From reader Max.
Just talked to my congresswoman’s office – Barbara Lee.
When I asked what her position was on passing the Senate Health Care bill, the guy said it is “up for debate at this point”.
I registered my wish for Ms. Lee to vote for the Senate bill. He took my info.
Look folks, if Barbara Lee, the only no vote against the AUMF following Sept 11th, is “up for debate” then call call call your representatives.
Here is how you do it.
(1) Use a phone. Email has nigh on zero impact. Trust me on this. Letter mail gets read, but you don’t have time. Reach the House switchboard at (202) 224-3121 .
(2) Remember, this person works for you. You pay his or her salary and you voted for them. You’re the boss here, or at least one of them, and it’s they who should worry about what you think of them.
(3) Identify your name and the town or neighborhood where you live. If you are not a constituent, save your phone bill and yell at the TV.
(4) State the issue. This is easy: pass the Senate bill or the party gets it. We can (and certainly will) fix the shortcomings later.
(5) How strongly do you feel? Don’t apologize about feeling passionate or pissed off. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
(6) What are you going to do about it? Again, squeaky wheel. Will you reward good behavior with money or volunteers? Support a primary challenger if you feel let down? Stay home in November? Do you belong to a group who listens to your opinion or feels the same way you do? This part will get their attention and get the message passed on. Do not forget it.
One last, important point. We want to track where Representatives are swinging on this and who is willing to commit. However your Rep’s intern responds about the Senate bill, please email me or post it in the comments. We are most interested to know who is voting yes, who will vote no, who will not commit and whether the abortion language is a problem with conservative Dems.
pinson
I just got off the phone with Lynn Woolsey’s office and got a similar response. The official line was something like “she hasn’t yet taken a stand on the senate bill…” The unofficial line was that “everyone here in the office is passionately, overwhelmingly in favor of getting something done, no matter what it takes, including passing the senate bill. We all know the consequences that will ensue if we fail to get something passed.”
I was ready to start yelling about “never vote for Woolsey again no matter what if she stands in the way of HCR” but it was obvious that that wasn’t necessary. The realization seems to be dawning that this is it. There’s one shot to get this thing over the goal line. The speaker should set a date for a vote this weekend.
BR
Just called and shouted at Sens. Boxer and Feinstein’s offices, told them that we need to use a 50 vote margin and pass things like republicans did. (Plural – a good trick is to call all of their offices, that way different staffers hear from you and you double your voice.)
KDP
Pete Stark’s office, 13th District, California.
I was told that my comments would be communicated to him, but the staffer/intern indicated that Rep. Stark has not expressed a position regarding his vote should the Senate bill come before the House.
flyingdonut
Pelosi rejects Senate bill, looking for “changes.”
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? THERE AREN’T GOING TO BE ANY CHANGES, YOU STUPID FUCKS.
God DAMN it.
Comrade Sock Puppet of the Great Satan
Fuck. Stark isn’t sure what to do either?
Mary
@BR: We’re calling our House members to pass the Senate bill and fix it later and get a read on what their vote is. Calling your senators with a general rant is distinctly unhelpful in this case.
Josh Marshall is also talking about organizing to pass the Senate bill and fix it later and he is also collecting information about the positions of each representative.
meh
not to rain on your parade, but they don’t give a shit what you, or I, or anyone thinks – this is a center right nation, remember? We’re just a minority of DFH’s…
James Hare
I called Jim Moran’s office but that was before I read this — didn’t ask how he would have voted. I called yesterday too. I was just expressing my extreme displeasure with the leadership and the rest of the chickenshit national Democratic party.
BR
@Mary:
I should have been more clear in my comment above. I’m calling the senate asking them to promise to pass fixes to the bill through reconciliation after the house votes on the senate bill. That way the house will agree to passing the senate bill in the first place. Most likely the senate will fumble the reconciliation afterwards, but at least we would have gotten the original senate bill through and signed.
FormerSwingVoter
The amazing thing about this is how its driven the normally pragmatic and/or snarky to actual activism. I’m surprised (and proud) to see this kind of stuff here at BJ.
maye
Jim Moran’s office says “yes” – he’d vote for the Senate bill.
Mary
@BR: Mixed messages are confusing. It’s hard enough to understand this stuff as it is. For example, if you are reading on DKos to call in favor of reconciliation for the public option, it’s akin to telling the House to kill the bill. That is the exact opposite of telling the House to pass the Senate bill and fix it later.
