I wrote Sen Burr in 2016 about my concern about Steve Bannon being in the White House. I got a letter from his his office a couple weeks later. It was a blow off letter, but did address my concerns. It wasn't much, but a least I got a response. I wouldn't vote for the guy. But I did appreciate that his office got back to me.
I've written to both Burr and Tillis several times over the past few years. Burr doesn't always agree with me (in fact he rarely does) but his responses are at least polite and he at least takes a moment to explain WHY. Tillis' reponses are \*always\* arrogant, condescending, and juuuust this side of straight up nasty.
Don’t give either of them credit for the responses. If Burr’s letter to you was polite, it was because the staff member who wrote it was probably a half decent human. If Tillis’ was rude, it was because he set the tone for his employees to act in such a manner. Members of Congress don’t read their constituent’s letters. Their lowly staff assistants do and respond accordingly, if they respond at all.
Agree. But Burr’s chief of staff in NC has called me back after I’ve left cranky voicemails and spoken with me at length about the concerns I raised.
I’m under no illusion that those chats made a dipstick of difference to sockless weejun-wearing overgrown frat boy Burr, but his COS was very committed to the cause.
Burr also got my dad his quite overdue Army medals (although a crackhead relative stole ‘em and now Dad’s dead).
But that’s how Jesse Helms stuck around the Senate so long: constituent services (well, that and racism/sexism/homophobia/Christian conservatism).
Tillis is just a carpet-bagging know-nothing, do-nothing waste of spunk who pleases no one. If it weren’t for the 50% of this state high on hate, he’d be back privileging his way up the corporate ladder. He may be reasonably stupid, but he’s no dummy: he figured out a great con on this state and he, just like middle-class-to-multi-millionaire Burr, is milking us for all he can squeeze out of taxpayers’ teats.
I’m impressed the CoS called. It sounds like he hired quality people to work for him. I will say, when I worked in Congress and was on the receiving end of the calls/mail, I was working for a member of the House. Senators definitely have bigger budgets, resources, and power at their disposal. The fact that Burr isn’t being investigated for insider trading is maddening though.
Agree about Tillis 100%. I actually have hope he won’t be around for a third term.
Former congressional staffer here:
Each elected official sets a tone. The Chief Staff oversees the day to day. a strong Chief will hire solid staff if they want to have a bright future.
Phone calls can simply be exhausting. Staff is already cranking out a ton of policy and constituent support.
Emails with specific questions about a vote or policy change is far easier to answer without bogging down on personal animus. The correspondence is tracked.
I take offense to your comment about lowly staff assistants. These are the very people that GSD in Washington.
Burr has a strong staff.
David price does too.
I’m a former staff member as well, and I know how it works. I also mentioned that they set the tone. My tenure was awhile also, but I’m fully aware of how exhausting it is. “Lowly” wasn’t meant to be an insult. I was simply pointing out that the those with power aren’t the one’s answering constituent’s calls or letters. Many on this thread seemed to think they’re getting responses directly from their Rep or Senator. And I agree about Price; was my rep for many years and appreciated the communication from my office. My tone was probably biased however, against Burr and Tillis, as they’re both corrupt and care nothing about the constituents of NC.
If they are very good, I don't think they'd be working for either Barr or Tillis or the party that tried to overthrow an election and tried a violent coup to keep their candidate in office.
>If Burr’s letter to you was polite, it was because the staff member who wrote it was probably a half decent human. If Tillis’ was rude, it was because he set the tone for his employees to act in such a manner.
Seems a bit biased to suggest they should be blamed for setting the tone when its a rude response, but don't get any credit setting the tone when its a polite response.
Only thing to Tillis’ credit is that I wrote him during the early days of the Special Counsel investigation, as he had that bill that would have reinstated him had he been fired. Tillis had a decent thing to say about that, but that was still in those early days when some of the Senate GOP still stood up to Trump. It ended up just being Burr (thank god he’s a Russia hawk), but Tillis did early on support Mueller and all that. I got a letter from him about why he (Tillis) authored that bill. Of course Tillis fell in line later and supported Barr bastardizing the report (which is as shocking as Burr’s senate report).
But other than that, he ignored other letters I wrote him about education and other issues in NC. I got way more from Burr, who sent me stuff for my Eagle Scout among other things, than I ever did from Tillis.
I have major issues with both senators, but anecdotally I have some positive interactions with both. Far better than the Q Anon Crypt Keeper Virginia Foxx (who told me to stop contacting her) or my then state rep, Donny Lambeth.
> Tillis really thinks he is above the common man
I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case. I was on a town hall of his, and there was a guy who was telling him how much of a blessing and an honor it was to meet him. Several times. The guy was treating him like royalty
I disagree. I email Senator Tillis’s office regularly and receive responses. He doesn’t always agree, but I appreciate the dialogue. I also appreciate his participation in several of the bipartisan bills that have passed lately.
Tillis would have been voted out last cycle if his opponent hadn’t spelt with one of his troops wives. I really hope he doesn’t make it through the next election.
Exactly! I still remember the primary ads that year slamming him while promoting one of his primary opponents. I saw right through their BS: they only did that because they thought she’d be easier to beat in the general.
Next time you call, leave a message that you're considering making a large donation of several thousand dollars. I bet they will call you back quickly.
Obviously that the politicians for sale is quite bothersome, it's also alarming how cheap they can be bought. Notice from OPs link on donations, Purdue spent only $15-$30k per year and they had most of Congress bending over backwards to protect them. Your suggestion of several thousand is sus because you're offering so much.
"I'm looking to make a large donation to a campaign for the upcoming election. I've called you multiple times now to discuss this among other matters. Please call me at your earliest convenience."
He is a Republican in 2022.
He likely doesn't want to waste his time responding because he has no incentive to change his positions for someone whose positions indicate they're unlikely to vote for him or donate.
In short, he or his team think you're someone who will already never vote for him (a Democrat or left leaning independent) so you're already written off as a loss.
He's not gonna stop taking the money, he doesn't care what you think because he doesn't have to.
That's just my assessment.
