Just called Tammy Baldwin’s Office – the staffer was so grateful for what she termed a pep talk- she said it several times, even when I said I was not a constituent, she told me that I had no idea how much she appreciated my call. I said that I knew that the staffers had been innundated with talk show callers screaming at them- so I thought it only fair that a non- constituent supporter should call and thank them. I said that no matter how horrendous it has been for them – the long days of having to deal with angry ill-informed people – that they are involved in something monumental. 20 years from now the memory of being yelled at will fade and they will be so proud that they were a part of this.
I STRONGLY urge my fellow commenters to pick up the phone and start giving similar “pep” talks to the staffers – they could use energizing – For this purpose call anyone you think might be in the target line of teabaggers – it doesn’t have to be your congressperson- people NEED to hear friendly voices if we are going to make it thru to the finish line.
I still don’t endorse calling outside Reps just to yell at them, but staffers clearly appreciate a friendly voice. Also consider donating money and volunteer time to Reps who took (will take) the biggest political risk with this vote.
Mike Kay
Exactly.
Make someone’s day.
Call up 10 congress critters and tell them thank you.
Be a part of history.
SpotWeld
There’s sort of a “casino effect” here.
A gambler will remember a win much better than a loss and that’ll keep them going after a streak of bad luck.
Presumibly a “win” call could act as a powerful motivator over a greater number of “lose” calls. (Especially when the “lose” calls are repetitions and blend into each other.)
Admiral_Komack
MSNBC:
(within last 30 minutes)
Anchorperson talking to Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), saying he was “on the fence” concerning the health care bill.
The Representative calmly told the anchorperson that he was FOR the bill.
FUCK THE MEDIA!
Omnes Omnibus
When I spoke to Baldwin’s office today, the staffer I spoke with was quite pleased to hear encouraging words. We ended up telling one another to have fantastic weekends.
Omnes Omnibus
@Admiral_Komack: It is more fun for them and draws more eyeballs if it is a horse race. Plus, it fits the easy Dems are chaotic stereotype and we all know that the MSM will always go for the easy stereotype if they are given a chance.
phoebes-in-santa fe
I just donated $250.00 to that Ohio congressman who today came out for HCR because of his mother. Said he’d rather lose his upcoming election than vote against reform.
Good guy…
PurpleGirl
I called my Congressman’s (Joseph Crowley) local office and told the woman I spoke to that I’d read his web site comments and had read that he planned to vote yes and wanted to let him know I was pleased. She thanked me for calling. She asked for my name and address and when I told her, she said “Oh, the Big Six.” That she recognized the address was important because I’ve had a problem with establishing that he is indeed my representative. (I’ll write the whole kerfuffle up one day.) Anyway, he’ll know that I’m pleased with his vote.
Mike Kay
@phoebes-in-santa fe:
This!
DA
Interesting. I’m in Baldwin’s district, and confess I haven’t bothered to call her, thinking that she was firmly on the side of the angels on this issue and I shouldn’t bother her. Maybe I will.
aimai
I just read the article that says Kaptur is “leaning yes” and I think this is all over. She’s going to vote yes–she’s just not smart enough to realize that if you are going to do it you need to defend your vote in a full throated way, not kind of back into it. The kind of stupid “on the one hand/on the other hand” discussions of things like abortion funding, the half hearted “maybe the good this bill does is better than the harm it does” simply is meaningless to the voters. She’s being attacked from the right on the bill. Any vote for the bill has to *counter the stupid assertions* by the anti health care reform people. Not waffle and bend to them.
I really hate her now. I’m happy to call her up and say I am grateful if she votes yes, or even to promise to support her, but the truth is I’ll send money to anyone who primaries her from the left. I can’t forgive her for imagining that she has the right to “weigh” the total number of abortions in this country against the families who need health care as though the individual, lawful, choices of women and their families *to choose abortion* should be used to attack and harm other families. These are the same fucking people: women who have abortions are *also* mothers of children. Men who need health insurance for their families are *also* the husbands and lovers of women who had, or will have, abortions.
fuck her and her zygote fetish.
aimai
Mark F.
I also live in Tammy Baldwin’s district. Going to give her Madison office a call of support. I wasn’t planning on doing that, but after reading that comment, I will.
Michael D.
Neal Boortz is on the radio actively encouraging his listeners to go to district office they’re not living in and encouraging reps to vote no, and to tell them they’ll remember their vote at the ballot box.
“If they ask your name and address, just tell them you’d prefer not to give it, thank them for any support, be polite, and leave.”
mr. whipple
Remember: every call you make to say thanks, is one less wingnut that gets through.
Chat Noir
Got the OFA e-mail asking me to call my rep Gary Peters (MI-9) so I did (I called his local office earlier this week). I was polite and thanked the Congressman for voting “yes” on the previous bill; told the staffer that I support HCR and hoped that the Congressman would vote yes again.
Also, Stephanie Miller had a NJ Congressman on this morning and there was a lot of noise in the background when the congressman would talk (it sounded like a party). He said that the Dems were all very upbeat and there were a lot of smiles. I’m still nervous as heck but I took that as a good sign.
Anton Sirius
My mom’s in Baldwin’s district. That’s enough justification for a call, right?
Omnes Omnibus
@Mark F.: @DA:
I would. I called the Madison office first thing this morning and they sounded stressed already. Can you imagine having to politely field calls from angry teabaggers all day? A little break, a respite, a friendly word will do a lot to keep their spirits up.
El Tiburon
Thoughts?
http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/03/19/fact-sheet-the-truth-about-the-health-care-bill/#comments
Uloborus
Man, why are you posting this? It’s over. We lost.
…oh, sorry, isn’t this Red State?
Seriously, I called mine again. He was already in favor, but I told the woman on the line that I heard representatives were being harassed, and I wanted him to know I supported this bill and supported him for voting for it.
