INyaDOME, I like the idea of including more contact info for the people we are trying to reach, and am all for calling and sending letters to lawmakers. At the same time, twitter does still have some advantages which should not be ignored. 1. Twitter is super fast and easy. Even if it is very low impact, it's also super low effort. 2. Twitter does not discriminate based on location. Most lawmakers instantly disregard calls and letters from people outside of their districts/states. Location anonymity takes care of that somewhat.
I don't really like the idea of getting people's kids involved. Their children do not have anything to do with their political stances, and should be left alone as innocent bystanders.
Thank you for your passion and concern, and I hope you will continue to aid in these efforts.
I don't think you understood me fully...
The idea is to target ONE Representative each day of the week....not 4, or 5.
Everyone on the forum calls the phone line of that rep over and over for the entire day. Making their phone lines unusable for other issues on that day. We threaten to keep doing this over and over....focusing on one Representative only each time. Maybe even focus on one rep per week...so we shut their phone lines down for an entire week. Go from rep to rep doing this....
This is a form of protest. Not your average call to your local rep. If you have 50 people doing this over and over for an entire day/week it's gonna piss them off and force them to focus on the issue more. Now imagine doing this to each rep that opposes poker multiple days/weeks a year.
We're not doing this to politely ask them to focus on rights for poker players. We're doing this to disrupt business for them as they have for us and make their phone lines unusable as a consequence for their actions.
And, these people at these offices need to be personally insulted, as well. They work for people who attack personal freedom and are part of the problem. They are a disgrace to this country for working for these people and need to be told that personally.
Imagine how bad the workplace moral would be at these offices if hundreds of calls came every week from people with a negative perceptions of the people answering phones. People would quit.
Politicians have personal relationships with the people in their offices. They work with them for years.
We need to insult their friends and make it personal for these people. Do it in a respectful manner, but insult them directly, nonetheless. Sabotage them and force their friends to turn on them and share our negative perception of them. This an effect no amount of lobbying, or money can buy.
I wonder how many people in these offices are even aware of their boss's stances on online poker. I'll bet most of them have no clue. We should educate them and inform them of what disgraces they are to not only this country, but to mankind, for destroying an art form and a great form of competition.
Politicians have personal relationships with the people in their offices. They work with them for years.
We need to insult their friends and make it personal for these people. Do it in a respectful manner, but insult them directly, nonetheless. Sabotage them and force their friends to turn on them and share our negative perception of them. This an effect no amount of lobbying, or money can buy.
I wonder how many people in these offices are even aware of their boss's stances on online poker. I'll bet most of them have no clue. We should educate them and inform them of what disgraces they are to not only this country, but to mankind, for destroying an art form and a great form of competition.
I like the idea of targeting an anti-poker guy each week for additional/direct contact but why would we be so hostile? Do you think these lifelong politicians will feel bullied into changing their mind about something like this?
We'd want to be civil and level-headed and dispel the image they have in their head that online pokerplayers are compulsive and degenerate gamblers. Flooding their offices with threatening and intimidating calls about online gaming bans pretty much looks like we're lunatical compulsive gamblers.
I like the idea of targeting an anti-poker guy each week for additional/direct contact but why would we be so hostile? Do you think these lifelong politicians will feel bullied into changing their mind about something like this?
We'd want to be civil and level-headed and dispel the image they have in their head that online pokerplayers are compulsive and degenerate gamblers. Flooding their offices with threatening and intimidating calls about online gaming bans pretty much looks like we're lunatical compulsive gamblers.
I totally agree. In addition to looking crazy/desperate, being hostile only works to entrench and strengthen people's positions. Kind and reasonable is the way to go IMO.
I like the idea of targeting an anti-poker guy each week for additional/direct contact but why would we be so hostile? Do you think these lifelong politicians will feel bullied into changing their mind about something like this?
