I feel like I have been holding my breath for two months. It’s still a nail-biter.
Democratic leaders scrambled Sunday to pull together enough support in the House for a make-or-break decision on health-care reform later this week, expressing optimism that a package will soon be signed into law by President Obama despite a lack of firm votes for passage.
The rosy predictions of success, combined with the difficult realities of mustering votes, underscore the gamble that the White House and congressional Democrats are poised to make in an attempt to push Obama’s health-care plans across the finish line. The urgency of the effort illustrates growing agreement among Democratic leaders that passing the legislation is key to limiting damage to the party during this year’s perilous midterm elections.
[…] But Rep. James E. Clyburn (S.C.), the Democrats’ chief head-counter in the House, cautioned that the party has not yet found the 216 votes needed to win approval of the health-care bill passed by the Senate in December.
“We don’t have them as of this morning, but we’ve been working this thing all weekend,” Clyburn said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I’m also very confident that we’ll get this done.”
Please do not sit around and hope that your Rep does the right thing. Pick up a phone and call. Even friendly Representatives will appreciate a break from the nonstop abuse from teabaggers and firebaggers.
Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
Guide for first-timers here.
***Update***
Nate Silver would bet on the bill. Barely. Get on the phone and pester someone.
BTW #2, the House is still livid at the Senate for dumping this in their lap. It will not hurt to assure your Reps that you’re also giving your Senators hell.
Joey Maloney
Just listening to my morning NPR, Diane Rehm, show about HCR, first guest, someweaselfrom American Enterprise Institute, yech, second guest, someweaselfrom Kaiser, better turn it off before my blood pressure skyrockets, but wait! – third guest, Ezra Klein.
Well, ok, I’ll give it a try…
Napoleon
Obama is giving a speech in the Cleveland area today on health care reform and the local press said he is going to have Kucinich on the plane when he comes and press him for his vote.
Tim F.
@Napoleon: …and then he’ll have tea with Nader and Gingrich. Fuck Kucinich. He and Stupak are the two votes I am sure we will never win.
Mike Kay
And if you needed any more incentive to call, don’t forget FDL’s Firebaggers will be calling all day to kill the bill.
ericvsthem
If the House passes the Senate bill this week or next week, and Obama signs it into law, does this at all disincentivize the GOP from obstructing the reconciliation bill? Obviously, the GOP will oppose it just to piss off the Democrats (it’s what they do), but there doesn’t seem to be much political upside for them other than driving a deeper wedge between House and Senate Democrats.
Face
It’s absolutely unfathomable that the House Dems are unable to link a HRC failure to a absolute slaughter in the November elections. No morale or desire to reward these assholes, and I cant be the only one thinking this way.
aimai
At Face: we really aren’t talking about “the House” at this point–the whip counts all show us as extremely close. Most of the House Dems have decided to vote for the bill. The refuseniks are significant and dangerous, but not many in number. The fault, as usual, lies not with “the House Dems” generically speaking but years of lax leadership that has led individual dems to think they can stick a fork in Pelosi and Obama’s eye without losing their seats. Or, if they think they will lose their connections/power within the Democratic caucus they know for sure they will be recompensed by corporate/anti bill interests during or after the next election.
aimai
Yossarian
I understand and sympathize with the House’s fury at the Senate, but at some point it’s time to sack the hell up and vote this thing through. The history books will not look kindly on the failure of the best chance of health care reform in a generation being traceable to an inter-congressional pissing match.
jibeaux
A friend lives in Heath Shuler’s district in NC, he’s one of those blue dogs that unseated a Republican and it’s one of those situations where someone more liberal would be unlikely to win, but as he is he’s basically useless. I think there’s a fine to medium sized line between acceptable compromises to get a guy who’s going to vote with you some of the time, and too much soul-selling to get a guy who’s not going to vote with you nearly enough such that you might as well cede the seat and keep your dignity, but I think Heath is on the wrong side of that line and this friend does too. Has just completely written him off as a lost cause, which he probably is. I have tried to politely and convincingly suggest that he call Shuler’s office and lie through his teeth that he will support him next time if he votes for health care reform. Haven’t heard back, we’ll see.
