The government of the United States is divided into three branches: executive, judicial, and legislative. Federal laws require either the agreement of the legislative and executive branches, or overwhelming support within the legislative branch alone. (A president can sign a bill passed by both houses of congress or he can veto it. A veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in each chamber of congress.)

Therefore, petitioning the White House for a law is ineffective and reflects a lack of understanding of constitutional government in the United States. Instead, try contacting your congressional representative or one of your senators.

And the president can help to influence policy. For 100,000 online signatures, the White House gives an official response. It also tells the government what people everywhere want That seems a lot more effective than calling your congressman in Montana.

Maybe you'll recall this petition: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/make-unlocking-cel... and how a bill was announced soon after. Sure, the petition didn't cause the bill to come about, but it helped to show the will of the people and open up government a bit. Is that ineffective?

The government is far more complex than the Constitution would have you believe.