Voters outraged with debt inaction
Washington (CNN) -- House switchboards have been flooded by phone calls -- nearly twice the normal average -- and hit with an unusual volume of constituent e-mails as voters voice their concern over the worsening debt-ceiling crisis.
At least 104 of 279 congressional websites surveyed by CNN were down or had experienced slow connections on Tuesday, after President Obama's speech Monday night.
House Speaker John Boehner's website responded with a "Server Too Busy" or "Bad Request (Invalid Hostname)" message during parts of the day. His switchboard reported as many as 150-300 callers on hold, wanting to leave their thoughts for the speaker. The average hold time was about 50 minutes, officials said.
In his address to the nation, Obama called on the American people to "make your voice heard."
"If you want a balanced approach to reducing the deficit, let your member of Congress know," he said. "If you believe we can solve this problem through compromise, send that message."
Kyle Anderson, Democratic communications director for the House Administration Committee, said the deluge of calls and e-mails from Americans underlines "the seriousness of default."
"These are the people with Social Security and Medicare benefits at stake, individuals with pensions and retirement accounts invested in the financial markets and business owners whose continued existence is based upon their ability to access capital markets at reasonable interest rates," said Anderson. "Their message, and sense of urgency, are clear."
Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_allpolitics/~3/dcGtVs59_m8/index.html