I called every U.S. Representative in the country. Here were the responses I got.
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 22 май 2024
- Offset your carbon footprint on Wren: www.wren.co/start/mrbeat/ The first 100 people who sign up will have 10 extra trees planted in their name!
Thanks to Wren for sponsoring this video.
In mid-July 2022, Mr. Beat called every voting member of the U.S. House of Representatives, mostly pretending like he was a constituent of their district. He collected their responses and here are the results. For a more detailed look at responses, here is the spreadsheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
It's a working document, meaning he'll keep updating it if he gets more responses.
Produced by Matt Beat. All images and video by Matt Beat, used under fair use guidelines, or found in the public domain. Music by @ElectricNeedleRoom(Mr. Beat's band), @Dyalla, and Kwon.
Here's an annotated script with footnotes: docs.google.com/document/d/1r...
For business inquiries or to send snail mail to Mr. Beat:
www.iammrbeat.com/contact.html
/ iammrbeat
Connect with me:
linktr.ee/iammrbeat
Mr. Beat’s website: www.iammrbeat.com/
Mr. Beat’s second channel: / thebeatgoeson1981
Mr. Beat's band: electricneedleroom.us/
How to support Mr. Beat:
💰Donate to Mr. Beat for great perks on Patreon: / iammrbeat
🤑Donate to Mr. Beat on Paypal: www.paypal.me/mrbeat
☕Buy Mr. Beat a coffee: ko-fi.com/iammrbeat
“Free” ways to show support:
✔️Subscribe to my channel
⏰Turn on notifications
👍Like, share, and comment on my videos
Buy Mr. Beat merch:
matt-beat-shop.fourthwall.com/
www.bonfire.com/store/mr-beat/
sfsf.shop/support-mrbeat/
Buy Mr. Beat's book:
amzn.to/386g7cz
Amazon Storefront: www.amazon.com/shop/mr.beat
Affiliate Links:
Useful Charts: usefulcharts.com/?aff=12
Kids Connect: kidskonnect.com/?ref=iammrbeat
Ekster: ekster.com?sca_ref=444709.jvllq3EEOm
Shampoo: rb.gy/vlqeym
Acne fighter: rb.gy/a6dnb0
#uscongress #ushouse #politicalscience
I’ve always thought the House of Representatives was the part of the federal government MOST directly connected with ordinary people. After this experience, that’s not true at all.
I assumed I would get way more responses.
I do get why Representatives can’t make much time for constituents. The average Representative is supposed to represent 759,000 people. But as I said in my follow-up video to calling every Senator, I KNOW these Representatives make time for their campaign donors, and I KNOW they make time for lobbyists who bribe them. So I ask again…why can’t they make time for us?
This whole experience of calling every member of Congress has caused me to question everything about how our federal government is supposed to function. I used to naively believe that we truly lived in a constitutional republic, just like I used to teach my students in Government class. But these Representatives don’t seem to represent us much at all.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:44 The bill I focused on
12:32 Responses
15:14 My takeaways
17:19 My own Congressman's response
19:06 My final takeaway
Did your Representative respond?
Patreon supporters, Locals Members, and Channel Members exclusively get access to the full interview with Representative Mark Takano (CA-41): www.patreon.com/posts/73847735
Also, don't forget to check out Wren! Offset your carbon footprint on the site by going here: www.wren.co/start/mrbeat/ The first 100 people who sign up will have 10 extra trees planted in their name!
Do you think you’ll call every U.S governor for a video?
Mine hasn't responded via phone, however I have gotten to meet my representative on multiple occasions by heading into her campaign office when she was in the state and not Washington
My representative (Fred Keller) is pretty good at responding, and I’ve found his office/staffers pretty helpful
If I were still an intern, I would have responded. I left not too long ago. I would have talked to you about anything.
I'm in Dan Kildee's district, in fact I just saw him today campaigning and shook his hand, even though I don't donate. I didn't see his name pop up anywhere. You should run for office and I know you've been told that before.
I'm currently in a public policy course with Saginaw Valley State University that is VERY much trying to change people's minds about "lobbyists don't bribe" stereotype. But every time I questioned them I got a 'well you just don't understand' or 'we go where the votes are to ensure our interests are met' (which is EXACTLY the point).
So thank you for doing this
We need more BORING politicians!!
Politics needs to be more about helping people and less about putting on a show.
Thanks for the great video Mr. Beat
When I was in one of my first semesters of college I got to talk to a reporter who was able to report during one of the meetings of one of the houses, I forget which. But he went on about how these two officials were arguing back and forth, yelling at each other, storming out of the room. He followed them out and found them laughing about it outside the room like nothing happened.
@@XarmenKarshov it's almost like it's all planned
That's right! Politics isn't a goddamn sports game! it's been turning weird in the last few years
If that were the case, why do the more "boring" politicians do a better job at hiding their corruption?
@@anibalhyrulesantihero7021 do they?
Next challenge: call all 2,980 members of China’s National People's Congress
Yes let's actually do it
Edit: didn't a mem of the people's Congress get escorted out of the house during some really formal ceremony that's never usually have interruptions like it did, it was scary to watch
@@thebutterfluffman6855 that was Xi Jinpings predecessor as President of China, Hu Jintao (I probably butchered their names)
One does not call the Politburo…..the politburo calls you…..also guy if you’re reading this you did not butcher the names at all
@@thebutterfluffman6855 yeah it was literally the former president
@@fdfischer why was he escorted out never followed up on that just saw headline and some text a couple weeks ago
I’m currently the intern for Congressman Bill Foster in the House - I remember speaking with you! Unfortunately, we don’t really take into consideration non-constituent calls just because we get SO MANY calls & letters with constituent concerns - and we as interns have to respond to all of them. Literally every single one. (The letters you received back aren’t actually written by the representatives, but their staffers). But regardless thanks for your call! I was trying to keep calm, I’m a fan 😂
Wait, but how do you know what the Representative would say? Why even bother electing them if they won’t answer letters personally?
