20070227LetterToCandidates

The letter at the bottom was sent to the following presidential candidates (sorted on alphabetically on last name).

I encourage everyone to use the links provided to contact our presidential candidates and stress to them the importance of metrication.

• Joe Biden (D)
• Sam Brownback (R)
• Hillary Clinton (D)
• John Cox (R)
• Chris Dodd (D)
• John Edwards (D)
• Jim Gilmore (R)
• Mike Gravel (D)
• Mike Huckabee (R)
• Dennis Kucinich (D)
• John McCain (R)
• Barack Obama (D)
• Ron Paul (R) (contact email at bottom of page)
• Bill Richardson (D)
• Mitt Romney (R)
• Michael Smith (R) (contact email at bottom of page)
• Tomy Thompson (R)
• Tom Vilsack (D)

The following were not:

• Duncan Hunter (R) (no email address or web form, may try calling later)
• Rudi Julliani (R) (no contact page at all)
• Tom Tancredo (R) (no contact page at all)

I'm surprised that anyone who wants to run for president has the gall to make themselves uncontactable.

Note, Hillary Clinton was mailed separately (see post) as the initial part of that mail was based on her talk at my workplace on Friday. If there's no reply from her, I'll re-send it using this letter.

As a presidential candidate, I am seeking your opinion on metrication for our country.
For this, I am sending the following questionnaire to all presidential candidates and posting the results on
http://gometric.us/

  This questionnaire is seeking your opinion on measurement in the United
  States of America.

  For each of the following, please check all that apply:

  Do you believe your constituents want to complete metric conversion?
  [ ] Yes
  [ ] My constituents do not mind which system is in use
  [ ] No
  [ ] Not sure
  Further comments:

  Do you believe retaining US customary units damages the US economy?
  [ ] Yes, it's making it difficult to compete with metric countries like
      China and India
  [ ] Yes, there's a lot of waste because of mistakes and conversions
  [ ] No, it's not a competitive advantage
  [ ] No, it costs more to change than we gain
  [ ] Not sure
  Further comments:

  Do you believe retaining a dual system of measurement (Metric units and
  US customary units) damages the US economy?
  [ ] Yes
  [ ] No
  [ ] Not sure
  Further comments:

  How do you think the European ban of non-Metric units will effect
  the USA as a whole:
  [ ] Minimally, they already work in Metric only
  [ ] Minimally, we will have converted to Metric by then
  [ ] Minimally, we will have permitted Metric only labeling by then
  [ ] Minimally, they don't trade internationally
  [ ] Medium, they will have to build/label for the USA and the rest of
      the world separately, imposing some extra costs
  [ ] High, they will become uncompetitive in the rest of the world   
  Further comments:

  Which measurement standards do you support in the the Food Packaging and
  Labeling Act (FPLA, http://www.fda.gov/opacom/laws/fplact.htm):
  [ ] Forced Metric units only
  [ ] Permissible Metric units without US customary units
  [ ] Forced Metric units and US customary units
  [ ] Permissible US customary units without Metric units
  [ ] Forced US customary units only
  Further comments:

  Which do you support for teaching measurement in our schools:
  [ ] Metric only
  [ ] Metric only for Math and Science, Metric or US customary units for
      everything else as decided by the school
  [ ] Metric only for Math and Science, US customary only for everything
      else
  [ ] Metric or US customary as decided by the school
  [ ] US customary only
  Further comments:

  Which of the following do you support for measurement in a medical context?
  [ ] Medical professionals should only use metric to avoid unit conversion 
      errors
  [ ] Medical professionals should only use US customary to avoid unit 
      conversion errors
  [ ] Medical professionals should continue to use metric for all 
      interactions in hospitals and when dealing with drugs but US customary
      when talking to patients
  Further comments:

  For building codes, which do you support:
  [ ] Metric only
  [ ] Metric or US customary as decided by the builder
  [ ] US customary only
  Further comments:

  For road signs, which do you support:
  [ ] Metric only
  [ ] Metric or US customary as decided by the builder (state/town etc) 
  [ ] US customary only
  Further comments:

  Which of the following statements about gasoline sales do you support:
  [ ] Fuel sales and oil production should be measured in liters to make
      conversions easy
  [ ] Fuel sales should be whatever the gas station wants and oil production
      should be reported in liters
  [ ] Fuel sales should be whatever the gas station wants and oil
      production should be reported in barrels
  [ ] Fuel sales should be in gallons and oil production in barrels
  Further comments:

  Should the federal government:
  [ ] Require all contracts to be Metric only
  [ ] Allow contracts to be Metric or US customary units
  [ ] Require all contracts to be US customary units only
  Further comments:

  Should the state for which you were elected from:
  [ ] Require all contracts to be Metric only
  [ ] Allow contracts to be Metric or US customary units
  [ ] Require all contracts to be US customary units only
  Further comments:

  Which timeline(s) do you support for complete conversion to Metric in
  the USA?
  [ ] < 5 years
  [ ] 5 - 10 years
  [ ] 10 - 25 years
  [ ] 25 years +
  [ ] Never
  [ ] We should stop using the Metric system all together
  Further comments:

  Please supply any further comments on measurement in the USA:

Best of luck with your campaign,
Paul Armstrong

Mountain View
California, 94041