Have you called your Congressman today? I can only hope that Mike Doyle heard my call from whatever couch he spends his days napping on. Also, by the way, there probably won’t be another day in your life where the call will do this much good.
The House has one conceivable win scenario: pass the Senate bill. By tomorrow Congressmen will decide whether or not to abandon HCR (however they try to describe it, that is the only alternative), and all that you can do then is complain about it. Yeah, the bill has some crappy provisions. The important parts are still the most comprehensive improvement to health care in America since FDR was President. Babies and bathwater, noses and faces. Check your gut and decide whether you will regret that vote for Nader sitting on your hands about this.
Call your local representative. The switchboard is (202) 224-3121. Tomorrow is too late.
Post your experience in the comments.
***Update***
FYI, the only reason Congressmen don’t wipe their ass with email is because printer paper costs money. Use a phone.
Jim
called my critter, emailed him that Jon Chait “one stinking roll call vote” article and emailed my two Senators encouraging them to take a deep breath and not join the Bayh-Webb-McCaskill halfwit panicky weenie movement. I toned down my language on that last. A little.
El Cid
SEIU’s Andy Stern agrees.
Svensker
Well, I could call my rep Scott Garrett, who is somewhere to the right of Sean Hannity and thinks that Sarah Palin is the bees knees.
Maybe I’ll call Nancy and Barack instead.
merrinc
I guess I could call Sue Myrick but she’d only vote to pass the HCR bill if it included some way of killing every Muslim on the planet.
Maude
OT, kinda, Is Webb thinking of a run for Prez? He sure sounds like it.
Demo Woman
@Svensker: Write or call your congressman and see if he supports Tom Price’s health plan which calls for deregulation of the health industry. Thirty states require insurance companies to pay for preventive care such as mammograms.
CaseyL
Done. Phoned McDermott, who is usually a sure thing, and explained that we might not get another shot at this. The person I spoke to would only say that he’ll vote in favor if the form of the bill is good for his constituents.
wilfred
Manipulative bullshit. Piss off.
When you get off your hands about Gitmo inmates being tortured to death, let me know.
geg6
Well, Tim, since Mike Doyle spends his time napping on the couch in C Street, I’m guessing he and his Family buddies Ensign and Stupak really don’t give a damn what you have to say because they are the Elect.
Meanwhile, my (D) rep, Jason Altmire (or the representative from UPMC/West Penn/BCBS of WPA) will probably be hiding in the broom closet in his Hill office. I have called and called and called and called and emailed and emailed and emailed and emailed and sent letters and letters and letters and letter through the entirety of the summer, fall, and now winter to this asshole. I have received exactly one reply, a form email thanking me for contacting his office.
They don’t give a shit.
Omnes Omnibus
Emailed my critter and donated to Haiti relief today. I feel better.
NobodySpecial
I called my rep, Don Manzullo. I got no answer, but when they picked up I heard the sound of maniacal laughter for about 45 seconds before I was disconnected.
Tom Hilton
Is there a Facebook group for this? There should be.
@wilfred: are you talking about the Gitmo inmates who were tortured by the President Nader fucking ELECTED???
Douchebag.
Tim F.
@wilfred: What a stupid response. What exactly do you think that we should do? Maybe we should write about torture once in a while on this blog, which we obviously never do. Right? Ass.
Stroszek
It’s a good thing we have labor keeping us from doing crazy things like helping the poor and unemployed. It would be absolutely awful if a handful of their members had to pay a small tax on a marginal end of an insurance policy worth more than what two minimum wage slaves make in a year. I can’t think of anything more regressive.
What was that you said? The tax isn’t even levied on the worker’s end?
Heavens! Who thought of this? Grover Norquist?
Svensker
@Demo Woman:
Why?
Would you try to reason with Michelle Bachman or Sarah Palin? The guy is a wingnut’s wingnut in a conservative county in NJ. He believes in bombs, killing Muslims, cutting taxes, making “Christianity” mandatory and deregulating everything. He’d love to see SS and Medicare axed. I might as well go talk to the wall. Actually, the wall’s more attractive and has a bigger brain.
wilfred
@Tim F.:
Fuck off. You and John resort to the most manipulative crap I’ve seen in years. It’s the paranoid health care equivlaent of WE’RE ALL GONNA FUCKIN’ DIE!!!. It’s creepy, really.