@@flanagamer as a staffer you work with the representative to draft responses for issues and then send them out and alter them for each individual case. In a perfect world the representative would sit and reply to every constituent personally, but between constant travels between the district and dc, filing legislation, attending events, voting in session, media appearances, etc it’s not possible. But that’s why staff exist, they’re just an extension of the rep lol
@@flanagamer Representatives work for 750,000 people on average. Would be kinda ridiculous for them to be on call for each and every one.
Whether we should have more representatives so that they can actually be responsive to individual concerns is another matter.
Is the congressman aware of the issues his constituents call / write about? The number who call, their arguments for/ against, etc.? It seems like your job is to insulate him from his constituents. But I may be reading this wrong
@@nicksurfs1 I think it's more that the system of representatives was instituted when there was a MUCH smaller population in the US. When a representative could literally take a few days in a horse-drawn carriage and talk to just about every voter who had something to say. Not like that anymore.
Thanks for your dedication to providing education and awareness Matt despite the incredibly tedious process - it's admirable
No it’s not admirable, it’s mis-education. Would you really want your REPRESENTATIVE to REPRESENT someone outside of your district? If you want to effectively advocate for an issue, get your friends outside of your district to advocate to their REPRESENTATIVE. 10 calls to one REP can only result in one vote for your issue. Ten calls to ten REPS can result in ten votes for your issue.
@@quixote5844 uhh what?? Are you kid?
@@Wikkid124 Am I kid? Are you kid(ing)? No I’m not. Mr Beat touts himself as an expert in governance. Or is he just trying to be provocative? Calling Reps that don’t represent him is futile. They don’t care what he thinks, they only care what his constituents think, as they should. Would you like your rep to listen to me? Of course not. We live in a REPRESENTATIVE democracy. That’s why it is called the House of REPRESENTATIVES.
@@quixote5844 dont try to say beat is a bad person, he asks them questions that every us repersentive should know, he also asks them questions from people from the state.
@@Wikkid124 I didn’t say he was a bad person, just that he was misleading people like you who don’t know how our government works. Sorry for failing to educate you. Go ahead and waste your time calling people who won’t listen to you. Many Reps got tired of your pleas and say right on their website that they only accept comments from their constituents.
I only called my representative once. I had tried to get into the Air Force but was denied for medical reasons. My representative petitioned the Surgeon General of the Air Force to personally review my case. It was nice having my representative actually work for me above and beyond simply casting votes.
Did you get in?
Did you get it????
Sorry for the late reply - ultimately, no, I didn't get in. September 11th happened shortly after and who knows what would have happened if I had enlisted - maybe it was a blessing in disguise ?
If anyone cares the representative was the late Jim Oberstar
are you serious? this really happened ?
oh just saw your reply,
Such a great example of the participation in democracy we need! And I celebrate your work to make Election Day a federal holiday.
I'm not even an American, but WOW amazing seeing you here
Can you please talk with LaTurner and tell him not to ignore his constituents
New Yorker here, not NJer, but I am so proud and grateful to have someone as compassionate, enthusiastic, responsive and intelligent as you in Congress. (And funny, but that's admittedly less of a necessity.... just a great extra feature!) A shining light IMO. You, sir, rock. Best wishes to you.
yooooo the surprise Cory Booker in the comments! That's so cool!
Hey Mr. Crooker! Why did you vote against making prescription drugs cheaper by importing them? We all know the answer to that.
This reminded me of story my dad told me, one of his super conservative coworkers once told him to vote for Dennis Kucinich, my dad was shocked. He asked his co-worker why, his coworker said, "Well he's my current rep, I called his office once for help with my pension and he personally answered the phone and solved my issue in one call. He'll have my vote forever I don't care about the policy." Good constituent service is a MUST!
Understandable
I remember him from living in Ohio, shame he didn't get in for prez
Well that's the kind of thing an elected official should do, so I completely understand that
That’s how it was with Claire McCaskill and Missouri for a while. We would call her and her office should put us on with the legislative advisor for the issue we were calling about. The LA actually cared and could tell you Claire’s policy. I even had little debates with them sometimes. It made a no feel great because it was at least well considered. Missouri really loved her until she started going so hard for Hillary.
I caucused for him when he ran for president! I'm a conservative too; I actually switched from independent to Democrat in order to caucus for him. He's the only politician I've ever supported in my 20 years of being able to vote.
I once called my representative in tears after a school shooting in my state. I was so desperate and sad and I left a super plain voicemail with just my first name and I practically begged him to do something about it. A few weeks later I got a letter to my house from him saying he was actively introducing bills and trying to work with other representatives to do something and he appreciated me calling him. I have no idea how he found my home address but I've been a huge supporter ever since.
Which district was it?
I was the intern who answered the call for Hakeem Jeffries office! It was great talking to you. I also recognized you. That legitimately made my week. I had seen your Senate video and was praying I’d be the one to answer your call when you called our office. But yes members usually only are responsive to the concerns of their constituents as they don’t have the bandwidth or staff to focus on the country as a whole. Also with most offices you should request a response because many will just put your opinion down and don’t automatically respond. And you probably already know this, but the phones ring all day so the members definitely do not have time to answer most calls. Also interns are no longer unpaid. They give each office a stipend to pay interns with now.
Awesome! Well it was wonderful to speak with you. Thanks for sharing that information. We all benefit from hearing it.
thank god interns are getting paid!
I interned for Hakeem a while & used to know him back when he was a much more local politician. Great dude, unfortunately district interns when I was working were unpaid but it was still loads of fun. Hope your internship is going well!!!
Is Hakeem Hank Johnson’s love child?
Interns know just as much or more as their representatives or senators. they are great resources!
Honestly, I can understand Representatives outside of Kansas not sending you a response. The House is most connected to the people, but specifically to the people of their district.
No Kansas Reps responding is absolutely inexcusable though.
I am most disgusted that my own Congressman, 3 and a half months later, has yet to respond.
Meh, Kansas is a red state. What did you expect?
@@emperorfrozenbillrulerofan8767 Kansas has bad management but it can do better when we vote better.
"We are not red states nor blue states.
We're the United States."
- Robin Williams, Man of the Year 2003
@@emperorfrozenbillrulerofan8767 not having meth heads pooping all over the street.
