Tell Democrats to Stop Trying to Block Communication Between Representatives and the American People

Sign the Petition - Tell Democrats to Stop Trying to Block Communication Between Representatives and the American People Dear Reader, I have some very troubling news to share with you. As you may have read on conservative weblog RedState.com or in The Hill newspaper, Congressional Democratic leaders, who promised in 2006 to create a more "open" government, are now proposing a new rule that would prevent Members of Congress from using the Internet to communicate with the American people unless the Web site they are using has been "approved" by a panel responsible for creating internal House rules. Millions of Americans, and hundreds of Representatives -- including myself -- use video-sharing Web sites like YouTube, their personal blogs, and online community sites like RedState and The Next Right to keep track of what is going on in Congress, to provide constituents with information and insight, and to build and foster communication between elected representatives and the American people. The Internet and the New Media have made Congress more transparent, sometimes against its will, and have better empowered Americans to hold elected officials accountable for their actions, statements, decisions, and votes. Instead of embracing and working to further this new level of openness and transparency, as they promised when they were candidates for office, Democratic leaders are fighting to close the new lines of communication between politicians and the people that the Internet has opened. As RedState.com's directors wrote on Wednesday, "Congressmen should be able to decide for themselves where and how they interact with their constituents and the American people." Limiting our contact with you the people, and vice versa, only serves to make government more secretive and less transparent – which is the exact opposite of what the Democratic leadership promised to do when elected. Please take a moment and sign the petition on my Web site. I've also provided the code on my blog for you to put a petition widget, like the image above, on your own Web site. Thank you for your help. Together, we can send an unequivocal message to the Democratic Congressional leadership that their Orwellian tactics aimed preventing elected representatives from communicating with the American people will not stand. Sincerely, Mike Conaway Congressman, TX-11 Home | About Mike | Blog | On the Issues | News&Events | Get Involved | Donate

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