Wednesday, January 29, 2014

How to change the system

Matt Yglesias, one of my favorite writers, recently and sarcastically said the following about politicians and those to whom we generally look for policy wisdom: "who better to solve the world’s problems than the people who benefit from the status quo?" I love the way he put this and don't think this dynamic gets enough attention. One way to look at this is that we can't just automatically count on our elected officials to make changes that will benefit people of different socioeconomic backgrounds. The current system got them elected, so what would motivate them to change things? You might have heard that a majority in the US Congress are now millionaires. If the current system not only got them elected, but also made them millionaires, we're likely fooling ourselves if we think they're overly concerned about making even moderate policy changes, even when the benefits to many are clear as day.

What to do? Well, while it's simple, contacting these representatives on a local and national level is really the best way to push for the changes we want. I think there's a small group of people, often with quite hysterical views, that do this quite often (and these people are quickly ignored). YOU, on the other hand (and it's understandable, we're all busy) probably haven't badgered your elected leaders much and you probably hold fairly moderate views. It's these busy, politically-middle of the road people that need to make their voices heard. (This goes double for the poor, who have been decimated economically the past two decades, but are often too busy making ends meet to write their public officials, let alone run for office.)

To help solve, this I'll use this post as the blog's elected-official contact HQ. While I'll show how to find your local representatives, I'll also post the email and twitter handles of local cities, politicians, and other people of interest (I've been using Twitter recently to ask local cities to follow SLC in subsidizing transit passes). One suggestion: try and show gratitude as well as encouragement on particular issues. And please let me know if you can help fill in any details!

Senator Orrin Hatch
@OrrinHatch

Senator Mike Lee
@SenMikeLee

See here to find your US Congressional Representative:

Rep Rob Bishop (1st District)
@RepRobBishop

Rep Chris Stewart (2nd District)
@RepChrisStewart

Rep Jason Chaffetz (3rd District)
@jasoninthehouse

Rep Jim Matheson (4th District)
@RepJimMatheson

And most importantly, the people who can make a change locally:

SLC Mayor Ralph Becker
@SLCMayorsOffice

SL County Mayor Ben McAdams
@BenMcAdams

Governor Gary Herbert
@governorherbert

Click here to find your state senator and representative

Utah Senate
Gene Davis (D) - Salt Lake
House Minority Leader
gdavis@le.utah.gov

Karen Mayne (D)
Minority Whip - Salt Lake
kmayne@le.utah.gov

Patricia W Jones (D)
Assistant Minority Whip
@SenJones
pjones@le.utah.gov

Luz Robles (D) - Salt Lake
Minority Caucus Manager
lrobles@le.utah.gov

Jim Dabakis (D) - Salt Lake
@JimDabakis
jdabakis@le.utah.gov

Wayne A Harper (R) - Salt Lake
wharper@le.utah.gov

Deidre M Henderson (R) - Utah
@DeidreHenderso
dhenderson@le.utah.gov

Brian E Shiozawa (R) - Salt Lake
@BrianShiozawaMD
bshiozawa@le.utah.gov

Wayne L Niederhauser (R) - Salt Lake
Senate President
@waynenieder
wniederhauser@le.utah.gov

Aaron Osmond (R) - Salt Lake
@avosmond
aosmond@le.utah.gov

Howard A Stephenson (R) - Salt Lake, Utah
hstephenson@le.utah.gov

Daniel W Thatcher (R) - Salt Lake, Tooele
@SenThatcher
dthatcher@le.utah.gov

Mark B Madsen (R) - Salt Lake, Utah
@votemadsen
mmadsen@le.utah.gov

John L Valentine (R) - Utah
@Sen_JValentine
jvalentine@le.utah.gov

Margaret Dayton (R) - Utah
@SenDayton
mdayton@le.utah.gov

Curtis S Bramble (R) - Utah, Wasatch
@curtbramble
curt@cbramble.com

Peter C Knudson (R) - Box Elder, Cache, Tooele
Assistant Majority Whip
@SenatorKnudson
pknudson@le.utah.gov

