Angry Voters Flood Capitol with Calls Against Stimulus
By Mark Impomeni
Feb 5th 2009 7:00PM
President Barack Obama's presidential campaign prided itself on being a grassroots effort. Obama aimed to inspire millions of Americans to engage in the political process, some for the first time, to help bring about change. But the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats may be learning now that there is a flip side to inspiring Americans to action. If they don't get what they want, they will let their elected officials know about it.
Switchboard operators at the Capitol say that frustrated voters are jamming phone lines with calls to Senators and Congressmen against Obama's and the Democrats' proposed economic stimulus plan. Some Senators report that calls to their offices about the plan are running in the hundreds per day, up from just a handful last month. Voters are upset both at the cost of the plan, which is at over $900 billion currently, and the recent tax troubles of Obama Administration nominees, which is feeding the perception that there are different sets of rules for the well connected and the ordinary citizen.
Government and fiscal policy groups say they have seen an increase in calls, e-mails, and web site traffic from voter anger at the stimulus bill and the tax issues. David Williams, vice president of Citizens Against Government Waste, said that people are feeling like "suckers" for paying their taxes while so many Obama nominees have been shown to have not paid theirs. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Deputy Director agreed, saying that frustration among the electorate is palpable.
"I think the average American is looking at their taxes during tax time and saying 'Wow, I pay my taxes. Why aren't these guys?'"
Source: http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2009/02/05/angry-voters-flood-capitol-with-calls-against-stimulus/