Why you should know the issues and vote...

The why is simple. If they don't know you're there, they won't respond to your needs.

Yes, the staggering amounts of money that lobbyists syphon into the political coffers influences the political machinery of our nation. Yes, wearing suits more expensive than what a significant portion of this nation lives on in a year, those men are making major campaign contributions so they can share an afternoon cup of coffee with the president or the vice-president.

So their $100,000 donation got them 15 minutes with our nation's leaders. Are they up there talking about how great the nation is and what a good track we're steering? No! They're up there making sure the politician knows exactly what political needs that $100,000 represents.

Now how do you compete with that? Percentage-wise, the chances are you will never have that kind of money. Even if you did, are you ready to go head-to-head with oil, tobacco, and like interests? Probably not.

You can't compete, right?

Wrong.

Here's the catch. No matter how much money those folks spend to influence the political system, in a participatory democracy the politicians still must answer to the people. Every two years, a major election occurs in this country. Every two years, we have the option to support or oust our leaders.

Four simple steps for participating in democracy:
register to vote
know the issues
know how politicians vote about the issues
vote

It really is that easy, and the Internet is making it easier: easier to access and easier to research.
 

If you have access to a computer, you have access to the leaders of our nation.

Got something to say to the president? Visit the White House home page. Link to "Contacting the White House" and fill out an e-mail form to the President. You can e-mail the vice-president from the same location.

Got an itch to tell that representative or senator exactly how you feel. Find their e-mail address at Welcome to the U.S. Congress or Welcome to the U.S. Senate. E-mail over the Internet is adding an instantaneous twist to the good old-fashioned letter-writing campaign.

But how do you know who to vote for? These are politicians, remember. They often say one thing and do another. A sound ballot decision used to require massive amounts of research from disparate and often outdated resources. Even with research, true material was often difficult to come by.

Then the Internet came along.

Want to find out how your representative has been representing you in DC? Try the Congressional Scorecard provided by the national Public Interest Research Groups, or PIRGs. For issues and voting patterns conducted at the state level, visit the state PIRGs.

Still unclear about which representative is more likely to represent your values and beliefs in politics? A survey might help.

BlindVote.com provides politically-oriented surveys. A minimum amount of surfing will provide you with opposing viewpoints concerning current issues. You can decide for yourself what's right and wrong.

The forefathers of this country realized something about government. They realized it would always have a tendency to pursue its own interests over the interests of the people. By using a democratic system, they gave the people a way to check that tendency.
 

Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends [life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness] it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government... Thomas Jefferson (The Declaration of Independence)

To alter or abolish a destructive government use to demand a violent revolution. Now it only demands a trip to the polls.

Vote. It matters.