Stuart C Reid (R) - Davis, Morgan, Weber
screid@le.utah.gov

Allen M Christensen (R) - Morgan, Summit, Weber
achristensen@le.utah.gov

Scott K Jenkins (R) - Davis, Weber
@senatorjenkins
sjenkins@le.utah.gov

Jerry W Stevenson (R) - Davis
@Sen_Stevenson
jwstevenson@le.utah.gov

J Stuart Adams (R) - Davis
Majority Whip
@JStuartAdams
jsadams@le.utah.gov

Todd Weiler (R) - Davis, Salt Lake
@gopTODD
tweiler@le.utah.gov

Ralph Okerlund (R) - Central Utah
@RalphOkerlund
rokerlund@le.utah.gov

Lyle W Hillyard (R) - Cache, Rich
@SenLyleHillyard
lhillyard@le.utah.gov

Kevin T Van Tassell (R) - Northeastern Utah
kvantassell@le.utah.gov

David P Hinkins (R) - Central and Northern Utah
dhinkins@le.utah.gov

Evan J Vickers (R) - Beaver, Iron, Washington
evickers@le.utah.gov

Stephen H Urquhart (R) - Washington
@SenatorSteveU
surquhart@le.utah.gov

Utah House of Representatives
Ronda Rudd Menlove (R) Box Elder, Cache
rmenlove@le.utah.gov