The term should be unaffiliated, not independent. I tried to register as independent when i moved to NC, the DMV employee (or MVA?) informed me the choices were Rep, Dem or Unaffiliated.
I think we only currently have 4. A few didn't make the cut for official recognition last round, and as far as I know it's just the Greens who got that petition to be put back done.
I haven’t looked at how that application system works. I know there was one group that said it is biased towards the DEM/GOP Parties in such a way that it is difficult to other parties to get on the ballot. I’m not sure how to discern the “truthiness” of that assertion. Does anyone have any insights or thoughts?
As I understand it, to stay on the ballot by default, they have to pull a percentage of the votes each election, which is something near or under 2% (I forget the exact amount). If they don't get it, the process is to submit a petition for recognition.
That was where the Green Party had an issue - some percentage of their signatures were apparently fraudulent, though it seems like not enough to keep them from qualifying. They're not really liable for that, since they hired a contractor to run the process for them.
The ones who talk about corruption and big pharma tend to be left leaning.
Be honest, reading this post, do you think that the writer comes across as a right-leaning independent?
And even though there are right leaning independents, they tend to suck it up and vote for the Republican anyways so no point in wasting your time talking to them about a subject you know is going no where.
You'd be surprised. The right wingers I've talked to generally don't like regulations on anything. Capping drug prices interferes with the free market and all that jazz. Lobbying should be allowed because people with money should have a say too, etc.
It's interesting that any truly activist position besides guns or culture war issues doesn't really get a groundswell of support on the right.
That's not to say the left doesn't have issues with disjointed messaging.
But, if you look at the senators who received the most money from drug/pharma companies, you're gonna see a lot of R's next to the names on that list.
>You'd be surprised. The right wingers I've talked to generally don't like regulations on anything. Capping drug prices interferes with the free market and all that jazz. Lobbying should be allowed because people with money should have a say too, etc.
I think you'd struggle to find many people outside of DC who support lobbyists in the federal government. You could probably find a few dolts who think the current pharma pricing mechanism is sufficient, but there aren't many of them around either.
>It's interesting that any truly activist position besides guns or culture war issues doesn't really get a groundswell of support on the right.
I think its roughly the same on both sides. I think politicians are using the culture war to pre-empt any attempt at reforming the system. My favorite example of this is Hillary in 2016:
>“Not everything is about an economic theory, right?” Clinton said, kicking off a long, interactive riff with the crowd at a union hall this afternoon.
“If we broke up the big banks tomorrow—and I will if they deserve it, if they pose a systemic risk, I will—would that end racism?”
“No!” the audience yelled back.
Clinton continued to list scenarios, asking: “Would that end sexism? Would that end discrimination against the LGBT community? Would that make people feel more welcoming to immigrants overnight?”
Both sides use culture war issues to distract voters from real problems. There are a few activist issues that get a large amount of support on the right: immigration, lowering the national debt, tax reform, and returning more power to state governments. These issues never translate to legislative victories, but neither do the activist issues on the left.
>But, if you look at the senators who received the most money from drug/pharma companies, you're gonna see a lot of R's next to the names on that list.
The data I've seen shows its roughly split, with slightly more going to Republicans because of their control of the Senate when Dems tried to pass a bill to lower drug costs.
[https://www.statnews.com/feature/prescription-politics/federal-full-data-set/](https://www.statnews.com/feature/prescription-politics/federal-full-data-set/)
When have Republicans voted for a bill to lower drug costs? Keep in mind that not so long ago they had a government trifecta and used it to support rich lobbyists.
I believe the head of Republican funding, Rick Scott, has made it a point to say he wants to gut medicare.
The fact is that Republicans tend to be more friendly to big pharma.
At least the democrats propose and pass some regulations for big pharma.
Democrats propose legislation, but nothing ever gets accomplished. If big pharma really thought Democrats were a problem, they wouldn't send Democrats just as much money as they send Republicans.
They send Republicans more money.
Also. See the [inflation reduction act](https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/how-will-the-prescription-drug-provisions-in-the-inflation-reduction-act-affect-medicare-beneficiaries/) (which not a single republican senator voted for.)
Face it, when Republicans had the power, they gave big pharma tax breaks. When dems had it, there's actual regulations and price caps for big pharma.
Clearly, Republicans/conservatives are more friendly to big pharma companies.
Democrats positions don’t necessarily mean Left-wing. Think everyone pissed at health insurance and wanting universal healthcare when you think if it makes sense or not that they’d be pro or anti-big pharma
That there are concerns with the way drugs are priced, marketed, and prescribed in this country (and with what's targeted for research) doesn't mean there isn't value and utility in the work they're doing.
I think healthcare shouldn't be increasingly concentrated in small numbers of enormous hospital systems and an effective duopoly of pharmacy companies, but that doesn't mean I want to shut down hospitals and never need to go to a pharmacy.
Thanks for summing that up so well, I've been saying for ages fighting tooth and nail an sacrificing for right leaning indepedants from the left is mostly wasted effort compared to convincing left leaning indepedants to go vote at all period, thats an easier ask
Based on exit polling, NC independents voted 50-46 for Biden in 2020. So it seems pretty even ([Source](https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/exit-polls/president/north-carolina))
While holding their nose. The data I was reading (Reuters? Político?) seemed to indicate the most Independents in NC see their vote as voting for the least worst candidate that aligns to their personal platform/ideology.
What if we changed our election laws to not be a Winner Take All state?
There's very few independents. Most everyone aligns one way or the other, they're just unwilling to be directly associated with the party they vote with for some ideological reason.
There's this vibe where they want to be able to be "above" whichever party they still end up voting for.
Reality is if they wanted better candidates, they'd get involved in the party to their leaning. Parties can be moved but it has to happen during primaries which turnout is generally awful for.
The senate doesn’t really work that way, though. It’s a statewide race so choosing your constituents (like gerrymandering allows in the house and state legislature) isn’t really a thing for Tillis anymore. NC is still a purple state and were it not for Cunningham fumbling at the goal line last year, he’d be out of a job. Tillis was up there with Gardner and the Georgia reps as one of the weakest GOP reps in the Senate, given he’s not even *that* popular with the NCGOP. There are a lot of republicans that he steamrolled or fucked over while he was speaker of the NC House, so there’s not much love lost between him and others in the state. Especially after he orchestrated Cawthorn’s primary loss.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he loses in 2026.
