WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The recent debate over the nearly $900 billion economic stimulus plan and revelations of tax problems by three Obama administration appointees have voters angrily jamming phone lines on Capitol Hill to air their frustrations to their elected representatives.
Their reactions are putting pressure on Congress and benefiting watchdog groups on both sides of the political aisle.
Capitol operators tell CNN Radio that phone lines have been jammed for the past two weeks, sometimes prompting busy signals.
A spokeswoman for Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, said calls on the sweeping stimulus plan jumped from eight during all of January to hundreds a day now.
In a sampling of 12 Senate offices, half had so many messages that their voicemail boxes were full.
It's because of people like Betty Davidson.
"I'm very upset!" exclaimed the 63-year-old from Laguna Hills, California.
She called her senators Tuesday, frustrated with the almost $900 billion-dollar economic recovery proposal. Watch more on the stimulus debate in the Senate »
"What a joke!" she said.
But she is particularly incensed by news that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and former Obama appointees Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer didn't pay their taxes properly in the past. Watch more of Obama's plan for the economy »
"They can make the laws, but they don't have to abide by the laws," she complained. "It's only we taxpayers."
Those bitter words are like spring rain to nonprofit watchdog groups across the spectrum, who are seeing big boosts in interest.