We'd want to be civil and level-headed and dispel the image they have in their head that online pokerplayers are compulsive and degenerate gamblers. Flooding their offices with threatening and intimidating calls about online gaming bans pretty much looks like we're lunatical compulsive gamblers.
Agree to disagree.
There is nothing threatening, or hostile about telling a person who answers a phone they're destroying personal freedom and are a disgrace to this country, as a result. I don't care if they change their stance. I only care if they face consequences for their stance, at this point. There is no changing their mind, but their is a process in which people can force consequences upon them for their actions.
This consequence comes in the form of personal insults to business associates and personal friends who work with the politicians enforcing these policies. When an employee at the office approaches the politician and says,"I've been literally insulted directly over the phone hundreds of times this week by people who say I'm a disgrace and traitor for working for you," that's a consequence that they have to deal with for their actions.
They can keep pushing their policies, but at a cost of personal insults, stress, and anger instilled upon people they personally care about who work for them in their offices. It's time to take the gloves off and start using more direct aggressive tactics. Politely asking for permission like a little child talking to mommy and daddy is absurd.
I totally agree. In addition to looking crazy/desperate, being hostile only works to entrench and strengthen people's positions. Kind and reasonable is the way to go IMO.
Well, you're process has accomplished nothing. And, the actions of these people are hostile and fascist in nature. They don't deserve civility, at this point. They've had 5 years of that and continue to destroy the market in response. Besides, fighting for personal freedom is civil. They're using valuable political resources to focus on a card game....that action is reckless and irresponsible. To the point where you could almost argue criminal negligence given all the other more important issues those resources should be dedicated towards. That level of misappropriation of our political resources is actually a threat to our lives because far more serious issues are ignored.
These people aren't merely prohibiting access to a simple game. Their systematically destroying an art form and using political mechanisms to do it while irresponsibly ignoring more important issues that merit focus. Contradicting everything free market capitalism stands for in the process. Their behavior historically mimics fascist government regimes and these sheep at their offices need to be reminded of this fact. Apparently, so do you.
So, can we start to get organized and plan on calling reps at a certain time of day? That way our impact is focused and concentrated? Something like 12:00 Eastern Time...right before these phcks go to lunch.
Since, Twitter is nothing more than a place for high school children how about we use mechanisms that apply to adults?
Can you start to post the phone numbers to each of the offices of the Reps. you posted? That way we can flood their offices with phone calls about poker?
You seem confused about one thing. This isn't a PPA action plan. The daily action plan is community driven. I stated it prior to even joining PPA. Feel free to suggest ideas. That's why this thread is here, but don't just assume your thoughts reflect reality when you have no data behind them or just because you personally don't care for Twitter.
The main benefit of social media is that all of us can reach lawmakers. With phone calls, we're restricted to calling only our own lawmakers. In other words, the phone numbers you posted for Rep. Gohmert are great -- for Gohmert's constituents.
PPA does have action alerts through which we call lawmakers, often. We send alerts to constituents and they call their lawmakers.
This Twitter stuff is ******ed. Making their phone lines busy with repetitive calls about poker will have more of an effect than Twitter. While you're at it, if you could post the residential phone numbers that would be beneficial because we could start calling them at 3 am and let them know directly.
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I don't see why an organization dedicated to making the issue known would stop at Twitter and Facebook. Every single message from now on needs to contain phone numbers to offices of each representative with instructions to call these offices repeatedly demanding rights for poker players. The Twitter and Facebook campaign needs to be abandoned.
If you prefer a different approach, find out what lawmaker really think (rather than what you decide should be effective). Then, come up with a proposal. I appreciate that you looked up phone numbers here but, again, it won't work.
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We need to make it difficult for the offices of these politicians to do business over the phone by repeatedly calling them and making their phone lines busy. It makes no sense to put all the focus on Twitter and Facebook accounts that likely aren't even managed by these people directly. Bog down the phone lines at their offices and it will have more of a direct impact on these people.