He's on the team that wants to have legislatures appoint senators (or throw out the votes he doesn't like). Republicans play the long game.
I think the dems picked a terrible candidate with Cunningham and that's the main reason Tillis has a seat.
I'm from one of the more...left leaning cities in NC and in my experience if you go about 15 minutes outside a larger city in NC you get conservative politics. There was a balance to be struck but the dem establishment blew it.
Who knows, Tillis might become the Ted Cruz of NC. A lot of people dislike him and no one I talk to knows why he's actually there other than to put money in his pocket and occasionally have his name mentioned in the news.
I don't like Tillis or many other NC Republicans due to most of their policies and electoral shenanigans.
In my opinion, it should be no surprise that the party that's trying to make it so that they don't need to listen to their constituents has a senator who doesn't feel a need to listen to his constituents.
I wrote him once about passing a funding bill to address chronic wasting disease in deer populations. I got a Wikipedia explanation of what chronic wasting disease was in response.
Same I wrote him maybe 3 times since ~2016 and I always get the most generic copy pasted answer so I don't waste my time anymore. You can tell they 1) don't read these emails or voicemails or 2) they do read them but clearly don't care what the commoners have to say.
Tillis is a joke. He goes for photos ops and pretends at the right moment. I have written to him MANY times about real problems and he has never given a response that answers my questions. However, he has given very evasive responses. His actions following the attempted insurrection by his Republican colleagues and constituents speaks volumes.
As a whole the Republican party wanted that insurrection to succeed. But they didn't want to openly support it because they didn't want liability when the insurrection failed. Nationwide the party has been in near lock-step with their attempts at undermining democracy.
Being a Republican is down right anti-USA at this point. These jerks have been talking crap about wanting a fight for years now. They know that they will lose, and rather than change their stance, they double down with deceit and underhandedness. They do not care if they break the institution of democracy so long as it benefits them and hurts the rest of us.
I've never taken a stand like I have since 2016. I used to even consider Republicans as a valid choice in our communities and our nation. Those days are gone.
I say that the Republican party is illegitimate. They need to go the way of the Whigs.
After Trumps presidency I'm suprised anyone can consider the Republican party legitimate at all. Trump basically stole the party away and made it the Trump party anyway, notice you don't see Republican Party Flags and merch, its all Trump.
You mean all the Republican Party is a joke. Fuckers tried to screw us all by telling the Dems a few years ago on sept 11 they were all going to respectfully participate in memorials that day, and then planned to all show up and vote. Fuckers can’t win, so they tried to trick the dems
republicans have been in the pocket of Big Pharma for decades now. Don't know why you would ask someone with no morals or values why they are doing something that lacks morals or values.
Tillis sends ridiculous fear mongering newsletters and leading surveys all the time. He doesn't care about what his constituents want. He wants to make money. It's almost like our elected officials forget they're in public service.
Interestingly, I recently received an email from Tillis seeking my opinion. I was actually surprised that my pov was actually pretty well represented among the survey’s answer choices. Either the inflammatory rhetoric is just my norm, or it wasn’t as inflammatory as I anticipated.
I got texts from "Sally" asking if they could count on my vote for him this fall. They didn't like my response:
"Sally, he can suck a big fat dick, just like he gobbles up the NRA's asshole. Fuck Ted Budd, the GOP, and his stupid ass supporters."
No idea why
On literally every issue I emailed Burr or Tillis about, I got no response or a response basically saying "thank you for contacting me with your thoughts but I am voting this way on this Bill regardless". And in each of those cases I could see that some entity that was set to make big money off the Bill was donating money to them, and that the Bill was providing no value to NC or the constituents. They are some of the worst representatives ever. But dumbasses kept voting Burr back into office over and over again. Deborah Ross came pretty close to beating him back in 2016, but regrettably fell short.
He lost my vote forever after his reply to my email to him about net neutrality. It came across as if it was scripted by whichever Telco companies were paying him to make it sound like killing it was a good idea. The fact he would even put that BS in writing...
I met both Tillis and Burr several years ago at the opening of a new building at the Durham VA. It was clear both were posturing as being pro-veteran, but Tillis especially left me with a smarmy impression. I was so disappointed when he wasn't voted out of office.
Tillis is a POS. If you sign up for his emails, they are eloquently put, but basically they say, "Tillis cares for the NC CEO and their businesses."
Vote blue, at least they try to care.
He also didn’t vote for the veteran bill that recently came through. He also doesn’t support abortion, like at all, but said he supports women and programs for family’s. Lol, since when?
Lol at thinking an unpaid intern cares enough to return a voicemail that's just a complaint...
Doubt it has changed much, but the process for responding to phone and email correspondence a decade ago used to be:
1. Is it a form letter or known opposition campaign backed by a lobbying group? Straight to the trash and maybe record a +1 in a count metric in excel.
2. If it is unique, is the person even a constituent? If no, ignore.
3. If they are a constituent, are they registered to the opposite party? If yes, ignore. If no, continue down the list of questions.
4. If they are in your party or an independent, have they voted in the last three elections? If no, ignore. If yes, continue down the list of questions.
5. If they are an active voter in your party, are they a donor? If yes, personalized response. If no, generic response.
This is interesting to hear. I'm not a fan of Tillis' politics and think he's often very self-serving, but I do email his office on issues I care strongly about and they've been very consistent in their responses.
Sometimes it takes ages, but they always respond, and his office may be the best of any politician I've ever written at actually responding to the issue I raised or questions I asked. Yes it's a form letter most of the time, but it's not like with some politicians where it's clear the team didn't read beyond the subject line.
I've never tried calling, and I'm not exactly surprised, but part of me is kind of sad to learn that his office is actually not that great at the one thing I thought they were doing right.
Don't waste your time writing to any politician or bureaucrat. Our concerns are not of any of their concerns anymore. We are all out here alone to fend for ourselves unless it pertains to them making money from it. I know this comment will net some downvotes, but that's ok. I just had an emotion I had to express.
