Landrieu's office just hung

[WyLoochka]

up on me - twice!!! All I said was I have some comments to make about her position on Alito. Hadn't even made any yet. Person asked are you from Lousisiana, I said no but I am a person who will have to live in a dictatorship with Louisianans and everyone else from the other 49 states for the next 30 years if Landrieu ..... bzzzzzzzz hung up.

her phone in dc 202 224-5824

New Orleans phone [phone]

Baton Rouge phone [phone]

edited to add local office numbers

[Nikki Stone 1]

1. Tell them you are calling for a NOLA friend who is in a FEMA trailer

and has no phone

[still_one]

2. That is outrageous

[sui generis]

3. call back and get their name

It's one thing to say they have to keep that number open for state constituents, but to just hang up is unconscionable AND unethical.

That aide needs to be fired.

[Vinnie From Indy]

4. I guess you should have said "yes" to being from Louisiana

n/t

[debbierlus]

5. Always be prepared with a local address and zip

Or, they don't care on wit about what you have to say....

[Toucano]

9. Good Senators do care.

They and their staff recognize that they are 1 out of 100 people in the country responsible for making decisions for the 295,000,000 people in the country, not simply the state they represent.

If you must lie, however, try to make sure the name is a registered voter. I've known them to check these things.

[WyLoochka]

10. I can't bring myself to say

something that isn't true. I think they should listen to ALL Americans. Alito would be the Supreme Court justice for ALL of us - not just Louisianans. It is so ignorant to be so parochial at a time like this. jeez what a sell-out dumbass she is.

I am still shaking I am so furious. I almost regret donating to her when she was in that tight run-off election, but the other $%^%EY%%^^%$ was worse, I think. I've called Republicans on this Alito thing and not even the Repub staffers have hung up.

[hang a left]

18. here's a zip code...

71270

[DemInDistress]

6. BUSY But I'll keep trying isn't she part of that gang of 14?

[bullimiami]

7. maybe they are swamped with calls from out of state and are ubergrouchy

still no excuse for being rude to anyone.

[Wordie]

20. Remember that they are still overwhelmed in LA with Katrina.

I called last night and left a message, and I noticed that their phone message was all about trying to help people devastated by Katrina. It was rude to hang up, but I'd give them a pass.

Here's email contact info for Landrieu, maybe that's a better approach:

724 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

Web Form: http://www.landrieu.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

[Toucano]

8. Landrieu is a UNITED STATES Senator!

from Louisiana. Her job is to help determine polices of the UNITED STATES, not just Louisiana.

Your experience explains A LOT of the problems with her. She doesn't understand the FUNCTION of her JOB!

[Freddie Stubbs]

11. But her job is to represent the voters of LA

Why should the larger states (which have a lot more people to make phone calls) be able to dictate how the Senators of smaller states vote?

[brook]

14. Our voices don't count.

Our money was okay though.

[Freddie Stubbs]

23. Your voice is supposed to count with your two Senators

[bleedingheart]

25. well I notice it doesn't count for my two senators......funny isn't it

I call Santorum and Specter and I get the brush off...hell at least Santorum's office will take my name and number...Specter's office doesn't care and hangs up.

[Freddie Stubbs]

28. Then y0u need to work to get them out of office

Santorum is up for reelection this year.

[brook]

33. As has been pointed out...

members of Congress represent the people of this nation. Blocking the appointment of Judge Alito is a national issue involving shredding the Constitution. All voices should be heard.

I repeat - Don't come begging me for money when your ox is being gored and then tell me to get lost when I politely ask you to do your part to save the nation's ox.

edited:spelling

[WyLoochka]

16. The question is:

Why should we let Bush become a de facto dictator, over all 50 states, in the vain hopes that the Republicans who want to "starve the beast - and drown government in the bathtub" will fork over some real dough for the re-building of the gulf?

They won't do it. And trading off the Constitution in the hopes that New Orleans will be funded enough is not a good deal in my book. Remember, they promised money to New York after 9/11, they passed legislation to do it. As we know what was promised didn't materialize.

I was not attempting to "dictate to a small state." I'm from a growing, but small red state myself - Arizona. I called because I thought she might be interested to know how poorly her ridiculous, illogical reasoning played among people from other states who had donated to her last campaign, as I did.

I donated to her campaign, primarily so we would have a filibuster vote when we needed it. And NOW is when we need it. I realize that she doesn't know that - but I thought this was the appropriate time to tell her what motivated my donations to her campaign.

[bleedingheart]

17. because people in the large states help fund the projects for small states

that's why...

Because when small state senator's vote to screw Americans...it affects not only the people in their state but those in the large states...

[Toucano]

19. No one said anything about "dictating" anything. But the Senate is not

the House. The Senate is small and deliberative for the very purpose of considering the impact of its decisions on the nation at large, and now the world.

It was never the intention of a Jeffersonian Democracy that Senators would merely lick their finger and raise it to the wind to decide how to vote, whether the wind be in D.C or home. They are expected to seek information from a variety of souces, weigh that information appropriately, and reach a conclusion that their intellect, experience, and wisdom dictate is the BEST DECISION.

Considering 53% of the money raised to put her in office came from outside Louisiana, it should follow that she consider the opinions from outside Louisiana with at least SOME weight.