Oh, and show me the bit about writing your Congressman about the tortured to death victims.
Sasha
My rep is (was) Wexler. Gotta wait until February to kvetch.
briber
Called Rep Ellison’s office and a staffer took thorough notes, even read them back to me to make sure she had it down right.
I emailed Speaker Pelosi too.
Citizen_X
My Congressman’s Mike Pence. Calling him’s not exactly going to do much good. : (
cmorenc
@DemoWoman
Your recommendation is as clear as mud to most of us. Did you intend the “support Tom Price’s health plan” thingie to be:
a) a litmus test of where your congresscritter stands on the spectrum between single-payer and Rand-oidism?
b) because you consider Price’s deregulation plan a bona fide good idea (but if so, most of us are in the dark why you think this is a good idea, but without familiarity or explaination indicating otherwise, it whiffs of Rand-oidism to most of us);
c) a snark, actually ridiculing Price’s health plan. But again, if so, most of us are too much in the dark to come remotely close to “getting” the inside joke here.
Especially with your remark about “thirty states requiring insurance companies to pay for preventative care…”…it’s hard from the obscure context whether you think this is a great idea or an outrage Price’s bill would correct. I assume it’s more likely you think it’s a great idea, but…darn if I can confidently say for sure from your obscure post.
Zifnab
@wilfred:
Just like Bush! :-p
Yeah, let me figure out which district I’m in since I moved, and I’ll be calling shortly as well.
Fuck. Culberson. Well, this’ll be a fun way to bang my head against the wall.
Woodbuster (formerly donovong)
@wilfred: Wilfred, your Mommy called. She said fuck you too, asshole.
Omnes Omnibus
@Omnes Omnibus: Called her office as well. Tammy Baldwin, that is. Got a polite response that my message would be passed on to the Congresswoman.
Woodbuster (formerly donovong)
Via Ezra, this is the best posting I have seen all day. Every Democritter should watch it:
youtube.com/watch?v=Q47bpOCTcaY
Jim
Yeah, I called up Walt Minnick’s office and expressed my firm preference that the House pass the Senate’s bill.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
Ralph Hall is my Rep. He switched parties to keep his job long before the idea was a twinkle in Spector’s eye.
That also means I have Hutchinson and what’s his name (I don’t even want to look it up).
Edit: And write after I hit send, Cornyn pops into my head.
freelancer (itouch)
@wilfred:
And how can you be concerned about torture when millions need help in Haiti?! And what about the whales?!
Same sheet of music, UR doin it Wrong.
CaseyL
The President has spoken! He is rallying the troops with his cry of:
Wait, what?
That’s it?
JFC. This is his key issue, the one he said he’s be willing to serve only one term if that was what it took to pass HCR, and that’s what he comes up with?
We are so hosed.
cmorenc
@Woodbuster:
This reminds me of a wonderful line from blues song (I think it’s by BB King):
only my mama loves me…but she could be jivin too.
Sentient Puddle
I just got off the phone with my representative, Michael McCaul (R-TX).* After urging him to vote to pass the Senate bill, he replied “Are you kidding me? Fuck health care,” and promptly hung up.
*OK, I didn’t call him, but I think that’s roughly the response I’d get. Goddamn Austin gerrymander…
madmatt
If this bill is so good, why did the insurance industry go balls out funding coakley to get it passed. They are the only winners in this bill whether it passes or not….now you want me to promote a bill that actually FUCKS ME over. I am the poor and ill, and I get screwed by the senate bill….Id rather we all suffer together than give a fucking nickel to the insurance companies.
4tehlulz
@freelancer (itouch): Haitian whales don’t care about the Palestinians, so they shouldn’t complain when their ox is being gored.
Ben JB
I called Sen. Durbin to ask him to give support to our IL representatives–I didn’t call Burris b/c since I’m banking on personal influence, I don’t think he’s got a lot.
And I called Rep. Gutierrez to ask him to support a vote on the senate’s HCR bill.
