"You have (lots of) mail!"

[Clio the Leo]

Having a man in the White House capable of both reading and comprehension sure does make a difference, doesn't it?

White House swamped by letters
The office that handles mail for President Barack Obama is so swamped that it's built up a 25,000 letter backlog that is about to be unleashed on federal agencies, a White House spokesman said today.

"We have a backlog because the volume of mail has increased significantly compared to what was received by the previous administration," said the White House official, who asked not to be named.

The comments confirmed a report on Main Justice, a news site that covers the Justice Department, which said officials at that agency were bracing for the deluge.

The White House official told POLITICO that the build-up of letters was also due, in part, to enhanced screening by the Secret Service and the Postal Service.

"Those agencies recently increased the size of their staff to manage the influx of mail. And when I say influx, it’s dramatic. For example, we got more mail in March 2009 – than Bush got in all of 2008," the White House aide said.

In a highly-produced video posted on the White House Web site in August, Director of Presidential Correspondence Mike Kelleher said the office gets 65,000 letters a week, in addition to thousands of faxes, phone calls and e-mails. "We do our best to reply to these in a timely fashion," Kelleher said in a blog post that accompanied the video, which did not indicate that the White House was struggling to handle the torrent of mail.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/joshgerstein/1009/White_House_swamped_by_letters.html

(WATCH THE VIDEO!!!!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG00mM8QEGk&feature=player_embedded#

[annabanana]

1. "more mail in March 2009 – than Bush got in all of 2008"

Now THAT is a staggering stat! The fact that this guy has gotten more Americans to engage is very encouraging.

[JuniperLea]

2. +1!!!

Staggering, indeed!

[silverweb]

3. Amen to that.

I think the fact that people know the President is given 10 actual letters each morning encourages people to write, too -- kind of a lottery to win the President's ear for a few minutes -- and people feel he actually pays attention to what they say.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

4. Bush admin's IMPORTANT emails went thru the GOP mail servers.

That might account for the significant uptick. :)

[eppur_se_muova]

8. Just might. nt

;)

[JanusAscending]

5. Gotta Love that man!

I thank God for him every day. We have a HUMAN BEING in the White House for the first time in a long while!

[question everything]

6. Wasn't McCain email ignorant?

(among other things)

[windbreeze]

7. Obviously we feel he's one of us..and approachable..

maybe someone we'd even like to share a beer with....wb

[coconut22]

9. Exactly,and a sandwich with...

some Dijon mustard on it..:hi:

[Cha]

10. He is the communication

president..I don't care who whines about him talking directly to the American Peeps.

[nolabear]

11. I just got a response from the WH this week

to a note I'd written months back. I knew it wasn't going to be on the top of Obama's "To Do" pile in the Oval Office but I did feel compelled to make a plea that they not forget mental health in all the insurance/health care brouhaha, and it was a nice response. It directed me to an area for further input for health care professionals, and I was pleased that the response at least acknowledged that they knew what category to put me in.

I think it speaks volumes that people, both fer him and agin him, feel that there's a point in writing.