Actually an email. I left out which Congresswoman to protect the emailer’s anonymity.
Called XXXX’s office again [district removed; ed.]. This time I got someone who knew something.
He told me that she has no final position. It’s going to depend on how Pelosi and Obama choose to do things, if they want to push things through or wait until Brown is seated.
He didn’t know what exactly was going on with the many discussions they were having on the subject, but said there had been a lot of meetings. He said they were closed-door, members-only meetings and he didn’t know exactly how it was being discussed.
He said there had been a lot of constituent calls in the last few days on the subject. He asked specifically what I was for. I told him I was for passing the Senate bill; it wasn’t perfect but it was the best we had and hopefully it could be fixed down the road.
He said the calls were very much appreciated and helped the Congresswoman to shape her opinion. PLEASE KEEP CALLING!
Nora Carrington
Spoke with Jay Inslee’s Washington office (WA). I asked to speak with the staffer in charge of Health Care reform, but didn’t get passed along. I asked what Jay was thinking, and was told that he was in favor of the public option. I told the staffer that the Senate bill didn’t have a public option, and that the House, Jay included, had to cowboy up and vote for it anyway. I ended with the idea that the people of the country had done everything asked of us: we’d provided the Congress with a 60 vote block in the Senate, and strong majority in the House, and a pro-reform President and that if they screwed it up, it would not be forgiven. Would.Not.Be.Forgiven. He got it.
Toast
I just got the following email from Charles Chamberlain at Democracy for America:
After I stopped laughing and picked myself up off the floor, this is what I wrote back:
I have no idea whether the email address they sent their message from even gets read. And if it does, I doubt my harangue will make a difference. Whatever. Jesus, what a frustrating situation. I may need to hit the bourbon early tonight.
aceckhouse
I just spoke with someone at Congressman Boswell’s (Iowa Third) office and she said she did not know whether he would vote to pass the Senate bill, but that she did not think it would come to a vote. So I asked whether Boswell would be willing to sign a discharge petition, which would force a floor vote on the issue. (if your Rep’s office says it’s irrelevant how they’d vote because it won’t come to the floor, and especially if they say they would vote for it if it came up, ask about signing a discharge petition)
Toast
Oh, and for what it’s worth I called Chris Murphy’s office (CT-5) yesterday and told the staffer I got on the phone I expected Murphy to pass the Senate bill or my wallet would be shut tight for the duration of this election cycle.
WindyCityCat
Just called Luis Gutierrez’s office (IL-04), was told he is waiting to see what leadership does before deciding on an official position. I told the staffer to pass on the message that the Senate bill must be passed as the cost of inaction is too high.
MaximusNYC
As I said in an earlier thread:
I’m a constituent of Weiner’s. I just spoke to an aide in his DC office. I relayed my strong desire to see Weiner and the other House Dems support the Senate bill, and that I think it’s that or nothing. And I said that I hated to see the Democrats, with their strong majorities, talk themselves out of passing health care.
I got a distinct sense that the aide personally agreed with me (tho it’s possible this was just happy talk). At any rate, he took my name and address, and promised to relay my comments.
I did ask where exactly Weiner stands right now. Contrary to what TPM is saying, the aide told me that Weiner hasn’t made up his mind yet. He said “If you saw his comments on Morning Joe yesterday, he was really just thinking out loud.” I don’t know exactly which comments those were, but the bottom line seems to be that he, like most of the House Dems, is undecided as to how to go forward.
So: Keep calling!!
Barry
WindyCityCat
“Just called Luis Gutierrez’s office (IL-04), was told he is waiting to see what leadership does before deciding on an official position. I told the staffer to pass on the message that the Senate bill must be passed as the cost of inaction is too high.”
To the extent that that is true, that’s a bad sign – I wonder if any of the Dem leadership (Obama, Reid, Pelosi) is functional at this point. I have a feeling that Reid is – well, Reid, Pelosi is in a serious bind, and Obama is trying to figure out what to do when a year’s (stupid) strategy is rubble.
Charles Chamberlain
Toast –
We read our mail. Thank you for your feedback. But you’re missing the point. The 59 Democratic caucus doesn’t need to pass a “more liberal” bill. Only 51 Senators need to vote for Budget Reconciliation bills.
Our message is for the Senate to pass the most important aspects of the House bill (including a public option) through Reconciliation first, then the House can pass both the Senate bill unchanged (thus not requiring another Senate vote) and the Reconciliation fixes at the same time.
This is our message becuase if Democrats don’t go bold and pass popular reforms, then 2010 swing voters will stay home or vote for the Republicans. The polling from MA proves it.
To fully understand our strategy. Please check out this post from Adam Green, co-founder of the PCCC and a DFA partner in this joint campaign, explaining it more fully.
dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/1/22/828934/-Strategy-memo-to-Senate-Chiefs-of-Staff