JeanneB
I called Gerry Connelly’s (VA-11) office–the staffer answering said, “we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
I really, really hope they’re getting a bunch of calls.
Mary
@maye: Yay for Moran!
JasonF
With all due respect to Max — his comment is great and 100% true — I think this one from Xecky Gilchrist may be the true comment of the day:
This is what I don’t understand. Why do Democrats think that by being more like Republicans they will have electoral success? People who want to vote for representatives who act like Republicans already have an option — they can vote for Republicans. If voters like Republicans, they are not going to start voting for Democrats who become Republicanesque and if voters don’t like Republicans, they are really not going to start voting for Democrats who become Republicanesque.
Lev
@Mary: Just curious–have Kos, Hamsher, et al., actually been able to find experts on reconciliation rules that were positive that you could actually pass a public option under reconciliation rules? I’ve only read a little bit about it, but it’s always seemed a little…far-fetched to me. I realize that it reduces the deficit. But I’m pretty sure that you can write any bill in such a way that it reduces the deficit. Just toss in a $5 billion surtax and you’re done. If that were all there is to it, why wouldn’t Bush & Co. done that on everything? I believe they only used it on their tax cuts.
That’s why I’ve always found the firebaggers insane. They want to use a route in an unprecedented and unpredictable way, and they argue that we have to have a public option because insurance companies misbehave, while supporting a strategy that definitionally excludes anything (e.g. bans on pre-existing conditions and spending caps) to make them behave.
tara
Just called Tammy Baldwin’s office. Her staff member tried to punt saying that Pelosi released a statement this morning saying that the bill will not even come up for a vote so it was irrelevant. I pushed a bit and asked whether Tammy would support it if it did. She said that Tammy hasn’t made up her mind yet and asked whether I had comments I wanted passed along to her. I told her yes, and that I wanted Tammy to support it and explained why I did even though I recognize there are real problems with it.
KDP
@Comrade Sock Puppet of the Great Satan: I was very disappointed at the response. I’m about to call the California office to see if I get a different response.
mtbinwi
Called Ron Kind (WI) office. They wouldn’t comment on if he was going to support the Senate version. I urged him to support it and take care of any issues in reconciliation.
Sam Z
Called Quigley’s (IL) DC office. Aide: “waiting on leadership” me: if Senate bill up or down? Aide: haven’t spoken to him re that” Me: either way, he’s gotta vote yes. Thanks”..
gypsy howell
I think I’ll just save myself the trouble of calling Joe Pitts, the douchebag who came to my daughter’s 10th grade science class and gave a little talk about how abortions were performed by stabbing icepicks into babies’ brains and throwing the fetuses in the dump.
Svejk
Just talked to Earl Blumenauer’s DC office. They wouldn’t commit to anything, just said that EB has always been supportive of health care reform (true as far as I know). Wouldn’t commit to passing the Senate bill as is. Staffer said that EB is ‘waiting for the leadership to tell us what to do.” No response when I asked what EB said at this morning’s meeting with leadership. Staffer claimed that reports that Blumenauer wanted to chop the bill up and stuff it through the Senate in detail (see ) are inaccurate. I let them know that if he doesn’t help push this through, I’d vote for Mickey Mouse in a primary; the staffer seemed sympathetic.
Lev
@gypsy howell: Wait, the Pitts of Stupak-Pitts? My deepest sympathies.
Yeah, I don’t think the abortion stuff should be a problem. My guess was that a lot of Dems voted for Stupak because they didn’t want to have a vote for abortion to defend coming into a tough midterm election. Practically every midterm election has a more conservative electorate than the presidential years. As Nate pointed out, a lot of pro-choicers voted for Stupak and then claimed ignorance of what was in it. Just like Hillary Clinton with Iraq, I suppose. Fuckin’ Democrats.
slag
Max wins. I called my Rep. Left a message.
Fred V
A respectful “Thank you, and I will let the congressman know how you feel” when I stated my case to Ron Kind’s office (Wisc. 3rd).
The Populist
Well to support the spirit here I called my congressman (argh) Ed Royce.
Well as you can imagine, he is against it, his assistant almost laughed at my points and more or less hinted I should stop wasting their time.
BDeevDad
@The Populist: Did you ask if he is happy with his government run healthcare and will he give it up?