Fellow Kansan here, I'm not surprised our reps didn't respond as they seem to mostly play towards the parties they represent and try to distance themselves from Brownback as much as possible (which I don't blame them for the latter for tbh)
7:30 As someone who has worked in a Representatives’ office (Andy Kim), it is IMPERATIVE that we do not make assumptions of the congressman/woman’s views. This is likely the most important thing they teach you aside from being non-aggressive on calls.
Edit: I made that letter at 14:14 haha
Is it a congressman or woman? Can't switch sides
@@a.b3203 for all people that work in congress in general
We always had a document that was broken up into sections based on issue and had the senator's stance/quotes on it. And yeah, first thing the CoS stated was "we work in a customer service industry".
@@a.b3203 ... Really?
@@wabbajeck How very so american... I think that's an awfull thing to say. True you are serving people but you shouldn't see them as customers (also reply to those who don't vote for you yet) and it adds a lobbyist ideal that is clearly superfluous...
You know, the fact that each office is getting tens of thousands of calls and emails each month really drives home the fact that there are not enough representatives. It's really hard to represent a block of voters when there are so many of them that you can not take a phone call to listen to their concerns.
They aren't very representative, are they?
Yeah, the US are very populated, more representatives are needed.
If we did that, then urban areas would actually get appropriate representation and rural areas would stop controlling all of us with an iron fist. Low population states have a massively disproportionate amount of sway compared to high population states. The electoral college is an example of them getting far too much say for so few people.
you can’t hear to every one, can you?
@MagicPants Except the electoral college is okay because while a Wyoming persons vote has more weight, their vote is relatively unimportant seeing as how they control 3, fucking 3 electoral votes only. Yall always point out how they have more weight in their vote without looking at the whole pocture
Can't wait for the next one, where you call every U.S. citizen!
only 300,000,000 something 😈
Times 1000
I'll start with calling my mom...
@@iammrbeat
- "Hi, mom, I'm Matt. Just wanted to say I love you"
- "Alright, sir, uhhh... I'll make sure to pass your message along. Have a nice day"
@@peescoop few more zeros there pal.
You should try calling them all again next year when it's not an election year and see how different the response rate is. That will give you an idea of how much time they spend campaigning for re-election as opposed to listening to their constituents. (my guess is probably too much)
Yeah but that's a lot of work lol I hear you, though.
I'm not sure the response rate would be better though. When it is an election year they probably make more of a point of at least making sure the phones get answered so any constituent that calls at least FEELS heard. When it isn't an election year...who knows. The interns may be free, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of Representatives are saving some money in the "off season" by cutting back on paid positions in their offices. It is worth noting that if a Representative doesn't use their entire budget for personnel (which is around $1.4 million/year) they can utilize the rest for other purposes...so if they pay their staff less, they keep more for themselves. Keep in mind, this is money appropriated from the taxpayers for the express purpose of paying Congressional staffers, not the Congressperson's person funds...
Also, both the House and the Senate are constantly taking recesses during which most of their members go home to schmooze their local power bases and donors. I'm not sure how these lapses in proximity to their offices affects the general attendance and performance in said offices, but that would be an interesting experiment as well.
In a non-election year, the response rate should be even worse.
@@iammrbeat is there a way you can upload a compilation of the representatives whose offices responded? I’d like to see what your experiences were with a couple of my local representatives!
The response rate would likely be lower in an off-year because rep's don't have to pretend to care about constituents unless its an election year.
I've worked for a Congressman's office. I was answering phone calls, logging comments, reading mail, etc.
Thank you for being kind and polite on the phones. It goes a long way for those interns that may have answered the phone.
I remember emailing my local congressman years ago and figured the automated email would be it; but actually got a phone call from a staffer about a month later and even got invited to a BBQ party that was being hosted at the reps house the following weekend (I didn’t go and still somewhat regret it).
Who to call next:
- All 50 Governors
- Every State Legislator in Kansas (or in the country!)
- The President, Vice President, and members of the cabinet
Personally, I hope he goes for the president and co.
- GHOSTBUSTERS!
Definitely not getting a real response from the president or any cabinet member now or in the next 50 years at least. Even the press pool that follows them around 24/7 can't get 1 question per reporter. So yea, you gonna have to donate millions to even get 1 meeting.
@@LeeeroyJenkins You're unfortunately right, but it doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. The more calls they get, the more out of touch they will seem.
Governors would be interesting
Hey Matt, I worked as an intern in the house this summer, and thanks for this video! It’s a tough job but when you called it made our offices day, if you have any questions about the job/day in congress I’d love to help!
What's it like being a intern?
Woah! You knew I called! My mind is blown.
What came to that you were able to be an intern?
How did you become one, And what training/ background did it take?
Did Congress declare Martial Law and are we going back into Covid Lockdown?
Why Biden didn't use Jan 6th to execute every Republikkkan for treason back on Jan 7th 2021?
The 6% response rate from Senators’ offices is actually very impressive when you take into account the average number of constituents represented by each senator. That said, their staffers/interns have one of the most thankless jobs in government.
Agreed. Unpaid work should be illegal. The staffers do a lot. More than the representatives usually.
No, it's not impressive. In Britain most members of Parliament go back to their constituents once a week and basically hold office hours where anyone can personally come in and speak to their MP face-to-face about basically any issue. The country with a literal King and unelected House of Lords is ironically way more responsive to their constituents than the so-called Republic that is the USA.
But unfortunately Americans just accept their situation because they generally have almost no global or historical perspective so they think that getting a 6% response rate in a representative republic is actually impressive.