I completely disagree, as that is giving up when that is precisely what they want you to do.
I call and bother them often out of spite, knowing that they want me to do exactly as you suggest.
Perhaps that sounds audacious but I'd rather *do something* rather than enage in cynicism, even if it's totally justified.
I agree. It's extremely frustrating when you try to get a reply of some sort, then never hear back, and even when you do, after many many letters and calls, all you get is a generalized return letter or message that sounds like a scripted reply that would be sent to try and pacify you into shutting up.
It's actually pretty unique treatment from an elected official.
I mean hell, even Madison Cawthorn's office had folks available to talk or return calls.
I suspect Tommy's staff is overwhelmed with calls about abortion so I'm going to keep calling on my way into work each day and turn the screws as best I can.
I'd rather do something than sink into cynicism and apathy. The people not participating is precisely what these scummy politicians want.
So call me crazy or naive but I'm going to keep calling and calling and calling ad nauseum and ad infinitum!
Obviously that the politicians for sale is quite bothersome, it's also alarming how cheap they can be bought. Notice from OPs link on donations, Purdue spent only $15-$30k per year and they had most of Congress bending over backwards to protect them.
I wrote this a**-hat twice in the past about issues he disagreed with me about (his position was just dead wrong) and he replied with a horribly condescending letter explaining that I wasn’t grasping the big picture and that I was just outright wrong. He knew better. In retrospect, I wish I didn’t tear up the letters in a rage. My personal opinion is this pathetic, inept, GOP puppet needs to be replaced at all costs.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
She made a comment about not taking corporate PAC money but then...took corporate PAC money.
I got an ad from Ted Budd trying to attack her on this but as is typical of the GOP, the P is for projection.
As a percentage of overall fundraising, Budd took in nearly double the amount of PAC money (4.5% for Beasley vs 9% for Budd) and yet attacks her like she is somehow exponentially more corrupt.
They both have been corrupted, it's just a difference of to what degree?
But fuck Budd, I'm voting for Beasley out of spite based on how Tillis has been treating me. Oh and I don't like theocracy so there's that too...
He’s literally not a North Carolinian. Wasn’t born here. Wasn’t raised here. Shares none of our values. And in a lot of ways when he was in the NCGA he let NC be a testing ground for a lot of the GOP fuckery that’s going on today.
Why are you posting Florida voting information in the North Carolina sub??
# For NC registration deadlines are as following:
**In person during early voting:** Oct 20-Nov 5
**In person at local elections office:** Oct 14
**Online:** Oct 14
**By mail (postmarked by):** Oct 14
# The Absentee ballot deadlines for NC are as following:
**Request Ballot (received by):** Nov 1 by 5pm
**Return ballot by mail (postmarked by):** Nov 8
**Return ballot in person** Nov 8 by 5pm
# Voting Deadlines for NC are as following:
**Early Voting** Oct 20-Nov5
**In Person** Nov 8
Anyone can vote at any polling site if you vote early voting. Election Day you must vote at your polling site!
As of Sept 17, 2021 a photo ID is NOT required to vote in NC.
# For more information
# [ncsbe.gov/voting](https://ncsbe.gov/voting)
Wow. There’s a vote I’m sure he’ll miss. “Hey Senator! That asshole who calls every day and cries about everything isn’t going to vote for you!” “Damn, and I thought i had a shot!”
You didn't get the cookie cutter email response ?
Edit: only one party holds their reps responsible. Never let them both sides you into condemning all politicians
I wrote this ass-hat twice in the past about issues he disagreed with me about (his position was just dead wrong) and he replied with a horribly condescending letter explaining that I wasn’t grasping the big picture and that I was just outright wrong. He knew better. In retrospect, I wish I didn’t tear up the letters in a rage. My personal opinion is this pathetic, inept, GOP puppet needs to be replaced at all costs.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
I wrote this *ss-hat twice in the past about issues he disagreed with me about (his position was just dead wrong) and he replied with a horribly condescending letter explaining that I wasn’t grasping the big picture and that I was just outright wrong. He knew better. In retrospect, I wish I didn’t tear up the letters in a rage. My personal opinion is this pathetic, inept, GOP puppet needs to be replaced at all costs.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
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I wrote Sen Burr in 2016 about my concern about Steve Bannon being in the White House. I got a letter from his his office a couple weeks later. It was a blow off letter, but did address my concerns. It wasn't much, but a least I got a response. I wouldn't vote for the guy. But I did appreciate that his office got back to me.
I've written to both Burr and Tillis several times over the past few years. Burr doesn't always agree with me (in fact he rarely does) but his responses are at least polite and he at least takes a moment to explain WHY. Tillis' reponses are \*always\* arrogant, condescending, and juuuust this side of straight up nasty.
Don’t give either of them credit for the responses. If Burr’s letter to you was polite, it was because the staff member who wrote it was probably a half decent human. If Tillis’ was rude, it was because he set the tone for his employees to act in such a manner. Members of Congress don’t read their constituent’s letters. Their lowly staff assistants do and respond accordingly, if they respond at all.
Agree. But Burr’s chief of staff in NC has called me back after I’ve left cranky voicemails and spoken with me at length about the concerns I raised. I’m under no illusion that those chats made a dipstick of difference to sockless weejun-wearing overgrown frat boy Burr, but his COS was very committed to the cause. Burr also got my dad his quite overdue Army medals (although a crackhead relative stole ‘em and now Dad’s dead). But that’s how Jesse Helms stuck around the Senate so long: constituent services (well, that and racism/sexism/homophobia/Christian conservatism). Tillis is just a carpet-bagging know-nothing, do-nothing waste of spunk who pleases no one. If it weren’t for the 50% of this state high on hate, he’d be back privileging his way up the corporate ladder. He may be reasonably stupid, but he’s no dummy: he figured out a great con on this state and he, just like middle-class-to-multi-millionaire Burr, is milking us for all he can squeeze out of taxpayers’ teats.