Pontious Pilates
I called Nydia Velasquez’s office again today to find out if she is inclined to simply vote for the senate bill and try to get some things back through reconciliation or whatever means they can. The intern was nice and simply said she would record my opinion for the Rep. She said Nydia still supports the House version to which I replied – we know that you weren’t going to get anything back anyways and the bills are 90% in alignment. I said I wouldn’t hold it against her if she held her nose and voted for the Senate bill to just get this thing to the presidents desk. I said NO ONE will remember that 10% difference but they will remember you guys had huge majorities in both houses and couldn’t get a thing done.
The Populist
@BDeevDad:
I mentioned that and told the person that I don’t understand why Ed isn’t more outspoken AGAINST Medicare since that is a government run medical program.
His asst didn’t have an answer but to tell me that the congressman will get my comments. I will say that is where I sensed eye rolling and a slight snicker in their voice.
Turbulence
I called Rep Capuano’s office today. Capuano lost to Coakley in the Dem Senate Primary. I spoke to an aide who was very polite but explained that Rep Capuano had not yet made any decisions regarding the Senate HCR bill. I explained why I expected Capuano’s support for the bill and what I would do if that support didn’t materialize and the aide thanked me for the feedback.
astronautgo
I’ve never commented before, but for the record I just called the office of Michael Capuano, MA-8, and his staff member told me that he hasn’t released an official position, but he’s very interested in collecting the views of as many of his constituents as he can. So I told him that I’m strongly in favor of voting to pass the Senate bill, and keeping the reform legislation from going anywhere near the Senate again. Capuano’s usually reliably progressive, but lord knows what kind of decision that’s going to translate to at this point.
Duane
Congressman Zack Space (OH-18) absolutely no to Senate bill. He voted for Stupak as well.
http://space.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=20§iontree=8,20&itemid=894
Mainer
Michaud, Democrat from Maine, is my congressman. The intern said that he’ll make up his mind depending on what’s in the bill.
And then I got a little too hot — After all, the bill was passed already, bud. You know what’s in the Senate bill. So will you support it, either on it’s own or only if there’s a patch?
No answer.
Genine
If any of you in favor of health care reform live in Diana DeGette’s district in Colorado, give her a call. I called her office today and was told that I was one of few positive phone calls they’ve had and the only one today. Her office has been flooded with angry phone calls against healthcare reform, which is weird for my town.
I’m thinking this must be due to both firebaggers and teabaggers because my district is pretty liberal. Or, maybe, a lot of people are taking for granted the fact that our district is liberal and it’s not worth the phone call. Anyway, the woman thanked me for being pleasant and supportive.
Let’s give more positive reinforcement!
Tomlinson
I called Niki Tsongas, MA. No position at this time.
sacman701
Just called the office of Doris Matsui (CA). The staffer told me that she’s a supporter of the public option but has not taken a position on the Senate bill yet.
Rob in Denver
Fellow CO-1 residents: Rep. DeGette is a Chief Deputy Majority Whip. She’s a good one to call. Other Chief Deputy Majority Whips:
U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, Senior Chief Deputy Whip
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters of California
U.S. Rep. John Tanner of Tennessee
U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor of Arizona
U.S. Rep. Janice Schakowsky of Illinois
U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley of New York
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado
U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina
U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida
sophronia
I just talked to Congressman Pastor’s office. The intern there said he hadn’t spoken to Pastor about his vote. Sounded pretty bored with the whole concept, frankly.
acallidryas
@Maye
Then the calls have worked! I called around 12:30 and was told that he wasn’t sure
LazyBones
Chaka Fattah supports going ahead with HCR
First time I have called the Congressional office switchboard and possibly I made complete idiot of myself. However, the staffer was quite nice and confirmed two things: Fattah does support going ahead with HCR (and thinks the Dems’ panic is overblown) and two, he has a really awesome name Go on. Say it aloud. You know you want to.
Chaka Fattaaaaaah.
Camchuck
I called Rep Dingell this morning. The staffer gave me the “favor the house bill, looking for ways to improve the Senate bill… etc.” I asked flat out if Dingell would support the Senate version over nothing at all. The staffer couldn’t (wouldn’t?) give an answer.
Dingell, IMO, is a key figure in this. He’s tight with the progressives and very pro-union. He’d hate supporting the Senate’s “cadillac plan tax”. On the other hand nobody in DC has worked longer for HCR than Dingell.
Whether a guy like Dingell would rather see HCR fail or compromise with the Senate bill is a real baromater of where the House is headed.
ellaesther
@ Tim F. I just posted a link to the earlier “call your reps” post with the list of helpful hints over at Ta-Nehisi’s place.