MPs have an average constituency size of 200,000. Compare this to a representative’s average constituency size of over 700,000. Also consider that the country is much smaller. You can travel from Westminster to anywhere in the country by train in a single day. MPs in the Home Counties can commute to London by train. The entire UK is about the size of the state of Oregon. Compare this to a country where Reps have to travel by plane to places like California and even Alaska and Hawaii. You are correct that MPs are on the whole more responsive than US Reps, but it’s not a function of effort. Further, MPs are the only level of representation for most people other than local councillors. There are the devolved assemblies, but they don’t have federalism. The average American has a representative and 2 senators at the federal level, plus a state rep and senator, for a total of 5. The average resident of the UK has only 1 MP, and some have an additional 1 MS/MSP/MLA. Finally, constituency surgeries (town halls) aren’t as common as you suggest, and you also run the risk of having your MP become a minister or even Prime Minister, in which case you’ll never see them again. In fact, your MP doesn’t have to live in your constituency or anywhere near it. Tony Blair was from London and represented Sedgefield in the northeast. Sunak did use some of his billions to buy a house in his North Yorkshire constituency, but you’d be hard pressed to find him there. So, on the whole, your comment is a poor characterization of the differences.
To the original comment, senators also have massively larger staffs than representatives. As you say, the staffers are the ones doing the responding and the senators simply have way more of them.
I honestly wish that interacting with representatives throughout government was a lot easier. It's kind of no wonder that people tune out and don't engage with politics how they should.
There really should be a system set up where we're able to sign in with our voter registration and interact on a social media like site. It'd certainly be much easier than traditional forms of communication like making a phone call or writing a letter, and it'd honestly just be nice to be able to interact with my representatives. It'd also be a place where potential candidates could interact with their would-be constituents during campaigns.
Talk to state reps. Local officials. Federal has a lot power, sure, but your local politicians can get a lot done as well. And they are easier to get in contact with
Honestly not a bad idea. And, no, if anyone was thinking it, twitter does not count.
In Britain, most Members of Parliament go back to their constituents once a week and basically hold office hours where anyone can meet with their MP face-to-face and let them know their issues. Obviously that's harder in the US because of the distances but something should be said about how the country with a King and House of Lords is ironically way more responsive to the average citizen than the republic USA
Hi Matt,
I worked as an intern in the House for a long time, answering phones the majority of the time. I still work in DC, however, in a different capacity. I’d really like to thank you for the video.
It is a frustrating process, and I understand how difficult it can be to get into contact with your representative. I personally tried my best to get the messages transferred as quickly as possible, but I would still get calls from frustrated constituents that their opinions have been left unanswered. It also depends on when you call, if the House is in session or not, other factors as well. Do not lose hope, things are modernizing the the offices to make getting responses easier and quicker, albiet slowly.
Again, thanks for the video, I think it highlights a very important part of political involvement. Keep doing what you’re doing.
Sincerely,
A Former Intern
Thanks for sharing that!
As someone who's involved in this process working in DC, what are your thoughts on Matt's closing remarks "lately it seems like they (our representatives) don't represent us at all"
They only represent thier campaign donors.....
I live in Mark Takano’s district. I wrote to him regarding an issue. It took a while, but he called me personally to speak with me about it. I honestly wasn’t expecting it because of the reasons you mention here, but I was genuinely blown away by his willingness to take the time to speak with his constituents. He seems like a rare representative who actually represents.
He can’t answer the question, “what is a woman?”
He's a gender freak
@@Chris-dm9eu You're a linguistic prescriptivist. maybe educate yourself.
He's a libtard
@@nikey2110 so what is a woman?
I have to give a shout out to former Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. He was the only Senator from the four states I've lived in that would always send a response to any inquiry I had.
I really enjoy this video, for multiple reasons. One, you did the heavy lifting for a lot of people, and two, you showed me, and likely many others, how easy it was to just. call. I have incredible anxiety when it comes to politics as well as speaking on the phone, and this gives me confidence to actually call my own representatives. Granted, now I know how likely it will be to get anything done, but, you know. Thank you! Greetings from Kansas :) We share a representative.
Mad respect for Rep. Takano. His district is D+23, so there is no way his seat will ever be threatened, but he still took his time to meet with a relatively small RUclipsr from a completely different state. -It's things like these that give me hope for positive impact in Washington, D.C,- and I envy his constituents for having him.
Edit: Just watched the video, never mind about the hope part...
Takano was such a chill dude. Ya know, he used to be a teacher.
@@iammrbeat I didn't. That explains a lot. I can't imagine how hard it is to take care of kids and being humble at the same time.
To share a story about Mark Takano, in 2021 I was leading a canvassing operation to set appointments for Covid Vaccines in several of his cities. His office ended up reaching out to me, and the Congressman ended up coming out to our office to thank our canvassers for all the work they did. When he was with me he asked all the detailed questions that some may consider boring, but he got down and dirty with the specifics.
Mark is a great Congressman and I’m glad he showed so much interest in the health and safety of his district.
@@BillyOfOrange I am not a religious man, but you are so blessed.
I think your logic is pretty backwards, the fact he's in a safe democrat district is probably why he can afford to take the time to address the concerns of a nonconstituent
I can say that I have received three responses from Mitt Romney himself (not just an aide) all three times I've written to him. Thoughtful, genuine responses too.
that's so cool, are you from Utah? I've always wanted to talk to him but I'm not American
ritt momney
Respect
Respect
Hi! For what it’s worth, the staffers were likely asking for your address in the district not to vet whether you actually lived there, but to add you to their database/list for upcoming mailers from the rep. At least that’s how it used to work.
This was great to see and thanks for your dedication on that! We contacted our state representative (Missouri) a while back who we disagree with politically. We ended up talking to their Chief of Staff for over an hour about a wide range of issues and we felt that any concerns we had would be considered or they had a thoughtful reason to not consider it based on constituent response. One of our concerns were the lack of services in our area to take care of people. The Chief of Staff said to give out their number to anyone in need and they would personally connect them with an organization. It was an interaction we weren't expecting! We did not get anywhere near the same response from our other representatives though.
I once wrote to my Congressman (Gerald Connolly, VA) via snail mail. I asked him if he could help speed up my adjudication on my clearance paperwork. I got a quick response via mail and he moved my paperwork to the top of the pile. I was super impressed. I voted for him when the time came and told all my friends to do the same.
Damn
Services for Kentuckians
connally definitely falls into the "boring congressman trying to do the right thing" pile I think
Politicians should not be praised for doing personal favors in exchange for political gain but rather should be judged based on their policies and willingness to fight for them.
