C., ordering
a U.S. flag that has flown over the Capitol, and helpful links for
businesses and individuals looking for grants and loans or information on
how to do business with the federal government.
Community forum: I would have an online
community where people could anonymously post questions and comments and
help each other out when possible. Sometimes the best advice for your
situation may come from a fellow constituent who went through a similar
thing before. Having a single online community to share such tips would help
everybody.
Best technology: As a believer in free
markets, I would use the best technology available. For example,
Capitol Correspond
allows me to track casework we are working on for you, handle certain
requests automatically, route messages and ensure follow-up, and keep
together all documents, spreadsheets, faxes, and everything else related to
your cases.
Commitment and resources: The budget for Congressional
staff is fixed. I have an advantage over
my opponents in that I do not need large numbers of employees reading bills
and talking to special interest groups to determine which are good for them
and which are bad. I have expertise in finance and daily experience working
with legal documents. I am capable of reading the bills myself.
Furthermore, unlike my opponents, I insist on upholding the Constitution.
Many bills are simply unconstitutional, so as soon as I get to a portion of
a bill that violates your rights, I don't need to read any further.
Therefore, I can devote nearly 100% of my staff budget to hiring people to
focus solely on constituency services for you.
Track record: Compare my website to that of
my opponents. Notice that on their site, communication is one way, static,
and boring. Even blogs are usually from the campaign manager rather than the
candidate. They are one-way because they fear letting constituents speak
their mind. They are static because the candidates rarely have anything new
to say, other than to issue press releases attacking each other. They are
boring because every word goes through several layers of handlers in order
to get approved. On my site, communication is two-way or more, dynamic, and
exciting. We have an active online forum where anybody can post any message
anonymously without even needing to register an email address. I answer
every question myself. The site changes on a regular basis as I post new
materials. There are no layers of handlers between you and me. If my opponents
won't let you communicate freely, openly, and anonymously now, what will
they do if they bully their way into office? With me, you know I will be
personally available.
An experiment: Try this experiment. Email
me and each of my opponents and see how quickly we each respond, who from
the campaign responds, and in what detail. Your first problem is finding the
email address of my opponents. Good luck. You have to use a web form if
anything. The next problem is they won't respond, or will simply send an
automatic response. Your third problem will be that you get a response, if
you get one, from someone on staff. Your fourth problem is they won't
address your needs. With me, my email address is boldly printed on the
Contact page, and here it is again:
campaign@mayminforcongress.com. I answer every question personally. But
try the experiment yourself and see what happens. Create an account on
Yahoo! or Gmail or any other free email service. Contact each of us. You can
try it either with a question about an issue, e.g. Iraq or taxes or the
environment, or you can do it with a problem you're having with government.
See who helps you. Then vote for the one who does.
The final advantage is accessibility. As a Congressman, and as a candidate
now, I am of course accessible by phone and fax (206.203.2006). But I am also
accessible by email. In today's day and age, everybody basically uses email,
except for members of Congress and my opponents.
Maybe it's because I'm younger.
Maybe it's because I have a degree in Computer Science. Maybe it's because I
work in the free market, where email is everywhere. But whatever it is, I am
available by regular email. Not just by a web form.
The current incumbent
Congressman, my Republican opponent, only allows web form access for his
constituents. Often many members of Congress also insist on various validation
scripts, such as logic puzzles, to reduce spam. But all those hurdles simply
make it harder for ordinary constituents to reach their representative. It
violates your First Amendment rights. And
it reduces communication to just from those powerful lobbying groups who can afford to
learn the nuances of each web form.
I care about your First Amendment rights. I will always be reachable by
direct email. I can filter spam on my end without making life more difficult for you.
In
general, if our lawmakers can't protect free speech without
violating our rights, then we need new lawmakers, not less rights.