May I suggest that those of us who comment in other places do the same? The more people we can catch with our internet wiles, the better.
(Going to post this appeal on the other, related threads as well).
HeartlandLiberal
Even better than a phone call, FAX your commentary.
I fax everything I sent to my CongressCritters, the White House Fax, and Reid and Pelosi’s offices. Then I publish it on one of my web sites for posterity.
Emails are virtually a waste of time. It is too easy. They are bombarded with 1% emails, and 99% crap and spam.
Sending a traditional letter means by the time it gets through the security procedures, possibly not just days but weeks have passed, possibly to the point that whatever you were writing about is history before the paper letter is seen by the target.
Apsalar
My rep is Anna Eshoo, for Mountain View/Palo Alto, CA and what has to be one of the more liberal districts in the country. The aide said he would pass my thoughts along. I asked if anyone else had called and urged the House to pass the Senate bill, and he kind of laughed and said yes, they’d received a lot of calls saying that.
acallidryas
I’ve been nagging my family to call, too. My brother called Rep. Allan Boyd (Blue Dog- FL2) and the staffer wouldn’t say one way or the other if Boyd suppported the Senate bill.
Phillip J. Birmingham
Called my rep — Melissa Bean (IL-8). Staffer would not answer my question about how she would vote, claiming to just be a “front office” person. I just laid out my case, ending with “just pass the darn bill.”
We’ll see what happens.
Meaderthal
Me, I wish I had a Democratic representative I could contact on this. Alas, I’m stuck with Zach Wamp (R-TN). And I already know how he’s going to vote.
pbriggsiam
My rep is Congressman Adam Schiff of the CA 29th CD. He has no position yet.
I gave the intern in DC my info and said that I expect:
1) him to vote for the Senate bill as is so we can get it on President Obama’s desk immediately
2) expected better leadership from him instead of this fence-sitting (the kind that is going to cause us to lose elections in 2010 and 2012).
Politics is feeling like a waste of my time these days – and I’ve been a Howard Dean inspired community activist since 2003!
orogeny
Talked to Artur Davis’ (AL) press person and, in spite of the fact that he has said in the past that he voted against the house bill because he thought the senate bill was better, he’s now saying that he hasn’t made up his mind yet. He’s running for governor here in AL, so he’s been tracking toward the right to impress the rednecks. If the vote is really close, he might come around, but if there’s anyway he can vote against it and still have it pass, that’s the way he’ll go.
Scott P.
Called John Boccieri, my congressman here in Ohio. He voted for Stupak and against the original House bill, so he was already in my dog house (and I donated to the bastard). The woman who answered the phone told me she “wasn’t authorized” to tell me the congressman’s opinion on the Senate Bill. WTF? I told her my views in no uncertain terms, and she took down my information.
EriktheRed
My Congresscritter is David Foster, who took over Hastert’s seat in ’08. I called him to voice my support for him voting for the Senate bill. Thing is, I got a mailing from him once where he listed one of his “accomplishments” as “opposing President Obama’s budget”.
IOW, I’m not too hopeful.
Crap….
Scott P.
Call him anyway. If the Dems have to take hell from the teabaggers, it’s only right that we give the Republicans some pain as well, even if only rhetorically.
Jackie
I called Dan Lipinski, D IL 3, the staffer told me that the senate bill isn’t up for a vote in the house. I told her that I am aware of that but wanted to know if he would support it if that happened. No info. Told her I wanted a bill and the senate bill was alot better than doing nothing. Do it and fix it.
Jackie
@EriktheRed: Really? Obama sent alot of us to your district to call and canvas when he ran the first time. Time we took away from the primary campaign for Obama. We upped democratic turn out to help him win that seat in a special election. Nice to know that favors are remembered.
ResumeMan
That comment about Barbara Lee scared me. She’s my congresscritter too. So I did something I’ve never done before and called my rep. I told her what we’ve all been saying — This is gut-check time, it’s critical to pass the Senate bill (and hopefully tweak it via reconciliation). I told the receptionist that I have knocked on doors, worked phone banks, and donated thousands of dollars — and that if health care dies, I am DONE. Out. Finished with politics, and the Democratic party can go fuck themselves (well I didn’t say that last part ;) )
Charity
I called my representative’s DC office – Rep. Schakowsky from Chicago/Evanston, IL area. I asked if she would vote for the Senate bill if it came to the House floor. The intern said that Rep. Schakowsky has not made up her mind since this is a hypothetical situation.