Carol
I called Driehaus (he’s my rep) and told him to pass the parts of health care they can. Maybe it was a mistake to pass it as a whole. Perhaps if we passed a bill a week-each issue, there would have been less drama over the Senate Vote.
A little bit here, a little there, some in funding bills, some separately. Then people will get something for all of their hard work.
drew42
Called my Rep, Michael Arcuri — who has been suprisingly good, considering he’s a Blue Dog.
BFSCR
Called Shelia Jackson Lee’s office, no delay on any of it. Told the staffer to ask the Congresswoman to hold her nose, pass the Senate’s bill, & try to fix things after we’ve made some actual progress.
John
That happened?
Omnes Omnibus
@John: I believe a fundraiser was held.
John
Well, I called Fattah. I don’t really know how to go about calling congressmen, so I just told the girl who answered the phone that I thought they should pass the Senate health care bill and then she said she’d pass it along and I hung up. It was awkward. How are you supposed to do these things?
The Disgruntled Chemist
I just spoke to Rep. Sarbanes’s office (MD-3). The staffer didn’t know his position on the Senate version of the bill, but said she’d pass on my message to vote for it. Sarbanes did vote for the House bill, so I’m hopeful about this.
It’s nice to have a Democratic representative for the first time in my life (born and raised in Orange County, CA).
Stroszek
@John: No. He’s conflating PHARMA with the insurers.
The Disgruntled Chemist
Edited because I no can read good.
wilfred
That’s right, vote for this bill or someone might break a leg and lose his job and his dog might end up in a crackhouse or as a donor for some experiment to buy face cream for fat republicans. Something like that, right?
Both porposals suck. The people wanted single payer or a Medicare for all provision. Not this shit.
Better safe than sorry makes sense if those really are the only two choices. They’re not. Now you want people to fight for something they don’t believe in because of FEAR.
If you do something from fear, you deserve what you get.
Omnes Omnibus
@John: Just like that. the Critters will tally up what comes in. It can have an influence.
MJ
@Tim F,
Thanks for encouraging us to do something instead of sitting at home, licking our collective wounds.
Per your suggestion, I called Edolphus Towns’ office (NY-10) and urged him to pass the senate bill and then make the fixes through reconciliation. FWIW, the staff member who took my call said that they had been getting “a lot of calls” today from constituents who also want Rep. Towns to pass the Senate bill.
BR
I’ve called several times in the last several days, and will keep calling my rep. We need them to pass the senate HCR bill in the house and get it to Obama by the SOTU.
freelancer (itouch)
@wilfred:
Your kingdom for a pony.
youtube.com/watch?v=QP_rIAkb_v8&feature=youtube_gdata
Mary
I called Van Hollen. It felt good. Thank you for suggesting this.
Ben JB
@Tom Hilton: Facebook group formed:
Call Your Representative to Vote for the Senate HCR Bill
ellaesther
I called Danny Davis. His guy said “I will definitely pass that message along for you.”
I wish it were more dramatic than that, but that’s what there is.
Omnes Omnibus
@wilfred: Fear is a great motivator – biological imperatives and all that.
You would rather hold out for single payer? Do you expect it to spring forth fully formed from the head of Zeus like Athena? Or, perhaps, just maybe, one gets there in steps and, if one does not take the first step, one never goes anywhere. YMMV, but I will take incremental progress over nothing. That is the real choice here.
Chat Noir
Just called (and e-mailed) my Rep’s office (Gary Peters – Michigan 9th). The staffer said she’s not sure what’s going on and said the Congressman is waiting to see what comes out of any merged Senate/House bill. She didn’t know about the House voting on the bill passed in the Senate. That said, I reiterated my support for HCR. She wrote down my name and where I live.
I actually met face to face with Rep. Peters back in September when we were on vacation in DC. He supported the public option and also voted for the bill back in November. So, we’ll see what happens.
geg6
Wasted effort, folks.
The president had this forceful and combative stance on passing his signature agenda item today:
tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/obama-senate-will-not-vote-on-health-care-before-brown-is-…
Money quote on how he’s gonna fight:
edmund dantes
Wow. Obama needed to make a forceful statement and grab the reins before this spiralled out of control, but he wants to wait longer?