cleek
i can fathom it. over the past few years, the Dems have completely changed my thinking about the limits of incompetence. they’ve taken incompetence to new places the way Picasso expanded figural representation, the way the Beatles exploded our notions of what a pop song could do, the way the iPhone changed the way we think about cell phones.
they are innovators in incompetence; pushing the envelope; forever changing the way we understand incompetence; serving as examples of how incompetence can be more than just a single critical failure, but instead can be a lifestyle.
to fail once is human, but it takes a congressional Democratic to let incompetence be a core guiding principle.
for them to succeed would, in fact, be a failure: a failure to maintain their awe-inspiring record of incompetence.
Napoleon
@Tim F.:
I agree, but it tells you how close they think it is.
Svensker
No point in calling my Rep — he thinks that Sarah Palin is a genius but not Christian enough.
Anything those of us with THAT kind of Rep can do?
maye
@cleek:
poetry.
Chyron HR
@Svensker:
Assassination.
Crashman
@Svensker: Give him hell anyway. The Teabaggers do it to our guys.
Tim F.
Deleted Chyron’s comment.
Mike Kay
@Svensker: well, she did have that affair with her husband’s business partner and Palin got pregnant before she was married (which is hilarious considering her nagging over abstinence), and she didn’t get married in a church, and she doesn’t always wear her wedding ring, and lord knows, she wears ungodly short skirts and gaudy make-up.
geg6
@Svensker:
You still call. Because these kinds of assholes need to know that not all their constituents are as assholish as they are. If the fundies and Tea Baggers have no compunctions over calling liberal Dem office holders’ offices, you shouldn’t either when it comes to calling wingnut office holders.
moe99
Rep McDermott’s office (D-Seattle) assured me he was voting in favor of the Senate bill.
Greg
I just called my rep Eddie Bernice Johnson and the aide assured me that she is voting for it. Which is no real surprise if you check out her voting record . The surprise is that I just moved to Dallas from California a few months ago and was delighted to find that purely by accident I moved into one of the most liberal districts in Texas!
Nick
@Svensker:
Remind him that you will NOT being staying home in November and you WILL be voting for his opponent.
Legalize
I called Driehaus’ office yet again, and yet again made clear that support for the Congressman will evaporate if he helps scuttle this bill over the imaginary abortion language he’s evidently hung-up on. I also made it clear that the GOPers will savage him no matter how he votes, and that if he votes as he should, i.e. for the bill, his supporters in Cincy – where Obama won by a margin larger than he won in the state – will work to get him re-elected. I told the staffer that if the Congressman was prepared to ride Obama’s coat tails to get elected in Cincy, he better step up when the president needs his vote – or he’s done. The end. It’s a simple calculation that even the stupidest politician should be able to figure out.
He’s still “reviewing the language” though.
Ash Can
@Napoleon: Is it at all possible that Kucinich and Obama will appear publicly together? The first thing I thought of when you mentioned that Kucinich was coming with Obama was the possibility that Obama just might, in that smooth and pleasant way of his, set Kucinich up for a public embarrassment — e.g., get him out in the open in front of a crowd cheering for HCR, with cameras rolling, and say to him, “We all know we can count on you for support.” I’d be interested in finding out if, one, the local reports are correct about Kucinich coming to Cleveland with Obama, and, two, if anything happens to make Kucinich regret it.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
I called Peter Welch again. It’s Vermont, he’s voting for it. But the guy who answered the phone sounded happy I called.
Lolis
Lloyd Doggett is still not committed to voting Yes, if you live in the Austin area please call his office.
Mike Kay
@Scruffy McSnufflepuss: That’s sweet.
Lurker
Representative Adam Schiff’s staffer said they’ve been getting a lot of calls in support.
Thank you, Tim F., for these reminders. You rock.
Zuzu's Petals
Called Matsui’s district office, which confirmed she’s still “yes.” The staffer agreed that they were getting a lot of calls from organized opponents who probably would never vote for Matsui anyway, and was happy when I mentioned there is a LOT of support for HCR out there and for Dems who will support it.
