Taking their cue from Barack Obama's high-tech campaign that won him the presidency, the US Senate and the House of Representatives have launched their own YouTube channels in order to connect with the American public. Although past restrictions have prevented government officials from posing on outside websites, the rules have quickly changed to catch up with the online population.

Not only will the Senate's Official YouTube page bring you messages straight from your senator's office, but you'll also catch some behind the scenes tidbits, like which senators entered into a friendly wager on the Florida Gator/Ohio Buckeye game, and which one had to pay up in push-ups. As for the House of Representatives, they like to stay a little more low key — you can get your burning questions answered from the Reps themselves, and find out how many friends Ohio Representative Tim Ryan has on his Facebook page. That's right, he's on Facebook.