Here are some new features on iLobby:

• Mini status report
• Personalized tracking leaderboard
• Free training 
• Dynamic search
• Integrated arguments

Transcript

Hey, I want to show you some cool things that are coming up in the site. The first thing that we have is when you log in, in case you don't realize right up here, after you've logged in, you've got a status report of how you're doing on your debates. The next thing is if you go take a look at discover great debates, you'll...

Hi, I want to run you through a little thought exercise here so you can get an idea of what many people who are politically frustrated are trying to get done. So let me start here.

This is you, the voter, the average person, and what you want to do is you want to reach this person here and this person is the politician and obviously there are many problems getting to them and there's lots of obstacles in the way and there's many ways that people choose to do it that are not that effective,...

Changing and writing a law is difficult. That's why we have a republic. What we effectively have done is delegated the laws that we want to make to our elected representatives and they do it for us.

But when they make laws that you may not agree with, it's really difficult to change or be involved or have an opinion or get something done. So the question becomes is it possible for the average person to be able to change a law?

And there definitely are cases where people do that and in some...

Hi, there were three things that are holding us back. It's apathy, access and affordability. For some who are really apathetic and think there's no point in trying to make a change, then it really doesn't matter. So for the rest of you who are looking at this and saying, wow, you know, access is the big problem and the question is...

access is a big problem. I mean, part of it is you don't know who to go to, what you need to say, how to get something changed, how to get a law moving forward,...

Hi, I wanted to share some of the recent comments and email and feedback I've received from people. I have one long one I'll start with, but what he says is well after going through a lot of information, he basically says, "I don't think people have it together well enough to be able to create a decent law." And my response to that is he's absolutely right. It takes a village to change a law. So the idea is you're not doing this alone, you're doing it with lots of other people in a crowd...

Here are the six things that politicians want to know, whether you are presenting something to them, either in writing or as an op-ed or as a call into a radio show or you're calling their office.

There's basically six things that are going to come up.

1) Issue

And the first one is what's your issue? So you have to have a clear idea of what specific issue you're focused on and what you want to get done. That's just completely essential.

2) Position

The second part...

Who makes the laws? Well, politicians make the laws, lawmakers make the laws, they make them at the federal, state and local level, and that's generally how we think of it, but they don't do it really on their own. So they are informed by special interest groups, companies, trade associations, individuals who have a particular interest in getting something done, and that's what they do. Otherwise you might think that they just go to Congress and the state capitols and come up with ideas and...

Mistreatment of Italian Americans in WWII

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 Chet's Story of Struggle

This issue in our nation's history is one that can be forgiven but never forgotten. House bill H.R. 1706 asks for a grant of $3,000,000 from the Secretary of Education to be used strictly to educate the American public...

Technology offers more ways than ever for Americans to interact with their government, yet the turnout for the 2014 midterm elections was the lowest in 72 years. Even though citizens can read bills online, email their legislators and follow politicians on Twitter, many opt out of the political process.

But apathy isn’t an option for forward-thinking CEOs. While the business mantra is “the customer is always right,” the addendum today is, “the government is always right...

When persuading lawmakers to simplify regulations or adopt legislation you are fighting for, as a small business you face three choices.

1. You can sit on the sidelines
2. You can petition
3. You can lobby
    

Most small businesses choose #1. You do nothing. You grumble and complain because you feel like you can't do anything.

The second option; you join an organization or trade association focused on a single industry or issue. You pay dues, sign petitions and promote your cause through...