Breth
Update from VA 5th District – Tom Periello’s staffer is happy to get calls from supports of HCR, but the Congressman has still not decided. RedState has called for anti HCR folks to shut down their phone lines and the staffer told me that it is working at least to some extent. So if you live in VA’s 5th District, now is absolutely a CRUCIAL time to all and politely request he consider the ramifications in Nov. if he does not help the Dems get this bill passed.
UlyssesUnbound
I just called Baron Hill’s office district office (DC office was nonstop busy, and the mailbox was full). The staffer there informed me:
Baron Hill is undecided and is still reading the bill (and yes, Hill does sometimes read bills in full. He read ACES cover to cover over 4 days). Once he knows what it contains he’ll decide. I think that’s bullshit for “I’m undecided and seeing how my constituents respond. So if you are from Indiana, especially District 9, please call ASAP.
I also asked the staffer about the amount of calls. Most calls (he said the vast majority) they are getting are from OUT of state. And almost all of the out of state calls are against it. Take away the out of state/out of district calls, and support it/kill it is split 50/50.
In state/in district calls count for much more, so if you are a Hoosier of the southern variety, call now. Even if you aren’t, call his offices and let’s get the out of state count a little more on our side.
Local office numbers are on the very bottom of his homepage:
http://baronhill.house.gov/
Napoleon
@Ash Can:
If I hear of anything I will post it.
CalD
I’ve been meaning to mention this:
I got a call from the DCCC looking for a donation the other day. I told the guy that I’d be more than happy to contribute whatever I could scrape together to the DCCC, the DSCC, the DNC, and my own congressman, but that I wasn’t giving any of them a damned dime until the House passes senate health care bill.
The guy seemed intently interested in this and asked me to repeat and clarify what I said. I got the impression he was writing it down. Whether or not any mechanism exists for kicking stuff like that up the ladder is a question I can’t answer, but I would not rule out the possibility that even fundraising calls may be teachable moments. So if you happen to get one, don’t neglect to use it.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
@Mike Kay:
Yeah, this guy was even nicer than the last guy the other time I called about HCR.
I wish I still lived in Camden, NJ. Bob Andrews could use a good call or two on this one. He’s a Blue Dog, and I don’t trust him.
Houstonian
Called Sheila Jackson Lee’s office again today (D-TX-18). She’s still planning to vote for the Senate health care bill, as I reported last week. Very happy to hear nothing had changed. Thanked her staffer and reiterated my support for her vote.
Her staffer reported that they got the results of some polls they trust that show that there is very solid support for the health care reform bill. I am not certain if this poll was just for her district or a larger area, but the staffer was pleased that they have some solid evidence of support.
I told the staffer that I was going to phone my Senators and give them hell too, even though we all know it’s laughable that either of them would vote to pass the reconciliation bill.
Phoned Senator Cornyn’s office (shudder), and the very nice staffer who answered the phone made a note of my position that he vote to pass the reconciliation bill when (hopefully) it happens. Futile, but at least I’m letting them know they have other kinds of constituents out there.
Phone Senator Hutchison’s office, but keep getting a recording saying they “are getting a high volume of calls – please call back.” So I’ll try again later. I’ll also ask her if she’s going to resign, since that was what she promised when she ran for Governor.
Mike Kay
Remember guys, just because you live in a safe district doesn’t mean teabaggers and firebaggers won’t be calling and harassing your congress critter. Show them some love.
Corner Stone
@Greg:
Dallas is about the most uptight and xtian metro area in TX. I was unaware they had liberal districts nearby.
NSinNY
I called Yvette Clarke’s office (New York’s 11th), and she remains undecided. Her office has told me a few times that she didn’t believe the bill is progressive enough (which is, of course, true), but the intern I talked to today said that most of the calls they had gotten in the last few days were about how the State of New York would be paying much more than it would receive under the current bill.