@@a_single_white_female politicians should fight for their constituents, not just for policies
I did this job for my state senator in California. In California there are more people per state senator than per representative, so it was quite a busy job. Anytime I took a call we had to look them up in the voter registration database to make sure they were a constituent, otherwise it would be unfair to the actual residents of the district. Many calls were bored boomers who would call often, others were coordinated by organizations. Only rarely did we get constituents with unique and passionate opinions.
I laughed out loud at "bored boomers who would all often"
This is some of the most useful and informative content I have seen to accurately describe a fundamental issue with our system, while also showing a concrete example of what to do about it.
Really appreciate you walking the walk on contacting everyone, its incredibly helpful, motivating, and inspiring to me personally.
This is a genuinuely important mission to me. If you're wanting to do a series of talking to state US State Senators, or other videos about voting education and political stuff; I would love (and I'm sure that others would to) to help and divide up the work.
This is such a cool idea man. I fucking love this.
Hey there, former hill staffer here. Every office is equipped with Q2, which allows a Rep to, literally, look up if you’re a constituent or not and if you’re not a constituent your odds of getting a response is slim to none because we’re so busy responding to actual constituents.
Can you explain that a bit more? How does it know? Because I'm military and it'd be a bummer to get flagged for calling from DC even though my home town is in Oregon
@@naverilllang there’s different degrees depending on how anal an office wants to be. A lot of time they’ll ask for your zip code and if it’s not in their district they’ll just hear you out and disregard any requests for info.
Sometimes they’ll take your name and it’ll search via voter registries & other information which is mostly public information and contain a lot of, like, “hey who currently lives in this house”
If you live on base and put your address as that base your rep is probably intimately familiar with the notion that a lot of his constituents are temporary
Wanted to support you. As a former Hill Staffer I'd have to ask non-constituents, if you thought it was fair if your Representative was answering questions from voters that did not elect them. If it's a hot button issue the constituents voices must have priority. It's certainly nice to go an extra mile to answer non-constituent calls and mail, and I think if that is an expectation then the system needs more Representatives and more staff. If anyone disagrees, that is fine.
I think it's a problem if constituent calls and mail go unanswered.
I double checked my location and sent an email to my rep to beg them to tell trump not to leave the world health organization during COVID, they didn't have the decency to even do a form letter. Just tried to get me to sign up to the reps website to donate money.
@@bensweiss - Its probably not as big a deal as Senators. There are only 100 of them, so their vote has more impact, whether I'm from their state or not.
Hi! I interned for two House reps and we're basically taught that if the person doesn't live in the district to basically ignore the message. If you do live in the district, it's marked in the database under an issue/bill and that's basically it. In my experience if the office is looking for examples or needs ideas of issues/bills to target then these calls are used.
All calls are basically answered by an intern or staff assistant. Depending on the member the call volume can be huge and the calls can last a while depending if the call is case work based/extensive in general. I've heard some voicemails that were threatening and all those get forwarded to the Capitol police lol.
But I will say that staffers work incredibly hard and genuinely care for constituents.
Yeah I figured that. Thanks for sharing!
I was also told to not speak on behalf of the person, so you can’t dunk on interns who refuse to answer about the rep’s position on an issue… one slip up to the wrong person (such as a RUclipsr with millions of views) and all of a sudden your (edit: soon to be former) boss is on the front page of the Fox News or CNN website for being a flip-flopper.
If you've got all that in a spreadsheet couldn't you at least use something like mail merge in word to send out "personalised" responses thanking people for the call and explaining that their feedback will be used? You've already done the hard part.
I was an intern (while he was live streaming!) and this is spot on
damn whats it like interning for pure evil
You rule man. Seriously this takes a lot of dedication and time and for you to do this is amazing.
I worked as a constituent services intern for a house member - and our policy was to let callers that had an out of district area code go to voicemail, and would call back/input opinions into the system later on
You should have told them you were a lobbyist for Hallmark Greeting Cards looking for a new holiday to cash in on. You'd have gotten way more responses.
True lol
Mr. Beat went above and beyond the call of duty in the name of democracy.
I don't think it's above and beyond to expect your representative to actually respond to you.
@@alonkatz4633 considering he only has one representative though, he did go above and beyond by calling them all
@@seanscott2677 In that sense, you're right. It's a huge shame that he basically doind other people's job, though...
All in the name of education :)
I wish a Time-traveler went back in time to Modernize/Industrialize/Secularize Bronze Age Egypt
The US is a fucking mess
When I worked for a congressional candidate in the last cycle Rep. Takano showed up to stump for us. I was just blown away by his work ethic, commitment to his constituents, and just what a normal mensch of a guy he is. In between his stump speeches he would handwrite personal letters to his constituents and take the time to talk to lowly organizers about what he envisioned getting done in the next Congress, all this over the roar of a congressional campaign office. A great guy with a great staff!
you are kinda my hero and you've given me a great idea for what to do with my spare time. I contact my local reps frequently. But I am now inspired to step up my game. I applaud you.
Mr. Beat, here is a video series suggestion: Compare different cities around the world with the same name. For example, St. Petersburg in Russia and St. Petersburg in Florida.
I love this idea!
@@iammrbeat Thank you!
@@iammrbeat I need a Georgia, Georgia, and South Georgia compared video
Naples, Italy and Naples, Florida is another very striking example
@@iammrbeat Moscow Idaho vs Moscow Russia
I have no doubt you would've gotten a great response from Antonio Delgado had he still been in the House. I emailed and called his office many times and I frequently got direct responses, and he also often hosted Facebook video conferences with constituents.
Glad to hear it. He seems like a great guy.
Mr Beat! Appreciate you so much in this life man!!! Thanks for all the inspiration and knowledge
Wow, I respect you as a youtuber. This is very well done content. This is what I feel like one would definately want to try some day, but never take the time to. To see you do it, satisfies that urge. Thank you much!!!
Ah yes, the US Legislative process is exactly like the “I’m Just a Bill” video. What an amazing response rate of 100%!
I used to believe that crap when I was in high school lol
@@iammrbeat Huh? OK, now I REALLY need a thorough analysis of Schoolhouse Rock political songs.