David E Lifferth (R) - Utah
dlifferth@le.utah.gov

Jack R Draxler (R) - Cache
jdraxler@le.utah.gov

Edward H Redd (R) - Cache
@ed_redd
eredd@le.utah.gov

Curt R Webb (R) - Cache
@CurtWebbUtah
curtwebb@le.utah.gov

Jacob L Anderegg (R) - Utah
@Political_Jake
janderegg@le.utah.gov

Ryan D Wilcox (R) - Weber
@RyanDWilcox
ryanwilcox@le.utah.gov

Gage Froerer (R) - Weber
@Gage_Froerer
gfroerer@le.utah.gov

Jeremy A Peterson (R) - Weber
@jpetersoninutah
jeremyapeterson@le.utah.gov

Dixon M Pitcher (R) - Weber
dpitcher@le.utah.gov

Brad L Dee (R) - Davis, Weber
bdee@le.utah.gov

Richard A Greenwood (R) - Davis, Weber
rgreenwood@le.utah.gov

Paul Ray (R) - Davis
pray@le.utah.gov

Curtis Oda (R) - Davis - on Colbert
@CurtisOdaUtah
coda@le.utah.gov

Brad R Wilson (R) - Davis
bradwilson@le.utah.gov

Stephen G Handy (R) - Davis
@StephenHandyUT
stevehandy@le.utah.gov

Stewart Barlow (R) - Davis
@UtahRepBarlow
sbarlow@le.utah.gov

Roger E Barrus (R) - Davis
rogerbarrus@le.utah.gov

Jim Nielson (R) - Davis
jimnielson@le.utah.gov

Rebecca P Edwards (R) - Davis
beckyedwards@le.utah.gov

Douglas V Sagers (R) - Tooele
dougsagers@le.utah.gov

Susan Duckworth (D) - Salt Lake
sduckworth@le.utah.gov

Jennifer M Seelig (D) - Salt Lake
@JenSeeligHD23
jseelig@le.utah.gov

Rebecca Chavez-Houck (D) - Salt Lake
@rchouck
rchouck@le.utah.go

Joel K. Briscoe (D) - Salt Lake
@RepBriscoe
jbriscoe@le.utah.gov

Angela Romero (D) - Salt Lake
@AngelaRomeroH26
angelaromero@le.utah.gov

Michael S Kennedy (R) - Utah
mikekennedy@le.utah.gov

Brian S King (D) - Salt Lake, Summit
@RepBrianKing
briansking@le.utah.gov

Lee B Perry (R) - Box Elder, Weber
@LeePerryUT
leeperry@le.utah.gov

Janice M Fisher (D) - Salt Lake
janicefisher@le.utah.gov

Larry B Wiley (D) - Salt Lake
@LarryBWiley
lwiley@le.utah.gov

Lavar Christensen (R) - Salt Lake
@LaVarCPG
lavarchristensen@le.utah.gov

Craig Hall (R) - Salt Lake
@hcraighall
chall@le.utah.gov

Johnny Anderson (R) - Salt Lake
janderson34@le.utah.gov

Mark A Wheatley (D) - Salt Lake
@RepMarkwheatley
markwheatley@le.utah.gov

Patrice M Arent (D) - Salt Lake
@RepPatriceArent
parent@le.utah.gov

Carol Spackman Moss (D) - Salt Lake
@RepCarolMoss
csmoss@le.utah.gov

Eric K Hutchings (R) - Salt Lake
ehutchings@le.utah.gov

James A Dunnigan (R) - Salt Lake
jdunnigan@le.utah.gov

Lynn N Hemingway (D) - Salt Lake
lhemingway@le.utah.gov

Daniel McCay (R) - Salt Lake
dmccay@le.utah.gov

Jim Bird (R) - Salt Lake
jbird@le.utah.gov

Earl D Tanner (R) - Salt Lake
earltanner@le.utah.gov

Tim M Cosgrove (D) - Salt Lake
tcosgrove@le.utah.gov

Steve Eliason (R) - Salt Lake
seliason@le.utah.gov

Marie H Poulson (D) - Salt Lake
mariepoulson@le.utah.gov

Ken Ivory (R) - Salt Lake
@KenIvoryUT
kivory@le.utah.gov

Keven J Stratton (R) - Utah
@KJStratton
kstratton@le.utah.gov

Robert M Spendlove (R) - Salt Lake
rspendlove@le.utah.gov

Rich Cunningham (R) - Salt Lake
rcunningham@le.utah.gov

Gregory H Hughes (R) - Salt Lake
greghughes@le.utah.gov

John Knotwell (R) - Salt Lake
@JohnKnotwellUT
jknotwell@le.utah.gov

Melvin R Brown (R) - Northeastern Utah
melbrown@le.utah.gov

Kraig Powell (R) - Summit, Wasatch
@kraigpowell
kraigpowell@le.utah.gov

John G Mathis (R) - Duchesne, Uintah
jmathis@le.utah.gov

Kay J Christofferson (R) - Utah
kchristofferson@le.utah.gov

Brian M Greene (R) - Utah
@BrianGreeneLD57
bgreene@le.utah.gov

Jon Cox (R) - Juab, Sanpete
jcox@le.utah.gov

Val L Peterson (R) - Utah
vpeterson@le.utah.gov

Dana L Layton (R) - Utah
dlayton@le.utah.gov

Keith Grover (R) - Utah
@KeithGroverUT
keithgrover@le.utah.gov

Jon E Stanard (R) - Washington
jstanard@le.utah.gov

Dean Sanpei (R) - Utah
dsanpei@le.utah.gov

Rebecca D Lockhart (R) - Utah
@beckylockhart
blockhart@le.utah.gov

Francis D Gibson (R) - Utah
fgibson@le.utah.gov

Mike K McKell (R) - Utah
mmckell@le.utah.gov

Marc K Roberts (R) - Utah
@RepMarcRoberts
mroberts@le.utah.gov

Merrill F Nelson (R) - Western Utah
mnelson@le.utah.gov

Jerry B Anderson (R) Northern/Central Utah
jerryanderson@le.utah.gov

Kay L McIff (R) - East/Central Utah
kaymciff@le.utah.gov

Bradley G Last (R) - Iron, Washington
blast@le.utah.gov

John R Westwood (R) - Iron
jwestwood@le.utah.gov

Michael E Noel (R) - Southern Utah
mnoel@kanab.net

V Lowry Snow (R) - Washington
@lowrysnow
vlsnow@le.utah.gov

Don L Ipson (R) - Washington
@DonnieIpson
dipson@le.utah.gov

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