Hard to fight against the truth, but I told my friendly intern that that balance sheet stuff is going to be politically meaningless when the congresswoman’s campaigning on the most sweeping health reform in years. Not that she’s in any threat of losing the seat…
Bender
If She’sa Jackoff Least-intelligent-person-in-Washington is for it…that should tell you it’s a stupid idea.
Look, make all the calls you want, pretend you make a difference to Congressmen, great. But you know and I know and Obama knows that the only way the Great Democrat Party Suicide Bill of 2010 gets passed is by bribes, bribes, and more bribes:
cleek
@Bender:
politicians using leverage to gain goodies for their pet causes?
it’s amazing that such a thing has never happened before.
Bender
See how long “hope and change and transparency and most ethical” lasted? Now it’s the same old Washington of the last 100 years, only worse, just as I always told you it would be…
Tim F.
@Bender: That’s right, the Nelson deal is worse than Abramoff. You’re a funny dude.
Houstonian
Phoned the DCCC and the DNC. Told the people I was transferred to that I vote for Democrats and donate to Democrats and I won’t be giving another dime unless they pass the health care bill. That’s what they were sent there for and they need to get it done.
The DCCC person gave me some story about, “Well, this is the week then! It’s just a matter of rounding up the votes.” I told him that they don’t have the votes yet. If they did, they would have already passed it. He went on about how it’s a matter of changing “leaning yes” votes to “yes” votes. Well, duh! So I reiterated that they needed to do their g*d d*mn job and twist the arms of the Democrats to vote for it. That the money wouldn’t be there for them if they didn’t vote for health care.
The DNC person sounded tired the moment I started speaking with her. She said they’d been receiving a lot of calls like mine and that she would pass it along. I told her I wouldn’t give any money, etc. if they didn’t pass it. She said they’d been hearing that a lot.
No idea if that did any good, but I figure it’s time to go all out. I’ll phone everyone again tomorrow.
Would it do any good for me to phone anyone else?
Cervantes
Called our Congressman (Massachusetts). He voted for the House bill, but has some as-yet-unpublicized “concerns” about just voting for the Senate bill. Understandable — but we reiterated our strong preference that he vote in favor regardless, as the alternatives are worse.
Mike Kay
@NSinNY: working class families in brooklyn will be pissed when they find out she voted against an extension of medicaid and subsidies.
Xecky Gilchrist
Called Matheson (UT-2) yet again today and for the first time in the several dozen I’ve made over the whole sorry year this bullshit has dragged on, the phone was busy and I had to retry to get through. I guess they’re getting lots of calls. Given the district – Utah, Matheson is a major Blue Dog – I couldn’t say what kind of calls. The staffer was really harried so I was nice (but very clear.)
cleek
what’s unethical about deal-making ?
(i mean, besides the obvious fact that Democrats (who are unethical by definition) are making the deals, of course)
tyrese
I’m amazed she’s on the air. She has simply the worst voice I’ve ever heard. It’s painful.
Mnemosyne
@Bender:
Ah, the sweet smell of troll desperation. One of my favorite perfumes.
Bender
@Tim F.:
“Obama 2012: Maybe not quite as bad a briber as Abramoff!” Nice ring to that one.
Tim F.
@Bender: Great idea. I guarantee you that line of attack will be at least as credible as dijongate. I doubt that it has the kind of epic legs that ipodgate had, but who knows? Go for it, chum.
Violet
@Mnemosyne:
Lolz. It is rather striking, isn’t it?
Bender
@cleek:
Oh, nothing was unethical about the Cornhusker Kickback or the Louisiana Purchase. That’s why the Democrats embraced those measures, and the public applauded them, and the Senators proudly took ownership, and Obama included the measures in his next proposal.
cleek
that’s what i thought.
CalD
@jibeaux:
Ever question the assumption that even smart liberals like ourselves should have more right to dictate who represents Heath Shuler’s district or how they should vote in congress than the majority of voters of Heath Shuler’s district? I do. I’d also submit that 50% of a loaf is preferable to 0% pretty much 100% of the time.
