our elected officials dont listen to us.....they dont believe they have to

This has been my mantra for a while.
It was nice to see this posting from someone else dealing with a senator and I wanted to share it.





"GOVERNMENT OF, FOR, AND BY THE PEOPLE"
by Don Barletta http://tinyurl.com/4ojd9

1/27/05, Thursday, 11am ET:

I just completed a 10 minute phone call with Senator
Rick Santorum's office. I phoned to ask if they keep
a tally of the amount of calls they receive on any
particular issue, and I was specifically interested in
any constituent input his office had received
regarding the vote to confirm the nomination of Condi
Rice. She told me that they did have that information,
but it could not be released to me, as it was for
their internal use only. After she put me on hold
three times when she would not answer my simple
repeated question, my call was transferred to a
Santorum staffer named Josh.

First Josh told me that yes, they do keep a tally.
Then Josh told me that they keep a tally, but they
only do so after the fact, after the vote. Then Josh
told me that they have a good idea as to how much
constituent input they receive, and which way the
constituent input is leaning, either for or against.
But then Josh told me that they discount a lot of the
constituent input, if they believe that it was
generated by any activism organization of any type.
Then Josh told me that while the Senator does ask him
(Josh) which way the will of the people is leaning, he
told me that that does not determine the Senator's
vote. He told me that the Senator votes "his"
conscience, "his" opinion, and "his" will, and not the
will of the people.

So I again asked him if he would tell me if he knew
whether the will of the people was in favor of, or
against, voting for the confirmation of Condi Rice. He
told me that the constituent input that the Senator's
office received; that the people were strongly in
favor of voting against her confirmation.

Of course Senator Santorum voted in favor of her
confirmation.

So I switched the topic slightly, and asked Josh for
his opinion of government of, for, and by the people.
I told him that I thought that the Senator was
supposed to represent the will of the people. I asked
him what quantity of input or preponderance of demand
on one side of an issue would encourage the Senator to
vote accordingly. I asked "what if the Senator had
received one million requests, and that 90% of them
were against her confirmation?"

Josh told me that while that would be significant,
that the Senator would still vote his own conscience.
I again asked about the part of representation being
"of, for, and by the people." Josh told me that if I
were to ask the Senator that personally, that the
Senator would tell me that the U.S. is not a
democracy, but rather a Republic, and while the will
of the people might be of consideration, it is
subordinate to the will of the Senator. Then he told
me that if I don't like that, too bad, and that my
only option is at the voting booth in the next
election.

Having written letters, sending emails, and
telephoning my and other Senators, my Congressman, the
President, and the Vice President - and those contacts
totaling well over 1,000 in just the last 8 months
alone - I can tell you that Senator Santorum is
endemic of a much larger problem.

And that is, with VERY FEW EXCEPTIONS, no one in
government is listening to the people. No one. They
are just doing what they want. And if you don't know
by now that our government is taking America down the
toilet, then you are either a victim of government
psyops brainwashing, media collusion, or you are
simply disinterested or uninformed.

If you are aware of what our government is up to, and
you are doing nothing, then get up off your ass, and
do something. It doesn't take much time, very little
effort, and certainly no cost to email or toll-free
phone a politician. If you know better, and are doing
nothing, it is inexcusable.

It is time for all of us to rise up, start screaming,
and bombard the government and media with our demands.
Will that achieve anything? I don't know. But I hope
so. So excuse me while I go write yet another letter,
and make another phone call.

C2005 -- Don Barletta 1/27/05

I believe the evidence is stacked up in favor of this idea. There are a few possible exceptions. But, really, when you think about it, what *do* they have to fear? Unless they have a short term and are in fear of being bounced out quick. Even so, all they need to do to insure their success is to tailor their campaign so as to garner the most votes. I think their own personal ideology gets catered to rather than the will of those who voted for them.