Where’s the magical Republican going to come from to pass this bill if you have to wait for Brown and run it by the Senate again? What do you have to give up to get it?
The guy has lost the lead on this one.
DecidedFenceSitter
Hmmm Republican Rep, Webb and Warner on my senators, both of whom were leading the pack on the “Can’t do anything on the legislation now” trail.
Ah well, money to other candidates it is.
Mary
@Ben JB: I hope you guys are twittering this also. I have twitter and facebook accounts which I don’t use but this initiative might get me to start using them if you can give us more details on what to do.
P.S. I do look at John Cole’s twitter feed so that I can gaze upon the visage of my main man, Tunch.
Napoleon
Obama was the biggest waste of a presidential vote in my life. That POS is basically giving up on HCR. What a pathetic loser.
BTD
@El Cid:
Not really. He wants a parallel reconciliation bill.
Lolis
I called Lloyd Doggett in TX. He is an awesome rep and was already unhappy with the watered-down House version of the bill, but he has never joined the “Kill the Bill” bandwagon, so I hope he is reasonable.
And to those that say you’d rather see people suffer than give insurance companies more money, I say fuck you.
Violet
Called my Congresscritter’s office too. Staff person was nice. Took down my name and info. Go nothing else out of the staffer but that, but did hear phones ringing in the background. Hopefully others are calling.
Tom Hilton
@Omnes Omnibus: she called me too. Wilfred’s mother really, really doesn’t like him.
Mary
@BTD: Would you be OK with the Senate bill plus a fix to the excise tax that satisfies Labor or is the public option the new, new hill to die on?
HumboldtBlue
For the one-hundredth time, you’re not getting health care reform, health care in this nation is outstanding. What is needed is health insurance reform and that’s not going to happen.
And for those who say we must give the scam artists who pose as insurance carriers more money I say, fuck you.
freelancer (itouch)
Not quite off topic:
Mass Effect 2 can’t get here fast enough, at the very least the suicide mission plot element will be entertaining.
Joel
I think making noise is the right thing to do.
I’ll be calling McDermott over this.
But I know this isn’t going to be Obama’s hill to die on.
johnb
just called david price and got one of his assistants and said my schpiel.
Tom Hilton
@Ben JB: Thanks! Joined.
Elie
I called my representative ..lets keep pushing it…
Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion
Called my rep, who happens to be Jo Ann Emerson, Inc. She’s an R, who has a lovely editorial on her website about how global warming is bs, and the current health care bill is no good because it wasn’t debated on t.v. Told the polite staffer I want the senate bill passed. He promised to pass that along. Yay.
wilfred
@Omnes Omnibus:
Incremental progress as a strategy makes sense if you can guarantee continued Demcocratic majorities in both houses, no? Let’s get this bill passed now and tinker with it later, is that right?
Things change. Maybe they’ll change for the better. Personally, I think enough people are asking themselves why banks can get bailed out but they can’t have single payer health insurance. And I think those people will vote for candidates who tell them they are exactly right. I believe that certain Democrats will get pounded in primaries and in the mid-terms. Fuck them. Why save their asses now?
A better play, imo, is to go to the people with the real prize, not some watered down shit aimed at protecting a few safe seats. Who dares, wins.
Craig
Rick Boucher just got a call, and I sent word to our local YD org about the thing. At least it’s something proactive to do.
MarkJ
I would call my rep, but as I live in DC I don’t have a senator, and even my house member doesn’t have a vote, so there’s really no point.
Charity
I called my congresswoman (Rep. Schakowsky) and told her to pass the Senate bill as is in the House and get it to Obama’s desk. Then make changes with reconcillation. Told her that we have to get health care passed now, not later.
Thinking of calling the WH too to say they need to do some work here.
Robin G.
Called my Congresswoman. For all the good it will do. HCR looks, sounds, and smells dead.
I’m in tears over the loss of the pre-existing condition clause standing. It would have helped my life so much. Fuck these bastards.
Omnes Omnibus
@wilfred:
Ooh… An SAS fan.