There’s also the fact that if you go and actually look up voting statistics, what you really get with most blue dogs is closer to 80% of the loaf. Then there are the perq’s of majority, such as the offices of Speaker of the House, senate majority leader and all the committee chairmanships that end up determining whether a given bill ever even makes it to the floor for anyone to vote on, blue dog or otherwise. Frankly no one who thinks putting up with blue dog shenanigans 20% of the time is somehow more of an indignity than what Democrats recently suffered 100% of the time when Republicans are in the majority has a very short memory or simply hasn’t been paying much attention to politics for the last decade or so.
I also happen to think in a functional congress, party line votes should be more the exception than the rule. However with all that said, I do think HCR ranks as something important enough to be one of those exceptions. So by all means lets keep the pressure on our own rep’s and the national committees any way we can.
Bender
@Violet:
Funny how both sides are saying the other is “panicking” and “desperate.” There must not be a fingernail left anywhere in the US!
Vince CA
I can’t call today, I lost my voice. Really, I can’t talk. This sucks, if I try really hard I can get out a whisper, like “make coffee” couldn’t even get the please out. And storytime with my one-year-old daughter was awfully quiet.
Can someone call Eshoo please?
Bender
@cleek:
We’ll just mark “Sarcasm” down on the lengthy list of “Things Cleek Doesn’t Understand.”
Vince CA
Yeay! I found enough voice to call her! That was hard on my voice box, and I know Eshoo’s already’s on board, but like Tim F. says, a little extra support can’t hurt!
Joseph Nobles
@Greg:
EXCELLENT. Miss Johnson is my representative as well, and she was undecided a couple of days ago.
Welcome to the neighborhood!
@Corner Stone:
Hey, don’t knock all of Dallas. We almost elected an openly gay mayor of our own on the last go-round. We ain’t all Highland Park.
CalD
@CalD:
Oops, I meant:
…Frankly
no oneanyone who thinks putting up with blue dog shenanigans 20% of the time is somehow more of an indignity than what Democrats recently suffered 100% of the time when Republicans are in the majority has a very short memory or simply hasn’t been paying much attention to politics for the last decade or so….cleek
@Bender:
that’d be a pretty stupid thing to do.
Mike Kay
O/T Obama town hall on MSNBC
Bender
After all, what could go wrong with a massive new government entitl —
Oh.
Svensker
@Nick:
Yeah, well, good luck on that. They know me at his office and probably all the secretaries have my address memorized. It’s a fairly red district and the Dem organization never puts any money into this guy’s opponents. The Dems that they have run against him were both Iraq war supporters and big rah rah Israel guys.
KCinDC
Jake Tapper:
Tim F.
@Bender: Omigawd! If only Democrats and Republicans had seen the demographic boomer bulge coming twenty years ahead of time and agreed to fix the problem during the Reagan years.
Mike Kay
@Bender: I’m glad you voted against Bush, Tom Delay, and Trent Lott after they pushed through a $1.2 trillion prescription drug benefit (completely unpaid for) in 2003.
Oh wait…
BonnyAnne
Well, Tim–one yes from current congressman McDermott and one “still undecided” (which is better than the No it used to be!) from previous-congressman Brian Baird. Thanks for the call reminder; never called my congressperson before this all fell apart!
Ash Can
@Napoleon:
@KCinDC:
Just saw this over on the GOS:
“Towards the end of his speech, [Obama] departed from the prepared text, riffing off a shout from the crowd exhorting members of Congress — including Dennis Kucinich, in whose district this event was held — to show the ‘courage’ to do the right thing and pass health care reform.”
Emphasis mine. Looks like Dennis got served after all.
Legalize
Anyone seen any video of the president getting the Cleveland crowd to chant something about passing the bill in front of Kucinich? Please post if available, and you know, it actually happened!
JenJen
I’ve been trying to contact Steve Driehaus since Friday, to no avail. He’s not my congressperson (that would be Jean Schmidt), but I’m a mere zipcode away and worked hard to get Driehaus elected in 2008.
It’s frustrating. His DC Office has had the “leave a message” voicemail going since Friday, and now their mailbox is full, so you can’t even leave a message. Tried to transfer to the operator and was hung up on. Tried the Cincinnati office, and received the same “voicemail box full” message.