@@iammrbeat It used to be a lot closer to the truth. Everything changed under Newt Gingrich in 1994.
I'm an Amendment to be, yes an Amendment to be,
and I'm hoping that they'll ratify me.
There's a lot of flag-burners who have got too much freedom,
I want to make it legal for policemen to beat them
because there's limits to our liberties
at least I hope and pray that there are because those liberal freaks go too far.
Why can't we just make a law against flag burning?
Because that law would be unconstitutional. But if we change the Constitution-
Then we could make all sorts of crazy laws.
Now you're catching on.
What if people say you're not good enough to be in the Constitution?
Then I'll crush all opposition to me,
And I'll make Ted Kennedy pay.
If he fights back, I'll say that he's gay.
Good news, amendment, they ratified ya. You're in the US Constitution.
Door's open boys!
@@havable how did newt Gingrich change that? Genuinely curious.
You, sir, are an excellent citizen. The kind of citizen that The Founders hoped for.
Time for your daily dose of ketracel white!
Happy to say I intern at one of the 18 Congressional offices that got back to you! I was not the one to pick up your call but nonetheless, I know how hard these offices work. The caseworkers are the backbone of the district! It is very sad however, that you only received 18 personal responses.
This is something that they don’t teach us in school. Just something they mentioned to me during my government class but actually seeing it in action is awesome.
Thanks for teaching the world and fellow Americans
I was writing a paper about addiction and overdoses in the area I live so I got curious and called my Congressman (Kevin McCarthy), State Senator, State Assemblyman, County Supervisor, and Governor. Surprisingly the best response I got was from the Governor’s office which you would think is the hardest to reach.
Fascinating...
Love Kevin McCarthy. Grew up in his district and had the honor of meeting him when he viewed my photography at an exhibit.
Thats great!
I’m not surprised about that personal letter from Peter Welch. He’s an incredible legislator and has been known to hold multiple town halls with constituents. He also doesn’t try to score partisan political points, while at the same time fighting for progressive causes.
And it looks like now he'll soon be a Senator!
@@iammrbeat Indeed, because Patrick Leahy is retiring.
I've always liked Vermont politicians
and this is why i'm against the idea of term limits
imagine if you get a good politician who's good and well liked and actually useful?
@@noaht6338 no good ones since Coolidge.
This is interesting. I’ve never phoned a representative but have sent many emails to both my member of parliament and member of the provincial legislature and never gotten anything but a form response. Very frustrating that the people who ostensibly work for us have no obligation to even respond
Dear Mr. Beat, I admire this effort so much and am saddened by the lack of response you received. Not surprising but a letdown nonetheless. One of the things that have brought me personal hope in the political system is turning to my local city government. I live in a suburb of Portland Oregon and to get to know the city I live in. It has been amazing. I watch every city council meeting and write to my officials every now and then. I get responses most of the time.
I have used my modest experience with my local city leaders as a message of hope to friends who have lost such hope with elected officials. Showing that there is good stuff being done. You just have to look in different places.
I would love to see you do a video on your State, County and City levels of government to show folks how localized politics may be different :)
Much love
I live in CA-10, and you sir are inspiring me to contact mine and see where they stand on issues and vote accordingly. Mad respect for you taking the time to do this.
Do it! And thank you sir!
Yes! Awesome, that's probably why he did this
Rep. Walorski's office was responsive and quite helpful to my mother and brother in March 2020 when he was stuck in Peru due to the travel situation. Although my mother otherwise disliked Walorski and never voted for her, it is nice to know that her office at least had people doing good work.
I'm so glad to hear that!
I use to live in her district as well, and regardless of people's opinion on her political stances, I've always heard she was one of if not the most responsive people in congress and actually talked to her people.
before she died my friend won a photography competition in our district and she got to meet her!
Mr. Beat, thank you again for putting it out there in terms that no one could in any possible way, not understand. As I said to you in a previous comment, this is the time for involvement not negative response. Use your vote for your voice. Get involved.
This is a fantastic video. Glad I watched it, thank you for sharing. This is one thing I've always understood and learned since I started taking civics courses in HS (literally 4 years ago lol) and that is the government as a system that is run by imperfect people will end up just growing and growing as a giant pile until the people essentially are phased out. And with that, the best possible life at this point (since other solutions are a bit rash) is to just turn off the news, find a nice area of land that's your own and let the junk pile fade into the abyss that is 99% of the world outside where you live.
I ended up contacting my Representative’s State office location, not the DC office, for them to look into a federal matter for me earlier this year.
I spoke with the staffer, explained my issue, and was sent a case work form for their office to investigate the matter.
I got a response about a month after, explaining their findings. I was glad that I actually got a response, and the answers they had was reasonable.
When you need to contact your representative, contact the local office in your district as opposed to the DC office.
Good advice!
That's a really good point. You're most likely to find actual constituents calling from the local number rather than the DC number
i did this work!!!!! district office staff work so hard for their constituents
He better have his channel explode in popularity for this kinda stuff. This is such a dedicated way to prove a point.
I do it in the name of education and to promote civic engagement. VOTE! WRITE! CALL! CHANGE THE WORLD!
@@iammrbeat I always felt intimidated at the idea of calling. Hearing how those calls actually go down helps, so thanks! I'm gonna call.
Great work and an excellent conclusion! I concur.
Great video, thanks Matt Beater
That’s awesome and frustrating. Great video!
My family [across two states] wrote a few years ago to our representatives and senators regarding a family member’s legal status.
[Background information: 15 years ago during the US Citizenship application for a family member the IRS came back saying they had no records of taxes for the individual, and the person’s personal copies they had were lost in a flood. So the application was sent into purgatory. Couldn’t even re-apply 10 years later.
25 years ago, our grandmother was banned from entering the US due to a clerical error. The immigration officer marked that the grandmother entered without a visa, but she did have a visa. So upon her planned departure date at the airport (that was within the terms of her visa), she was told she was no longer allowed in the US.
We paid lawyers on two separate occasions to plead our case, even had to fly family to different states for hearings. After years and thousand of dollars spent, hundred of miles travel for the court date….the judge didn’t even hear the case and rejected it.]