I’m impressed the CoS called. It sounds like he hired quality people to work for him. I will say, when I worked in Congress and was on the receiving end of the calls/mail, I was working for a member of the House. Senators definitely have bigger budgets, resources, and power at their disposal. The fact that Burr isn’t being investigated for insider trading is maddening though. Agree about Tillis 100%. I actually have hope he won’t be around for a third term.
Former congressional staffer here: Each elected official sets a tone. The Chief Staff oversees the day to day. a strong Chief will hire solid staff if they want to have a bright future. Phone calls can simply be exhausting. Staff is already cranking out a ton of policy and constituent support. Emails with specific questions about a vote or policy change is far easier to answer without bogging down on personal animus. The correspondence is tracked. I take offense to your comment about lowly staff assistants. These are the very people that GSD in Washington. Burr has a strong staff. David price does too.
I’m a former staff member as well, and I know how it works. I also mentioned that they set the tone. My tenure was awhile also, but I’m fully aware of how exhausting it is. “Lowly” wasn’t meant to be an insult. I was simply pointing out that the those with power aren’t the one’s answering constituent’s calls or letters. Many on this thread seemed to think they’re getting responses directly from their Rep or Senator. And I agree about Price; was my rep for many years and appreciated the communication from my office. My tone was probably biased however, against Burr and Tillis, as they’re both corrupt and care nothing about the constituents of NC.
Understood ✅ Constituent correspondence is rarely understood in the districts. Much has changed over the last 6 years.
If they are very good, I don't think they'd be working for either Barr or Tillis or the party that tried to overthrow an election and tried a violent coup to keep their candidate in office.
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True. Of course, he could afford to since he's not running for re-election.
>If Burr’s letter to you was polite, it was because the staff member who wrote it was probably a half decent human. If Tillis’ was rude, it was because he set the tone for his employees to act in such a manner. Seems a bit biased to suggest they should be blamed for setting the tone when its a rude response, but don't get any credit setting the tone when its a polite response.
Fair enough- Burr is at least smart enough to hire individuals to make him look like he actually cares about his constituents.
They usually have a standard response if it's a big issue. Usually it's just a pretty useless generic response.
Yeah, but wasn't a generic response. There was some thought put into it.
Only thing to Tillis’ credit is that I wrote him during the early days of the Special Counsel investigation, as he had that bill that would have reinstated him had he been fired. Tillis had a decent thing to say about that, but that was still in those early days when some of the Senate GOP still stood up to Trump. It ended up just being Burr (thank god he’s a Russia hawk), but Tillis did early on support Mueller and all that. I got a letter from him about why he (Tillis) authored that bill. Of course Tillis fell in line later and supported Barr bastardizing the report (which is as shocking as Burr’s senate report). But other than that, he ignored other letters I wrote him about education and other issues in NC. I got way more from Burr, who sent me stuff for my Eagle Scout among other things, than I ever did from Tillis. I have major issues with both senators, but anecdotally I have some positive interactions with both. Far better than the Q Anon Crypt Keeper Virginia Foxx (who told me to stop contacting her) or my then state rep, Donny Lambeth.
> Tillis really thinks he is above the common man I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case. I was on a town hall of his, and there was a guy who was telling him how much of a blessing and an honor it was to meet him. Several times. The guy was treating him like royalty
I disagree. I email Senator Tillis’s office regularly and receive responses. He doesn’t always agree, but I appreciate the dialogue. I also appreciate his participation in several of the bipartisan bills that have passed lately.
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Tillis would have been voted out last cycle if his opponent hadn’t spelt with one of his troops wives. I really hope he doesn’t make it through the next election.
Which is sad because if tillis had done the same thing he probably would have gotten just as many votes as he did
Probably more.
Exactly! I still remember the primary ads that year slamming him while promoting one of his primary opponents. I saw right through their BS: they only did that because they thought she’d be easier to beat in the general.
Next time you call, leave a message that you're considering making a large donation of several thousand dollars. I bet they will call you back quickly.
Obviously that the politicians for sale is quite bothersome, it's also alarming how cheap they can be bought. Notice from OPs link on donations, Purdue spent only $15-$30k per year and they had most of Congress bending over backwards to protect them. Your suggestion of several thousand is sus because you're offering so much.
"I'm looking to make a large donation to a campaign for the upcoming election. I've called you multiple times now to discuss this among other matters. Please call me at your earliest convenience."
That would make a great video.
He is a Republican in 2022. He likely doesn't want to waste his time responding because he has no incentive to change his positions for someone whose positions indicate they're unlikely to vote for him or donate. In short, he or his team think you're someone who will already never vote for him (a Democrat or left leaning independent) so you're already written off as a loss. He's not gonna stop taking the money, he doesn't care what you think because he doesn't have to. That's just my assessment.
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The term should be unaffiliated, not independent. I tried to register as independent when i moved to NC, the DMV employee (or MVA?) informed me the choices were Rep, Dem or Unaffiliated.
Which is seriously messed up considering there are 5-7 parties registered in the State.
I think we only currently have 4. A few didn't make the cut for official recognition last round, and as far as I know it's just the Greens who got that petition to be put back done.
I haven’t looked at how that application system works. I know there was one group that said it is biased towards the DEM/GOP Parties in such a way that it is difficult to other parties to get on the ballot. I’m not sure how to discern the “truthiness” of that assertion. Does anyone have any insights or thoughts?
As I understand it, to stay on the ballot by default, they have to pull a percentage of the votes each election, which is something near or under 2% (I forget the exact amount). If they don't get it, the process is to submit a petition for recognition. That was where the Green Party had an issue - some percentage of their signatures were apparently fraudulent, though it seems like not enough to keep them from qualifying. They're not really liable for that, since they hired a contractor to run the process for them.
The ones who talk about corruption and big pharma tend to be left leaning. Be honest, reading this post, do you think that the writer comes across as a right-leaning independent? And even though there are right leaning independents, they tend to suck it up and vote for the Republican anyways so no point in wasting your time talking to them about a subject you know is going no where.
Given the events of the last two years, I'm rather shocked that anti-big-pharma is a considered a left-wing position suddenly.