WTF?
Dannie22
Hi mike Kay.
geg6
This sort of thing makes me optimistic:
http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2010/03/the-view-from-the-speakers-office.php
Which is something, considering I am a natural pessimist.
Mike Kay
@Dannie22: He Dannie. Big week!
Edna Harding
I have called Suzanne Kosmas (central Florida) numerous times. She was a “no” vote originally and have made it clear that while I understood her concerns regarding abortion funding (pro-choice person); it was not enough to kill health insurance reform. Reminded them that we did not vote Democrats into office to vote like or with Republicans. Health Care signature piece of Dem agenda. Will NOT vote for her if she screws us on health care.
JenJen
Rep. Driehaus: “While I certainly support this initiative … I will not bend on the principle of federal funding on abortion . . . They are going to have to do it without me and without the other pro-life Democrats.”
Bullshit. Also, as I indicated above, his office isn’t taking calls.
Dannie22
@Mike Kay. Obama was in my hometown firing up the crowd and shaming the devil ( that would be Kucinich)
Mnemosyne
@JenJen:
Try faxing a letter. I doubt they’ve turned the fax machine off. The fax number isn’t on the “Contact” page but it is on the main page:
http://driehaus.house.gov/
Legalize
JenJen, I live in Driehaus’ district and have been giving his office the business for the past week (also explaining how he’ll earn support and be a hero if he stands with the president). It seems like the morning is the best time to get through.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
The Bender troll would be funnier if he really went more balls-to-the-walls. Say something derogatory about calling Congresscritters. Constituent pressure undermines our democratic system, because it’s mob rule. Something like that. I don’t know, I’m just spit-balling here.
Zuzu's Petals
@Bender:
All we need to know about you.
Better trolls, please.
jibeaux
@CalD:
This isn’t about trying to dictate to voters in that district. It’s about at what point voters in that district as my friend is, decide that there is very little point in electing Democrats who will not vote for signature Democratic issues like health care reform, and therefore deciding that that is an issue worth primarying Shuler over. His county’s Democratic party, not me, apparently has decided to do so. This isn’t the same thing as NY-23, where the Republicans gave up one of the safest Republican seats that exist, one they’ve had consecutively since the 19th century — because they wanted a little more purity. NC-11 a seat in Western NC that is almost always Republican, and the question is would Democrats be better served by loyalty to someone who votes against their signature domestic priority and who may or may not keep the seat (more likely not), or would they be better served by looking for someone who will actually vote with them, and maybe or maybe not keeping the seat. It’s a pretty different calculus.
jibeaux
@CalD:
Shuler’s way more than 20% shenanigans, he’s likely to lose anyway, and a credible threat from your district Dems that they will primary you over this issue if you don’t support it and to knock on doors for you if you do, is more likely than anything else I can personally think of to get him to vote the right way.
JenJen
@Mnemosyne: That’s a great tip, but I haven’t owned a fax machine in five years. I’m going to keep trying, too, because I want to actually talk to someone and get some feedback. I understand they’re busy and behind on the calls, but this is getting ridiculous.
@Legalize: So we’re practically neighbors! I’m glad you’ve been able to get through. I’m going to be as nice as pie, but Driehaus’ office needs to be reminded how close that election was, and who put them over the top.
ETA: UPDATE! UPDATE! Just got through to Driehaus’ DC office. The staffer certainly wasn’t in the mood to talk, but I explained to him my position on why the Congressman should vote yes to pass the Senate HCR Bill. He then said, “OK, thanks, bye.” I stopped him and asked what kind of calls they were receiving, how the district is leaning. He said, “The calls are heavily in favor of voting NO on the bill, but thanks for your call.” I then asked him if the Congressman has made up his mind. “No, he hasn’t made a decision,” the staffer told me. And that was pretty much that.