So we wrote to our representatives to help with the situation, or guide us. The family member was going through chemotherapy for stage 3/4 cancer, and the grandmother was getting up there in age and was developing cognitive issues. We just wanted to reunite them since they had not seen each other in 25 years.
We never heard back from our representatives and senator(s).
I'm so sorry you had to go through this. It's honestly unbelievable. Is it okay to ask who this representative was?
Representatives can be VERY helpful for that kind of stuff. Thanks for sharing your story with us.
@@alonkatz4633 My Chicagoland family wrote to Dick Durban and Mike Quigley. I am not sure who my Nevada family wrote to.
How sad. All you ever hear is that we must be active participants in our democratic republic. That is very disillusioning.
@@RespectfullyCurious Thank you very . It infuriate me that some as high-profile as Durbin didn't budge.
I live in Vermont and it doesn't surprise me that Peter Welch would reach back out to you, almost everyone here respects him even in a polarized country I've heard not one personal attack on Welch by anyone in the state. Thanks for making this video Mr. Beat!
Vermont is a pretty cool state ngl
Ahh Vermont! I grew up there! I've tossed around the idea of moving back someday now that I'm married and have a kid, but my family had moved south when I was a teen about 15 years ago, so I feel like I don't actually know the place that well. We live in Utah right now and I feel like, from everything I've heard, VT would just fit us so much better. If only all our family weren't on the opposite side of the country!
Love your channel I’m blown away by the history, the reality, and especially the honesty and attention to detail
I love this project you did and surprised you got the feedback and responses that you did. Nice work! and glad to see that you can get in touch with them if you try hard.
As a constituent of AR-1 I’m pretty impressed that French Hill responded to you. He’s always been a man who’s more then willing to talk out his differences in opinions with the people
He seems like a great guy honestly
Mad respect to you for doing this!
Thank you!
This was really interesting. Thank you for your hard work to put this video out. I am way more invested in my local city and county politics than state or federal for this reason...
It would be interesting to do this with your state government potentially! I know it's not as fancy, but it would be neat to see the difference in response rates! When I was in high school, we got to meet both our district's state assembly member and our district's state senator at the state capitol! The senator pretty much just said hi to us and he hurried away. But our assembly member had a fairly long conversation with us and let us ask her questions! I asked her how she was protecting the environment and she told me about how she used public transportation when possible and drove an electric car. Big shout out to Penny Bernard Schaber from Wisconsin!
I worked as an intern in the US House for a while back in 2008. It was a really cool experience! During the debate over the bailout, though, we had so many calls, emails, faxes, etc. that there was no way to get back to people. We basically just kept a tally of yes vs no and if they lived in the district then we would get their contact info.
I do love how you called the responses from legislators “personal responses”. Hate to break it to ya, but I wrote many “personal responses” in my day. I even signed things for my boss when I was working as an aide in the state house. One time we were visiting someone’s home and I saw a note from my boss framed on the wall. It was a birthday greeting that I had written and signed on his behalf. Didn’t have the heart to break it to them that my boss didn’t even know that it was their birthday and definitely didn’t have time to write them a birthday message. So, basically, hate to say it but those thank you emails probably didn’t get a second glance from the congressman. Their Legislative Director probably proofread it after the intern who answered your call wrote it.
Oh I already knew ;)
Awesome work Mr. Beat.
Thank you!
Absolutely eye-opening video 😮. Great content 👍
I am impressed with your perseverance in all your calls. I know how much work it is to call/email members of Congress. I agree with your results. I find the same results with my two Florida Senators and Representative.
I did an internship in one of the german states parliament (Landtag) in the liberal party and answering peoples letters and questions was basically my main job. When talking to the regular staffers, they told me that for a smaller party like them, answering and staying in contact with people writing them is very important because every vote matters. They didn´t treat it like annoying work that "had to be done", and were really serious about the concerns of regular people, and i´m not just talking about the staff, but especially the parliament members themselves, who read every letter and take them seriously. Sometimes they make a call with someone, mostly people who represent some kind of a club and ofc interest groups.
I think trying to get in contact with politicians gets much easier when it´s not on the federal level, at least in Germany.
Nah federal anything is hard cause their heads are so far up their asses its not funny. They just forget they're regular people like us and that's the main problem.
I have to agree that congresspeople should only focus on their own constituents.
Well it looked like Mr. Beat's Congressman failed then.
Love this video man! Thank you for this.
In my opinion I think this is a great showing of how much our representatives really respond to people that are truly trying to get there representative to listen to concerns. Yes some calls or letters are far fetched but still.
I love how Bryan Steil actually references your RUclips channel in the last line of his response - whether it was due to the intern you called relaying this to him, or because of genuine interest himself, those sorts of personal touches on any level, I imagine, really help citizens to feel connected to the state bureaucracy!
Great video, Mr. Beat! You deserve a lot of respect for taking the time to call all 435 members of the House of Representatives to make your voice heard!
What up Abe, big fan of your work. Gettysburg Address was 🔥
@@drugstoredilemmas7962 Thank you!
@@abrahamlincoln937 I wish we had someone like you in politics right now. We really need someone to unite the nation.
It took me more than 14 hours!
@@iammrbeat Those 14 hours were definitely worth it!
I appreicate you taking the time to make this video. Nicely done!
i used to intern for a representative and like you said they are extremely busy with meetings and do not talk with constituents unless they come into the office physically. Staffers and interns are usually the ones who would write responses and letters to the constituents, but the issue is that there are limited number of staffers and their time is often used for legislative manners. Therefore many phone requests do get tossed out for efficiency sake. if you were a constituent and in needing of services, I would recommend you called their district offices where they handle most of the constituent paperwork.
These type of videos are immensely impressive! Thanks for all the dedication and putting in the work for the rest of us!
Thank you for being an activist! America needs you
Another great one, Mr. Beat! Thanks for being a good example and putting in the grunt work to show us how to (attempt to) contact our representatives.
AYY MY REP IS IN THE 4%!!! Not a fan of Bryan Steil, but I appreciate that he responds to EVERY SINGLE ONE of my messages.