Her votes on CAFTA and the drilling in ANWAR will both benefit the shipping and refinery industries in LA. While that's a resonable consideration and important, the value of the prosperity it may bring pales in comparison to the damage these votes will do the the nation and the world, not to mention the people who helped get her elected (ie LABOR).

How a vote affects constituents is only part of the equation with a value of about 2/5 of the decision.

[txindy]

21. She needs to listen to the opinions of all Americans.

Her office has to at least listen to the broader constituency that a United States senator really does represent. If she doesn't like that, then she needs to be a state senator.

[ISUGRADIA]

12. Don't vote for her next time

:)

Seriously, for all of you getting peeved about this. They're getting a lot of calls. Home state residents have priority. You are not her constituents, Louisianans are.

[WyLoochka]

27. No Senators office has

hung up. Not one. And I have called them all, including Repubs.

If we could limit the effects of an Alito appointment to Louisiana that would be one thing. She could try to her heart's content to wrangle some kind of deal out of the Repubs, even though whatever she thought they agreed to would likely be secretly changed in a Repub only, dark of night, conference committee. And if it weren't changed in the conference, Bush would just have someone write up a "signing statement" saying the law says whatever he wanted it to say. And we know enough about him to know he doesn't give a damn about Louisiana.

Alito's confirmation affects all of us in the other 49 states as well. I don't want to live out the rest of my life under a dictatorship because of a hurricane. A hurricane is NO REASON to throw away Constitutional checks and balances. That is just damn selfish on Landrieu's part and causes me to take a very dim view of Louisianans in general.

[Freddie Stubbs]

29. Just becasue they are being polite on the phone

doesn't mean that they are actually taking down you information.

[Marie26]

13. That's rude, but

if you aren't from a politician's constituency, they probably don't have a whole lot of interest in what you have to say. If they get a flood of calls from out-of-state, it will probably only annoy them. When I interned w/a politician, we had to carefully note each call & letter from a constituent - but the Congressman didn't keep track of out-of-district calls at all. Maybe people would be better off calling their own Senator (even if it's a Rep.) to express their outrage - that Senator might not agree w/you, but at least he has to listen to you.

[jsamuel]

15. that's bull, you can call any senator you want to, they are hanging up on

people who are calling a US Senator to express thier opinion.

They sit in the US Senate, not the LA Senate.
They are US Senators, not state Senators.
If they don't want to hear other peoples opinions who are not from LA, the least they could do is just make a note of it and listen anyway.

[Marie26]

22. That'd be nice

I'm not saying what they should do, just saying what the policy probably is. Yeah, she's in the US Senate, but we don't vote for Landrieu - only Louisianans do. Therefore, her office really only has the obligation to hear her own consituents' concerns - that's who she's representing. And especially if they're getting a ton of calls, if the choice is between listening to someone from New York or someone from Baton Rouge, the local person will be heard every time. And maybe that's how it should be. But I think they should at least politely say "we are not taking out-of-state calls" or something rather than just hanging up on people. I just really wrote to urge people to call their own Senator - your concerns will be taken much more seriously, even by a Republican.

[txindy]

24. My senators have to listen to me? Could you please tell THEM that?

Because my two don't listen to anyone who isn't a rich wingnut. And, no, they don't especially care if the rich wingnut is from Texas or not. I guess that only matters to certain senators (i.e., some Democrats).

[Marie26]

30. Maybe pretend to listen

Listen - kind of the same way my boyfriend listens to me when football is on. They probably do mostly care about rich contributors, but at least they have to give the appearance of listening to your concerns. You won't be hung up on. They'll log pro & con calls on a particular issue. You'll probably get a letter in return thanking you for your opinion. So the call is given some consideration - while out-of-state calls rarely do. At this point, though, most politicians do care only about their big donors (whereever they are) rather than any individual constituent.

[txindy]

31. Um, I do know EXACTLY how they respond and, no, they don't even pretend

I've been dealing with these wingnuts for years. Kay BigHair might pretend every once in a while, but Cornball certainly doesn't. You're talking in generalities and what a senator's office should (perhaps) do. However, if they don't at least listen to their national constituents, they belong in the state house, not the US Congress. If they don't have the ability to look at both their own states and all others on a national scale, then they are in the wrong jobs and need to seek work on a more local level.

Myopia in the senate not only doesn't work, but is seriously harmful to our country.

[Marie26]

32. True

I'm speaking in generalities, and also my experience interning for a Republican (ducks thrown objects). They used to at least pretend to listen, whatever the person's party, but things have gone downhill so fast maybe they aren't even pretending to represent constituents anymore. My sympathies on living in Texas - it's really frustrating to have politicians that don't represent you. At this point, the myopia doesn't even seem to be state/national as much as K-street donor/non-K street donor. Which is why democracy simply doesn't work anymore.

[jschurchin]

26. Try this...............

I am from New Orleans and am a displaced resident.
WTF if the repukeians can lie, a little one of our own won't hurt.:evilgrin:

[huskerlaw]

34. Use a LA Zip Code

Go here: http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown.jsp

Enter the Lousiana city of your choice. Swipe a zip code. Call. Say you're from LA. ;)

[Plaid Adder]

35. Fax, that way they can't hang up on you. n/t

[Freddie Stubbs]

36. It will just wind up in the garbage