These offices are set up to take calls from entire districts or even entire states, even during major votes on controversial bills. I'm all in favor of us calling our elected representatives. PPA does it all the time, as I noted, but they'll be able to handle call volume from poker players.
I don't really like the idea of getting people's kids involved. Their children do not have anything to do with their political stances, and should be left alone as innocent bystanders.
+1
Our goal is to tell lawmakers that people want poker. I can't think of a worse way to overplay our hand than to go after family members.
For federal activism, we are essentially playing defense while pushing for poker at the state level.
We have done a terrific job of blocking anti-poker federal legislation. Sheldon Adelson plows over $100K into monthly anti-poker lobbying just as his baseline push to keep attention on the issue. He cranks that up for hearings, prepping for a lame duck legislative push, etc. Against that, we stopped the 2014 lame duck RAWA push and blunted his momentum at every pass. Our strength has been social media, where Adelson does not even play.
I get that this isn't fun and sexy enough to suit you and that you'd probably like to march in the streets for this, but that's not the fight we're in.
• Let's make & like pro-poker tweets in reply to anti-poker Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ). Tweets can be as simple as, 'I believe you have it wrong on poker. States authorize iPoker for consumer protection, law enforcement & liberty.', 'I agree with the pro poker tweets. States should be allowed to make their own decisions on iPoker as our Founders intended.', etc.
► https://twitter.com/RepMattSalmon/st...71205072117761
They can keep pushing their policies, but at a cost of personal insults, stress, and anger instilled upon people they personally care about who work for them in their offices. It's time to take the gloves off and start using more direct aggressive tactics. Politely asking for permission like a little child talking to mommy and daddy is absurd.
Fortunately, I have an actual plan based on what is actually happening in Congress. Our opponents there don't really see this as top-tier, and most believe in the rights of the states to some degree. The DAP has a game plan. We focus our messaging on the inconsistencies in their position, usually through assertive, rather than aggressive, messaging. (Real opponents like Chaffetz, Rubio and Graham do get the aggressive treatment.)
We wish to win our opponents over. They won't support poker, but that's not the goal. The goal is for them to move away from worrying about banning poker and onto other things. We've been very successful there.
Another thing you need to remember is that this is largely about ensuring poker lobbyists have the ammo they need for their fight. Personally attacking lawmakers and attacking their children is the opposite of what we need to do to win this.
Is it really that hard to include phone numbers in your posts? Insulting the people answering the phones would accomplish more than crashing the phone lines.
The social media stuff accomplished nothing. Adelson never really had a chance whether you guys were around, or not. It became a non-issue when the big sites vanished. Taking credit for a dying trend is a characteristic of an ego-maniac.
Comments on Twitter and Facebook are ignored. At least, with phone calls you KNOW someone is listening.
Why isn't the PPA putting more emphasis on New Jersey by encouraging regulators there to allow access to the ROW player pool? The bill in New Jersey allowed for further changes that would allow access to the ROW player pool, but nothing was ever done.
It seems getting access to the ROW player pool in just ONE state would be more beneficial than getting access to a smaller state segregated player pool in multiple states. This would provide serious American players with a better option than moving abroad and leaving their friends and family. Why not put more focus on getting New Jersey in the ROW player pool so it sets a proper trend for future regulation in other states?
Tuesday fight4 poker let's send tweets to poker stars and the ppa to stop opposing the California poker bill.
I'd rather see Pokerstars in Cali and I'd rather Bovada/ACR players in Cali keep playing on Bovada/ACR.
Unregulated ROW poker is superior to segregated regulated poker, imo. Now, if regulators in states want to join the ROW player pool like adults, then....
• Let's keep making & liking pro-poker tweets in reply to anti-poker Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ). Tweets can be as simple as, 'I believe you have it wrong on poker. States authorize iPoker for consumer protection, law enforcement & liberty.', 'I agree with the pro poker tweets. States should be allowed to make their own decisions on iPoker as our Founders intended.', etc.
► https://twitter.com/RepMattSalmon/st...71205072117761