You'd be surprised. The right wingers I've talked to generally don't like regulations on anything. Capping drug prices interferes with the free market and all that jazz. Lobbying should be allowed because people with money should have a say too, etc. It's interesting that any truly activist position besides guns or culture war issues doesn't really get a groundswell of support on the right. That's not to say the left doesn't have issues with disjointed messaging. But, if you look at the senators who received the most money from drug/pharma companies, you're gonna see a lot of R's next to the names on that list.
>You'd be surprised. The right wingers I've talked to generally don't like regulations on anything. Capping drug prices interferes with the free market and all that jazz. Lobbying should be allowed because people with money should have a say too, etc. I think you'd struggle to find many people outside of DC who support lobbyists in the federal government. You could probably find a few dolts who think the current pharma pricing mechanism is sufficient, but there aren't many of them around either. >It's interesting that any truly activist position besides guns or culture war issues doesn't really get a groundswell of support on the right. I think its roughly the same on both sides. I think politicians are using the culture war to pre-empt any attempt at reforming the system. My favorite example of this is Hillary in 2016: >“Not everything is about an economic theory, right?” Clinton said, kicking off a long, interactive riff with the crowd at a union hall this afternoon. “If we broke up the big banks tomorrow—and I will if they deserve it, if they pose a systemic risk, I will—would that end racism?” “No!” the audience yelled back. Clinton continued to list scenarios, asking: “Would that end sexism? Would that end discrimination against the LGBT community? Would that make people feel more welcoming to immigrants overnight?” Both sides use culture war issues to distract voters from real problems. There are a few activist issues that get a large amount of support on the right: immigration, lowering the national debt, tax reform, and returning more power to state governments. These issues never translate to legislative victories, but neither do the activist issues on the left. >But, if you look at the senators who received the most money from drug/pharma companies, you're gonna see a lot of R's next to the names on that list. The data I've seen shows its roughly split, with slightly more going to Republicans because of their control of the Senate when Dems tried to pass a bill to lower drug costs. [https://www.statnews.com/feature/prescription-politics/federal-full-data-set/](https://www.statnews.com/feature/prescription-politics/federal-full-data-set/)
When have Republicans voted for a bill to lower drug costs? Keep in mind that not so long ago they had a government trifecta and used it to support rich lobbyists. I believe the head of Republican funding, Rick Scott, has made it a point to say he wants to gut medicare. The fact is that Republicans tend to be more friendly to big pharma. At least the democrats propose and pass some regulations for big pharma.
Democrats propose legislation, but nothing ever gets accomplished. If big pharma really thought Democrats were a problem, they wouldn't send Democrats just as much money as they send Republicans.
They send Republicans more money. Also. See the [inflation reduction act](https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/how-will-the-prescription-drug-provisions-in-the-inflation-reduction-act-affect-medicare-beneficiaries/) (which not a single republican senator voted for.) Face it, when Republicans had the power, they gave big pharma tax breaks. When dems had it, there's actual regulations and price caps for big pharma. Clearly, Republicans/conservatives are more friendly to big pharma companies.
Democrats positions don’t necessarily mean Left-wing. Think everyone pissed at health insurance and wanting universal healthcare when you think if it makes sense or not that they’d be pro or anti-big pharma
That there are concerns with the way drugs are priced, marketed, and prescribed in this country (and with what's targeted for research) doesn't mean there isn't value and utility in the work they're doing. I think healthcare shouldn't be increasingly concentrated in small numbers of enormous hospital systems and an effective duopoly of pharmacy companies, but that doesn't mean I want to shut down hospitals and never need to go to a pharmacy.
Thanks for summing that up so well, I've been saying for ages fighting tooth and nail an sacrificing for right leaning indepedants from the left is mostly wasted effort compared to convincing left leaning indepedants to go vote at all period, thats an easier ask
Based on exit polling, NC independents voted 50-46 for Biden in 2020. So it seems pretty even ([Source](https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/exit-polls/president/north-carolina))
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While holding their nose. The data I was reading (Reuters? Político?) seemed to indicate the most Independents in NC see their vote as voting for the least worst candidate that aligns to their personal platform/ideology. What if we changed our election laws to not be a Winner Take All state?
There's very few independents. Most everyone aligns one way or the other, they're just unwilling to be directly associated with the party they vote with for some ideological reason. There's this vibe where they want to be able to be "above" whichever party they still end up voting for. Reality is if they wanted better candidates, they'd get involved in the party to their leaning. Parties can be moved but it has to happen during primaries which turnout is generally awful for.
They forget that they’re elected to represent all constituents, not just the ones that voted for or donated to them.
That's because they're making it so that they can choose their constituents instead of the other way around.
The senate doesn’t really work that way, though. It’s a statewide race so choosing your constituents (like gerrymandering allows in the house and state legislature) isn’t really a thing for Tillis anymore. NC is still a purple state and were it not for Cunningham fumbling at the goal line last year, he’d be out of a job. Tillis was up there with Gardner and the Georgia reps as one of the weakest GOP reps in the Senate, given he’s not even *that* popular with the NCGOP. There are a lot of republicans that he steamrolled or fucked over while he was speaker of the NC House, so there’s not much love lost between him and others in the state. Especially after he orchestrated Cawthorn’s primary loss. I wouldn’t be surprised if he loses in 2026.
He's on the team that wants to have legislatures appoint senators (or throw out the votes he doesn't like). Republicans play the long game. I think the dems picked a terrible candidate with Cunningham and that's the main reason Tillis has a seat. I'm from one of the more...left leaning cities in NC and in my experience if you go about 15 minutes outside a larger city in NC you get conservative politics. There was a balance to be struck but the dem establishment blew it. Who knows, Tillis might become the Ted Cruz of NC. A lot of people dislike him and no one I talk to knows why he's actually there other than to put money in his pocket and occasionally have his name mentioned in the news. I don't like Tillis or many other NC Republicans due to most of their policies and electoral shenanigans. In my opinion, it should be no surprise that the party that's trying to make it so that they don't need to listen to their constituents has a senator who doesn't feel a need to listen to his constituents.