Please, everyone. Keep calling. The NO Forces are definitely calling.
lotus
@Edna Harding:
Edna, I talked to Kosmas’s Pt. Orange office this morning too (386 756 9798 — much easier going than the Hill switchboard). The receptionist sounded glad to hear from a pro-bill voice. Her guesstimate of the calls she’s personally taken is about 60/40 No. When I commiserated with her on the FoxNoise style of discourse from the 60, she carefully (but, between the lines, fervently) said thanks — and several times invited me to keep calling. Took down my name, zip, and the points I made. Definitely friendlier than SK’s DC receptionists.
BTW, SK voted no on Stupak as well as the main bill (“cost” her excuse before; abortion ain’t her stumbling-block). As for where she is now, “she’s reading the bill” and waiting to see what CBO has to say (the receptionist asked me if I’d heard whether it’s out yet). In addition to the points you made, I hit on the high number of uninsureds in FL24 and how much she needs to support Obama for her own and everybody else’s sake.
Mike Kay
@Dannie22:
I saw that on tee vee. He was incredible.
Sarah in Brooklyn
i called Yvette Clark’s office today. she hasn’t made up her mind yet – has concerns about the effects of the bill on NY state. but they said they’re keeping a tally of calls.
Bill
Hello,
Long time reader, first time poster.
I just called Rep. Mollohan’s office (202-225-4172). A little worrisome. When I asked if he was still a YES vote, the lady I spoke to said “it remains to be seen what he’ll be doing.” Maybe just politician-speak, but I know he’s been under fire from local teabagger groups…hope he’s not wavering. Of course, I told the lady to add my voice to those urging him to vote in favor of passing the bill.
Jackie
@jibeaux: My husband lives part time in that district. We have given him money and knocked on doors for him. If he has a primary challenger count us in. I have already told his office that a no vote will mean no further support from us. Other than keeping Nancy as speaker Heath has nothing to recommend him. It is a conservative area but Obama won 2 counties and demoralizing democrats won’t help him.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Ash Can:
Well, that should stir up the firebaggers. “As if Dennis [the first name because we love him!] is the problem!”
CNN reporting that ‘critters are getting swamped by out-of-district callers.
serge
I’d call my rep and senators, but doing so would fit the classic definition of insanity. I’ve got Henry Brown, R-SC 1st, Lindsey Graham, and Jim DeMint (sounds French).
Old Henry, who’s retiring because he almost was beaten in 2008 by an openly gay woman, wouldn’t know an original thought if it jumped up and ripped his face off. The other two…what can I say about them?
Ash Can
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Sure, but unless people were bused in en masse, we can assume that this pro-HCR crowd was composed largely (at least) of Kucinich’s actual constituents. That’s the fun part of it.
JenJen
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Ya think?
There is so much misinformation and hyperbole in that piece, I don’t even know where to start, but in the first sentence, one learns the White House sent Move On to picket Dennis Kucinich!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@JenJen: Oh Lord.
She really thinks she’s the voice of the people, doesn’t she? I’m one of those who thinks JH and her followers are a minor irritant, the real problem is the BlueDogs and the cowards and the dummies, but god she makes it hard not to point and laugh.
Mike Kay
@JenJen: In using every right wing frame written by Rush Limbaugh, Hamsher proves she is seriously disturbed.
mandarama
Called Jim Cooper’s offices, both here in Nashvegas and in DC. Told staffers that a lot of Tennesseans who are suffering with no health care are watching and waiting for PTDB. Reminded them that if HCR goes down, he can look forward to the media blitz about Dem failure, and that’s not gonna help a Blue Dog in a red state.
Also called Sen. Alexander’s office. Now, with him, I always use my “concerned Southern nice lady” voice, who’s voted for him (because I did, actually, once, before I knew better), but now watched the Prez at the health care summit and found him more convincing. Reminded them that it doesn’t seem Christian to offer corporate talking points when there are actual people suffering here in TN. And that I read all the stuff on the website and it still didn’t explain any real solutions.
I openly despise Blackburn, so I’m just gonna tell her staffers that she embarrassed us at the House R retreat, and that I’m giving Greg Rabidoux as much as I can.
Best I can do in this here state, my friends.