Good job. Appreciate this documentation of the attempt.
I think it's amazing that you're doing with me shining a light on how this works! Some feedback I would offer, though, is that you are obviously leaning on one side of an issue, so it's not so surprising that people who support that issue would be more likely to respond than those who aren't. What might have been better would have been to call each office with a comment against what their position was, and then see what the response rate is. Despite the constituency issue, people are also going to respond differently to people who obviously agree with them versus people who obviously don't.
For example, I wonder if Cory Booker would have still responded as positively as he did if you were to, say, state that you were against abortion.
Often, the interns aren't asking for extra information (like addresses) to prove that you live in the district, they're probably just trying to narrow down the search when they try to log your bill comment. In a single representative's district, there are often many different constituents with the same name
Mr beat you went above and beyond on this video calling each one and not giving up even if they didn't answer. Keep up the great work.
I went to capital hill to talk to congress members from my state. I only was able to talk to ONE directly and one very briefly in the hall. It is madness over there. Reps are constantly running about to vote and senators are super hard to get a hold of. Staffers were kind to talk to but for some of them they seemed tired and ready to move on. It’s a very interesting environment. Despite the frustration of not talking directly to a congress member, direct action/communication like this is helpful!!
Love seeing the Jayhawk! I've split time at KSU to become a english teacher and KU for grad school. Not surprised Jake LaTurner hasn't reached back out. Heck, I can't even get state reps to respond when they sponsor bills aiming to gut rights in our state. I appreciated the video Matt- thanks for the informative video! Have a great one!
I was wondering if Mary Peltola of Alaska was in office when you made these calls so I'm glad you addressed that! Hope the congresscritters are more responsive in the future.
Yeah that special election hadn't happened yet
I don't blame them I mean the general apathy and anger people express these days is downright violent. We need to care about people more and it starts with you. You're doing awesome by trying to connect with those who are important deciders of our nation. A little goes a long way
Omg I appreciate your work on this so much !
It would be rlly cool to see you do something similar for state/municipal government as well! I feel a lot of people focus on what the federal government does and forget the massive roles these offices can play (which also happen to probably be more response although that’s an assumption lol)
I learned many years ago that as you go up the government ladder that it gets more and more difficult to actually get responses from folks, especially responses that aren’t generic forms just being reprinted and sent and either just filled with platitudes or nothing to do with why you contacted them. My city commissioner returned my call himself whenever I had a question about something a person at work mentioned was to be discussed at the city commission meeting. Likewise with other city officials who have been great at getting back to me whenever I have contacted them about something (99% of the time it’s a question about something; 1% of the time its a compliment or complaint about something; so maybe that’s why I get responses back?). My county commissioners and county officials likewise are good at getting back to me with answers. Either themselves directly or a member of their staff. At the state level, I’ve had mixed results. Some state senators and representatives have contacted me themselves and talked to me or invited me to their office or informed me of a townhall meeting they’d be doing in the area and could I come there so they could answer my questions in person. Others sent out generic responses or I only talked to a staffer (who was generally super friendly and helpful in their own way). Beyond the legislature, either a staff person or the official themselves have been good at responding back and answering my questions being as concise as they can. Some have even made suggestions and recommendations of where else to go or who else to talk to regarding my issue. At the federal level, my representative’s staff has usually conveyed the message and often it’s them who provide answers back, same with the senators, if there’s a response at all. Same with the President or Supreme Court justices (although to be fair judges/justices at other levels of government are the same and I think it’s predominantly because no one actually usually contacts them with questions/inquiries so I don’t actually mind the nonresponse). With other government officials at the federal level you’ll definitely get their staff and be directed to the correct agency. In most cases they’ll even connect you to an employee at the agency most apt for answering the question.
I will admit that I’ve found that due to most people’s desire to be helpful, that asking questions about something rather than contacting to state a compliment or complaint is usually the best way to elucidate a response that directly answers what you contacted them about. Stating your position on an issue, complaining about something they’ve done, complimenting them on something they’ve done, etc aren’t things that generate responses. Maybe next time you call you should inquire about something. Granted at the federal level 99.99999% of the time the staffer or intern will just provide the answer, but sometimes the federal official themselves will respond with the answer. But at the state and local levels it’s a lot more likely it’ll be the official instead of the staffer/interns. I mean, it depends on the state of course. I’m from the state that’s your southern neighbor so between Kansas and Oklahoma it’s probably not that different, but folks living in states with a lot more people like California, Texas, Florida, and New York it might be different. I can’t say what it’s like there as I don’t live there and I’ve never asked family living in any other state about their experiences with their governments. It can also vary by city I’d imagine. I live in a city with 50,000 people in a county that has 60,000. I’d imagine that in cities and counties with higher populations that it could be different from my experience. I know my family and friends that live in places with much smaller populations have a different experience from me in that they don’t write emails or make calls, but just chat with their leaders while going about daily living and running into each other at the grocery store, the gas station, etc, etc, etc. I don’t think I have ever run into any of my leaders like that.
I intern for a Congressman and I remember speaking to you!! This is so funny. Also, we as interns do get paid actually, so we aren’t unpaid!
RUN FOR CONGRESS IN YOUR DISTRICT. I learned that a lot of times the politicians pick their voters, and not the other way around. Great video, shared this amongst my peoples!
Super cool video Mr. Beat, thanks for making it. One question: out of the 435 offices, how many calls did you claim to be a constituent? As an intern at the House of Representatives, I was taught that taking constituent messages were the most important part of the job, but that I shouldn’t log nonconstituent messages. After all, the congressperson’s job is to represent their district and its constituents, not for the entire United States
I was a congressional intern this past summer and it's so funny to listen back to all of the same generic responses, follow-up questions about residency, and paper formatting used in every office. Seems that every intern has a pretty similar experience lol
Also we were told that if we do not know the congressman's position on the issue we would have to say "unfortunately I haven't spoken directly to the congressman about that issue. Was there a message that you would like me to pass along?" You find yourself saying the phrase "pass along" for 50% of your speech in the office lmao