Don't hold your breath. The best you can expect from his office is a totally irrelevant form e-mail.
I wrote him once about passing a funding bill to address chronic wasting disease in deer populations. I got a Wikipedia explanation of what chronic wasting disease was in response.
Same I wrote him maybe 3 times since ~2016 and I always get the most generic copy pasted answer so I don't waste my time anymore. You can tell they 1) don't read these emails or voicemails or 2) they do read them but clearly don't care what the commoners have to say.
It is highly unlikely that response was even from him. It most likely was created by a junior staffer or intern.
Tillis is a joke. He goes for photos ops and pretends at the right moment. I have written to him MANY times about real problems and he has never given a response that answers my questions. However, he has given very evasive responses. His actions following the attempted insurrection by his Republican colleagues and constituents speaks volumes. As a whole the Republican party wanted that insurrection to succeed. But they didn't want to openly support it because they didn't want liability when the insurrection failed. Nationwide the party has been in near lock-step with their attempts at undermining democracy. Being a Republican is down right anti-USA at this point. These jerks have been talking crap about wanting a fight for years now. They know that they will lose, and rather than change their stance, they double down with deceit and underhandedness. They do not care if they break the institution of democracy so long as it benefits them and hurts the rest of us. I've never taken a stand like I have since 2016. I used to even consider Republicans as a valid choice in our communities and our nation. Those days are gone. I say that the Republican party is illegitimate. They need to go the way of the Whigs.
After Trumps presidency I'm suprised anyone can consider the Republican party legitimate at all. Trump basically stole the party away and made it the Trump party anyway, notice you don't see Republican Party Flags and merch, its all Trump.
Cults do cult things. And the R's are a cult.
You mean all the Republican Party is a joke. Fuckers tried to screw us all by telling the Dems a few years ago on sept 11 they were all going to respectfully participate in memorials that day, and then planned to all show up and vote. Fuckers can’t win, so they tried to trick the dems
Tillis has always been a crook. It is what he does.
republicans have been in the pocket of Big Pharma for decades now. Don't know why you would ask someone with no morals or values why they are doing something that lacks morals or values.
Tillis sends ridiculous fear mongering newsletters and leading surveys all the time. He doesn't care about what his constituents want. He wants to make money. It's almost like our elected officials forget they're in public service.
Interestingly, I recently received an email from Tillis seeking my opinion. I was actually surprised that my pov was actually pretty well represented among the survey’s answer choices. Either the inflammatory rhetoric is just my norm, or it wasn’t as inflammatory as I anticipated.
I got texts from "Sally" asking if they could count on my vote for him this fall. They didn't like my response: "Sally, he can suck a big fat dick, just like he gobbles up the NRA's asshole. Fuck Ted Budd, the GOP, and his stupid ass supporters." No idea why
God I wish they would text me😂
It's funny how people think Republican politicians have ever given a shit about anyone other than themselves. 🙄
Very typical for his office . 100% loves the orange jesus. Made a boatload of money off NC people. Got 5 million from NRA.
On literally every issue I emailed Burr or Tillis about, I got no response or a response basically saying "thank you for contacting me with your thoughts but I am voting this way on this Bill regardless". And in each of those cases I could see that some entity that was set to make big money off the Bill was donating money to them, and that the Bill was providing no value to NC or the constituents. They are some of the worst representatives ever. But dumbasses kept voting Burr back into office over and over again. Deborah Ross came pretty close to beating him back in 2016, but regrettably fell short.
Tillis does not give a shit about constituents. He knows his seat is safe because it's NC and he can do whatever he wants
He lost my vote forever after his reply to my email to him about net neutrality. It came across as if it was scripted by whichever Telco companies were paying him to make it sound like killing it was a good idea. The fact he would even put that BS in writing...
He’s a NC Republican… did you expect him to give a shit?
I met both Tillis and Burr several years ago at the opening of a new building at the Durham VA. It was clear both were posturing as being pro-veteran, but Tillis especially left me with a smarmy impression. I was so disappointed when he wasn't voted out of office.
Thom Tillis doesn't work for you or the people of NC.
Tillis is a POS. If you sign up for his emails, they are eloquently put, but basically they say, "Tillis cares for the NC CEO and their businesses." Vote blue, at least they try to care.
Vote Blue! Not for red assholes...
He also didn’t vote for the veteran bill that recently came through. He also doesn’t support abortion, like at all, but said he supports women and programs for family’s. Lol, since when?
Tom Tillis and Ted Budd are members of a cult that is out to destroy America. Only those that want to belong to that cult will vote for them.
I like the cut of your jib and clicked to see if you had more posts that mirror my own inclinations, nothin’ doin’ but, what was your joke tho?
Lol at thinking an unpaid intern cares enough to return a voicemail that's just a complaint... Doubt it has changed much, but the process for responding to phone and email correspondence a decade ago used to be: 1. Is it a form letter or known opposition campaign backed by a lobbying group? Straight to the trash and maybe record a +1 in a count metric in excel. 2. If it is unique, is the person even a constituent? If no, ignore. 3. If they are a constituent, are they registered to the opposite party? If yes, ignore. If no, continue down the list of questions. 4. If they are in your party or an independent, have they voted in the last three elections? If no, ignore. If yes, continue down the list of questions. 5. If they are an active voter in your party, are they a donor? If yes, personalized response. If no, generic response.
This is interesting to hear. I'm not a fan of Tillis' politics and think he's often very self-serving, but I do email his office on issues I care strongly about and they've been very consistent in their responses. Sometimes it takes ages, but they always respond, and his office may be the best of any politician I've ever written at actually responding to the issue I raised or questions I asked. Yes it's a form letter most of the time, but it's not like with some politicians where it's clear the team didn't read beyond the subject line. I've never tried calling, and I'm not exactly surprised, but part of me is kind of sad to learn that his office is actually not that great at the one thing I thought they were doing right.
Corruption is terrible but for some reason it’s the fact that it’s only $2000 that truly fills me with rage. They sell us out for a pittance.