You ain’t gettin’ the whole loaf right now, but half is on the table. Take it. This Congress will not produce and pass the perfect bill. Now what? Wait? I think not. Take what we can get for now. Try to elect more and better Democrats. Build on this foundation. Social Security was pretty weak tea when first passed.
Fallsroad
Alas, Sullivan (R-Jebus) is my rep, and my Senators are Inhofe (R-Batshitcrazy) and Coburn (R-Shithead Supreme).
John
How on earth do they think they can possibly explain this in a way that won’t get them massacred in November. Both houses have already passed health care bills. The fact that the House, with 250-odd Democrats, is unwilling to pass the Senate bill is pathetic. The fact that Obama has given up is even more pathetic. I’m disgusted with the whole lot of them.
And, here’s the thing. The Firedoglake idiots already hate Obama. They’re not going to like him any better for giving up. What they’re basically doing here is saying “fuck you” to all the people who didn’t join the Firedoglake brigade, who have been supporting him all along, saying that half a loaf is better than none and that Congress needs to pass something. Now they’re just saying “fuck you,” because they’re fucking panicky babies, because the fucking unions don’t want some of their members to have to pay a small tax. Fuck them. Fuck them all. This is disgusting.
I’m not going to say that I’m going to sit home in November, because I’m not. The Democrats doing nothing and being pathetic losers who wouldn’t know how to win if it punched them in the face are still better than the Republicans, and I’m going to dutifully go to the polls to vote for whatever pathetic candidates the Democrats have decided to nominate this time. But this is just disgusting.
asiangrrlMN
I called my congresswoman, Betty McCollum, and asked her (well her office manager) to pass the Senate’s HCR bill. I said it was important to get it passed however we can. She was exceedingly polite (we do polite very well), took down my name and address, and said she’d be sure to let Congresswoman McCollum know. Nothing too exciting, but it’s done.
Tom Hilton
@HumboldtBlue: HB, hadn’t seen you since the quake. You okay?
And you’re completely full of shit on HCR. But that’s okay.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@wilfred:
No, the problem is, the people want everyone to stay out of their health care until they lose it. Then they’re suddenly for what the Democrats are offering.
JC
This is the one issue I cared about, really cared about. The one issue. The one issue I’ve called on, the one issue that benefits millions, the one issue that is completely unfair, and the issue, that will bankrupt the United States.
And nothing will be done?
History doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme. And Obama is looking at a perfect storm of opposition, unwinding of debt, no new “tech miracle” to boost economic prospects that happened with Clinton, energy issues that will continue to get worse, housing issue that will continue another two years.
What happened to “I Got This!!”?.
This is a YEAR of failure, right here, is what we got. The one thing that was, somewhat, under the control of the administration.
Take the damn vote. Get progressives to VOTE DOWN health care. Do it. At least we see where people stand.
Welcome to Jimmy Carter 2.
The rhyming is obvious, unfortunately.
ellaesther
@MarkJ: Aw honey, I’m sorry! If it’s any consolation, I personally believe that taxing you without representing you is contrary to this country’s founding Idea. I would give you a representative and a senator in a heartbeat! (Actually, I’ve got Roland Burris. Do you want him? I’ll give him to you right now).
HumboldtBlue
@Tom Hilton: I’m well Tom, thanks for asking. Considering what happened in Haiti all we got was a short tumble that broke some plates and knocked some bricks off facades.
As for HCR, I can’t think of anyone more full of shit than the so-called Democrats in the House and Senate. I’m an incrementalist, but we’re not even going to get a starting point.
Zuzu's Petals
@CaseyL:
That’s what he’s saying publicly.
Pretty sure he’s a bit more to the point where and with whom it counts.
Omnes Omnibus
@ellaesther:
Take my Senator … please. [rimshot]
(/Henny Youngman)
BTD
@Mary:
Are you asking me what I want? I think adding a Medicare Buy-In is very doable.
I do not know what else is dealable.
But who cares what I think? You need to convince Trumka, Stern, McIntee et al.
They are the person in the room on this.
J. Michael Neal
Called Rep. Ellison to deliver a brief message saying to pass the bill. The staffer said he’d pass it along. So, that’s two callers in this thread from MN-5. I sent an e-mail with a longer description of my reasoning.