I told him that she needs to make up her mind and vote for it–30 million lives are at risk. Get changes made later with reconciliation if we have to but the Senate bill needs to get passed now. I also said that if she doesn’t this, it will greatly influence where I put my money and vote come November. He took down my opinion and said he would pass it along.
I called yesterday, I called today, and I am calling tomorrow too.
vheidi
thank you for the talking points- called my rep NY-11 Yvette Clarke, who I thought was going to be a horrible example of nepotism in action (she won her mother’s seat), but who’s turned out pretty well. She was one of the progressive letter signers on public option. Told the pleasant young woman that the bill sucked but must be passed. She said the congresswoman was “studying the bill.”
Lurker
@pbriggsiam:
I called Adam Schiff, too. This was the first time I’ve ever called a representative on the phone. I told the person on the other side of the phone that I wanted Adam Schiff to vote for the Senate bill. Then I started getting a little agitated and told him that Adam Schiff needs to pass *some* kind of health care reform to help people.
I told the listener about my situation (preexisting condition, rejected for private insurance twice) and about my friends’ situations (I know too many insured/uninsured who were financially ruined due to medical problems), and that if Adam Schiff did not vote for health care that I would support his opponent in the primary.
I was so upset that I did not ask what Adam Schiff’s actual position was on this matter. The intern did not volunteer that information, either. Argh.
CS
Probably no surprise, but a staffer at Alan Grayson’s (FL-8) office says he’s in favor of passing the Senate bill and fixing it later.
gheby
Bobby Scott, Virginia’s 3rd District:
Couldn’t get a straight answer one way or the other. The staffer just kept saying “The House staffers are still reviewing the bill.” Kept pressing, and he brought up a few more concerns (Stupak and Cadillac tax), plus the fact that Pelosi said this morning she didn’t have the votes. When I pointed out that implied Pelosi counted the votes and asked whether Scott was a yes or no, the staffer went back to “still reviewing the bill.”
Evan
Spoke with a staffer at Carolyn Maloney’s (NY-14) DC office around 11:30 this morning. His reponse to my question regarding Congresswoman Maloney’s position on passing the Senate bill was (close to direct quote) “I honestly don’t know the Congresswoman’s position on the Senate bill.”
Yikes.
If you live in NY-14, please do like I did and give her office a call letting her know what her position needs to be.
D.C. number: 202-225-7944
Mnemosyne
@pbriggsiam:
I’m also in Schiff’s district and I just called to say we need to pass the Senate bill and that I was very very upset and trying not to yell. (In my experience with telephone customer service, the person who calmly says, “I’m very upset” gets a better response than someone who actually yells, so I went with that approach.)
Third Eye Open
@acallidryas: Told me the same thing, but in all fairness, that is what he always says when you tell them you’re a resident. If I didn’t spend my days railing about religious nuts on my FB, I would run against Mr. Boyd.
Aris Merquoni
First time commenter. I’m in Earl Blumenhauer’s district (Portland, OR) and just called his DC office–his staffer said he didn’t know what was going to happen, that there’s been “a lot of people huddled in rooms all day.” I told him I hoped the Congressman would use whatever influence he had to pass the Senate bill through, and asked if he’d taken a position yet–staffer said he didn’t know if he’d taken a firm position yet or decided what to do, and that he’d been getting quite a few calls saying “pass the Senate bill.” Crossing my fingers…
EriktheRed
@Jackie:
We would have been better off with John Laesch in this seat. He could have probably beaten Hastert in ’06 if he’d gotten some love from the Dem establishment.
Susan Kitchens
CA-29. A. Schiff. Called field office. (my boyfriend, who lives in CA-29, Adam Schiff’s district. IDd myself as being out of district, w/o any hope whatsoever of getting health care reform from my teabag supporting congressperson, Dreier –CA-26.)
Asked what is Schiff’s position on passing the senate version of the health care bill, the staffer said she didn’t know, but he was in favor of reform and voted for the house version. I said, yes, but what of passing the senate version? Will we get something — anything– passed or not? Staffer will inquire and send word of congressman’s position to my boyfriend.
Shade Tail
Rep. Mike Honda (eastern half of Santa Clara Co., CA) is apparently on the fence. He’s disappointed at the lack of public option. I told his person that I “strongly recommend” a pass-now-improve-later approach, and she promised to pass that on.