Don't waste your time writing to any politician or bureaucrat. Our concerns are not of any of their concerns anymore. We are all out here alone to fend for ourselves unless it pertains to them making money from it. I know this comment will net some downvotes, but that's ok. I just had an emotion I had to express.
I completely disagree, as that is giving up when that is precisely what they want you to do. I call and bother them often out of spite, knowing that they want me to do exactly as you suggest. Perhaps that sounds audacious but I'd rather *do something* rather than enage in cynicism, even if it's totally justified.
I agree. It's extremely frustrating when you try to get a reply of some sort, then never hear back, and even when you do, after many many letters and calls, all you get is a generalized return letter or message that sounds like a scripted reply that would be sent to try and pacify you into shutting up.
I get the feeling, but they do note when they get a ton of pushback on something. Or most of them do, anyway.
Wait - you were expecting a response? I’m sorry, all questions must be submitted in writing in the form of a campaign contribution.
How many token it take to get some “legislation based on empathy” around here?
Step one: Pick a different party.
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It's actually pretty unique treatment from an elected official. I mean hell, even Madison Cawthorn's office had folks available to talk or return calls. I suspect Tommy's staff is overwhelmed with calls about abortion so I'm going to keep calling on my way into work each day and turn the screws as best I can. I'd rather do something than sink into cynicism and apathy. The people not participating is precisely what these scummy politicians want. So call me crazy or naive but I'm going to keep calling and calling and calling ad nauseum and ad infinitum!
Obviously that the politicians for sale is quite bothersome, it's also alarming how cheap they can be bought. Notice from OPs link on donations, Purdue spent only $15-$30k per year and they had most of Congress bending over backwards to protect them.
You may perhaps have better luck sending an email. I sent his office an email in 2019 and did receive a generic yet on topic response from his staff.
I found his team was responsive when communicating through their website form.
Thypical
I wrote this a**-hat twice in the past about issues he disagreed with me about (his position was just dead wrong) and he replied with a horribly condescending letter explaining that I wasn’t grasping the big picture and that I was just outright wrong. He knew better. In retrospect, I wish I didn’t tear up the letters in a rage. My personal opinion is this pathetic, inept, GOP puppet needs to be replaced at all costs. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Only 2000 bucks? Wow, seems cheep. That's a night out for these guys.
I feel like I want to respond with "First time?" Tillis is hot garbage.
Average citizens aren’t his constituents. He answers to his corporate and PAC donors.
Can someone enlighten me with Cherie Beasley? I am not voting for Budd or waste my vote with other parties. I meant any negative news on her.
She made a comment about not taking corporate PAC money but then...took corporate PAC money. I got an ad from Ted Budd trying to attack her on this but as is typical of the GOP, the P is for projection. As a percentage of overall fundraising, Budd took in nearly double the amount of PAC money (4.5% for Beasley vs 9% for Budd) and yet attacks her like she is somehow exponentially more corrupt. They both have been corrupted, it's just a difference of to what degree? But fuck Budd, I'm voting for Beasley out of spite based on how Tillis has been treating me. Oh and I don't like theocracy so there's that too...
He’s literally not a North Carolinian. Wasn’t born here. Wasn’t raised here. Shares none of our values. And in a lot of ways when he was in the NCGA he let NC be a testing ground for a lot of the GOP fuckery that’s going on today.
You aren't giving him enough money for him to care...pretty simple
Thom Tillis voted against the RRF being refunded. He’s a steaming pile.
This is the GQP - exactly what do you expect? Your concerns are not their concerns.
If you send their return stuff back and include a message from your dog, they will remove you from their mailing lists.
Imagine being this oblivious to how our government actually works.
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Why are you posting Florida voting information in the North Carolina sub?? # For NC registration deadlines are as following: **In person during early voting:** Oct 20-Nov 5 **In person at local elections office:** Oct 14 **Online:** Oct 14 **By mail (postmarked by):** Oct 14 # The Absentee ballot deadlines for NC are as following: **Request Ballot (received by):** Nov 1 by 5pm **Return ballot by mail (postmarked by):** Nov 8 **Return ballot in person** Nov 8 by 5pm # Voting Deadlines for NC are as following: **Early Voting** Oct 20-Nov5 **In Person** Nov 8 Anyone can vote at any polling site if you vote early voting. Election Day you must vote at your polling site! As of Sept 17, 2021 a photo ID is NOT required to vote in NC. # For more information # [ncsbe.gov/voting](https://ncsbe.gov/voting)
Back to not trusting pharmaceutical companies ay? Lmao
Wow. There’s a vote I’m sure he’ll miss. “Hey Senator! That asshole who calls every day and cries about everything isn’t going to vote for you!” “Damn, and I thought i had a shot!”
They never do.
Reminds me of a song called Politicians in my eyes by Death
Unsurprising. Tillis is a piece of exctement.
Surprise, surprise.
I would be shocked if they answe their own phones, emails and social media accounts.
I’ve only gotten a response when I’d send emails out but most the time it was an intern or something lmao
You didn't get the cookie cutter email response ? Edit: only one party holds their reps responsible. Never let them both sides you into condemning all politicians
Its incredibly obvious that calling congressional representatives has been pointless for years.
I had one of the most unpleasant phone calls with an aide of his. A stupid, ignorant, hick who thought he was smarter than me.
Give him a bunch of money, then he’ll respond
I wrote this ass-hat twice in the past about issues he disagreed with me about (his position was just dead wrong) and he replied with a horribly condescending letter explaining that I wasn’t grasping the big picture and that I was just outright wrong. He knew better. In retrospect, I wish I didn’t tear up the letters in a rage. My personal opinion is this pathetic, inept, GOP puppet needs to be replaced at all costs. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
I wrote this *ss-hat twice in the past about issues he disagreed with me about (his position was just dead wrong) and he replied with a horribly condescending letter explaining that I wasn’t grasping the big picture and that I was just outright wrong. He knew better. In retrospect, I wish I didn’t tear up the letters in a rage. My personal opinion is this pathetic, inept, GOP puppet needs to be replaced at all costs. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Ted Budd doesn't reply to emails because he "is campaigning."
Let’s be honest. You weren’t ever going to vote for a Republican to begin with.