Ben JB
@Mary: I’m not really on Twitter, but I sent an email to John, Doug, Tim, and Anne Laurie, asking them to Twitter about it.
Zuzu's Petals
Called (D) Doris Matsui’s office, spoke to a real person who said Matsui was in agreement with the urgent need to pass HCR, not sure if it would be reconciliation or voting for Senate bill, but saw the issue as a priority.
gbear
Just called Betty McCollum’s offices in St Paul and DC. No trouble getting thru to non-harried staffers who were happy to take the message. One of them asked if I’d been urged to call by a MoveOn email, and I told her (honestly) that I’m not on any mailing lists for political organization.
I did tell her about this blog post and I could feel myself blushing as I said I’d gotten the reminder from Balloon Juice. She had to ask me to repeat the name.
I also told her that I would have called even without the reminder, but thanks for the reminder anyway, Tim.
I like having Betty McC as my rep as much as I like having Franken as one of my senators.
Robin G.
@asiangrrlMN: Be prepared to get an exceedingly bland stock letter talking about how she shares your concerns.
At some point all the TC residents should get together and get angrily, weepily drunk over this bullshit.
Demo Woman
@cmorenc: The democratic party can run against deregulation of the insurance companies. Thirty states mandate coverage for mammograms and other preventive treatment. I have a $2000 deductible and I’m not sure that I would pay for preventive care. Earlier I mentioned that me ex had a colonoscopy and he was treated for stage 3 colon cancer. The insurance company because of regulations had to cover the cost of the initial test.
How many females want the insurance companies to drop mammograms. How many lives are saved because they are covered? Deregulation will cause more deaths and the American people need to wake up to that fact.
gbear
Over a form letter from the office of one of the most consistently liberal leaning congress-persons?? What do you want, a personal visit? You’re reaction is whacko.
Robin G.
@gbear: No, over this HCR debacle in its entirety. I might be upset, but no, I haven’t degenerated into clothing-rending over a form letter yet.
J. Michael Neal
@Robin G.:
I’m in. I can even bring lots of vodka, in case the failure of HCR has left us all too poor to go to a bar.
C Liss
Called Jane Harman – the girl who answered said she’d pass it on. Said they had a lot of calls today urging the same.
jwb
@Sentient Puddle: I called Doggett’s office today. The woman I spoke to seemed surprised to get the call, which I found somewhat disconcerting.
Emma Anne
Thanks you so much for giving me something to do. I called Jared Polis. They took my name, address, *and* email address and thanked me for calling. The aide said I would hear back soon. They are obviously paying close attention right now. Call everyone!
danimal
@JC:
Agreed.
Let the “progressives” be accountable for taking down HCR. After all, the Senate actually did pass a bill with 60 votes. It’s not great, but it’s pretty good. I think a lot of “liberal” Democrats have been publicly favoring health care for years, but really don’t want to do anything. It appears we haven’t had the votes that we thought we had.
More importantly, make sure that the GOP gets a lot of chances to vote No on everything for the remainder of the year. Don’t be afraid to lose votes, but make the bastards on the left, the right, and the center come out into the open and actually vote on legislation. It could do us wonders in the long run. Make GOP obstruction evident to everyone. I wish we had Dems that know how to play the game. And I want a pony. Also.
(ends rant)
auntieeminaz
Just called Rep. Harry Mitchell’s (AZ) Washington office to voice my support for HCR. This is a fairly conservative district so I don’t know how much good it will do.
Also got a robo call today from newly elected Sen. “Cosmo” Brown expressing appreciation for McCain’s support.
cathaireverywhere
My Congressman is an up-and-coming young Repub, so no point, really. He was on Hardball today, which gave me an excuse to turn it off.
On the other hand, I somehow got a Republican Nat’l Committee survey today, so that was fun. Lots of inflammatory language (on their part) and craziness (also on their part) but it came with a postage-free return envelope, so I vented my frustration on it a little.
Beej
My Congressperson is Jeff Fortenberry, (R) Nebraska. Calling him is going to accomplish nothing except to waste my time. Dammit!