I care what my country does

Here is what I believe at this point in time:

I vote for people who will represent me in the government.

These people make and enforce the laws of the country.

I can either sit back and wait for my representative to make choices for me,

or

I need to tell them what to do (this is especially important if the person I voted for did not get into office- whether either of us likes it, they still represent me.)

SO -- first, I find my representatives in the lawmaking business:

House representative: Earl Blumenauer
Senators:Wyden, Ron- (D - OR)
Smith, Gordon - (R-OH)
(Find your representatives contact info here: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml)

Now, I can write to them all (including the president) and tell them what I believe and what I think they should do, or I can contact them regarding a specific bill they will be voting on.

One of the easiest ways is to get the bill # from a worthy newsource - # H.R. 2060, H.R. 1592. However, if you search http://thomas.loc.gov/ for 1592, you need to enter hr first.

Or you can search by topic, and hope that you remember everything that you want your rep to know: http://thomas.loc.gov/ - searching by the topic "internet radio" - I came back with 3 results, including 2060. Searching by "sextual orientation" I came back with 18 bills, including 1592. "Hate crime sexual orientation" came back with 6, including 1592. Still, I can't tell when this is being voted on or discussed. There are two versions of 1592 - 3/20 and 4/30/2007. It is a good resource if you want to read what is actually being voted on.

Finaly, you can look here to see what is being planned for the week:

http://thomas.loc.gov/home/schedules.html

- confusing and I can't find where they vote-

Or here (for Senate)

http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/b_three_sections_with_teasers/active_leg_page.htm

or here (House)

http://majoritywhip.gov/daily_whipline/

What a lot of crap.

If you want to see how your rep has voted on a number of items, go here:

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/index.asp

And your senators go here

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/vote_menu_110_1.htm

This at least makes sence...

Anyway, it appears to be much easier to be reactive than proactive. My representatives in congress want to do their jobs and not ask for permission to vote a certain way.