Zifnab
@aimai: Or, you know, women who need the coverage if they intend to have a successful pregnancy and raise a healthy child.
I just don’t understand the math that makes this an either/or situation. Health care reduces the desperation of the poor and allows an option other than abortion. Charging people $1000 / head for health care coverage makes having more children unaffordable. You don’t have to be a math genius to figure this out.
gbear
Has anyone commented that, as of last night, Jim Oberstar slipped out of the yes column and back to undecided?
I called his office a couple days ago to thank him when he switched to ‘yes’. I’m not sure I’ll get a chance to call back today.
Violet
Anyone in John Hall’s district – NY-19? Just saw this over at DKos:
Keep calling!
Doug Z
Tough to get through to any number today, but did manage to reach some district offices of recent no’s to yes switchers. Told ’em I was out of district, but that was thankful for the support. Seemed to enjoy hearing that.
Zifnab
@Michael D.: Lulz. Nothing like a giant scalding bag of burnt tea bagger bullshit to really whip the votes.
I wonder how many representatives consider out-of-district rabblers a threat and how many write off in-district rabblers as out-of-district?
Felonious Wench
Called Henry Cuellar, who is not my Representative (mine is a Republican, right-wing bastard and hopeless.) But, my grandmother was from his district.
I simply told them “She was an ardent Catholic. She would have supported this bill, because she would understand that it’s more important that mothers be taken care of, and their babies be taken care of. I loved her deeply. In her honor, please consider changing your vote.”
The staffer paused for a moment, and said “I loved my grandmother very much too. Thank you so much for your call, we don’t get ones like your very often.” We talked a bit more about our tough-ass grandmothers who raised us, it was a good call.
If you can, talk from your heart. It matters.
Omnes Omnibus
@El Tiburon: WTF?
Uloborus
@El Tiburon:
God bless, do these people beat a dead horse. Yes, yes, your precious public option is the only viable way to keep down costs. No, sorry, not true. Plenty of European countries do the job with a system like this. You’re right, your numbers say the cost of insurance won’t go down, because there are no numbers for how far it’ll go down. Nobody legitimate is going to issue a prediction, because you can’t predict these things accurately and numerically. That’s just how it works. I particularly appreciate the mealymouthed way she decries that poor people must buy health insurance they can’t afford on one hand, then blames the government for the cost of paying for their insurance on the other.
EDIT: I have no idea if you’re in favor of her, Tiburon, or just pointing out an interesting article. I’m bitching at her, not you.
Houstonian
@Felonious Wench:
Tried that at Cuellar’s office. Told the staffer I hoped Cuellar would vote yes, and I was calling on behalf of a family friend who lost his job after becoming sick (they fired him – yes, they can do that, no it’s not legal) and he lost his health insurance. Before I could get even that much of the story out, the staffer cut me off and said they were just taking down “for” or “against” comments, nothing more.
Comrade Mary
@El Tiburon: Straw. Piles of straw that walk like men.
El Tiburon
@Omnes Omnibus:
I guess I need to be a bit more clear: Does anyone have any thoughts on the list by Hamsher and FDL? Not snotty retorts or cut-downs or hyperbole or attacks.
Does anyone refute or disagree with what they are saying? Does anyone care? Or is it just a given that Hamsher et al are not worth listening to?
For example, the idea that health insurance companies can’t kick off whomever they choose or raise rates however they choose.
Are we sure about this? Is there enforcement for this? And how does it cover 30 million Americans exactly?
Mike Kay
@El Tiburon:
She’s the new Norma Desmond
I mean, look how excited she is that she’s gonna be on tee vee to trash Pelosi and the President.
El Tiburon
@Uloborus:
It’s not a matter of ‘for’ or ‘against’. Unlike many here, I trust Hamsher and the crew at FDL but this doesn’t mean I’m their cheerleader.
I am really trying to get my head around all of this. At times I really think this is a great first step. Other times I feel this plan is really not doing much of anything when you get down to brass tacks.
My fear is that this, ultimately, will be a hollow victory, kind of like the “Mission Accomplished” celebration.
PeakVT
Called Welch’s DC office and they confirmed he is voting yes.
In case anger is your motivator: Republican moron from Georgia states that “If ObamaCare passes, that free insurance card that’s in people’s pockets is gonna be as worthless as a Confederate dollar after the War Between The States — the Great War of Yankee Aggression.”
Jeff R.
I called my congressman’s office (Richard Neal MA-2). The staffer said he was leaning towards yes. I told him to ignore the tea-partier’s since they won’t vote for Neal anyway. I also told him how important passing HCR was for the election in November, even though Neal has a safe seat. He laughed when I told him the last person to run against Neal was a communist. He seemed to appreciate the call and siad he wanted to get it done.
Uloborus
@El Tiburon:
Well, I addressed what I thought were her two most important ideas, albeit snarkily because I think she’s arguing in bad faith. The things she thinks are the only cost controls just… are immaterial. Cost controls work without a public option. They have worked in the past, very well. Drug reimportation – I understand that is also not actually particularly effective, even though it sounds great. I haven’t studied that one in detail. And her ‘we’re being forced to bankrupt ourselves for the insurance companies’ argument is based on pretending there are no price controls (because hard numbers are impossible right now) and that the government isn’t helping pay for insurance.
Enforcement Stuck covered days ago, and I was delighted and went ‘d’oh!’ when he did. Basically, once this law goes into effect, it becomes federal regulation and the executive branch enforces it like it does every other federal regulation. States are not necessarily big enough to go up against an insurance company. The feds can kick their ass if necessary.
Fergus Wooster
I’m actually getting a busy signal now.
I’m thinking that Pelosi’s office is going to get a nice phone call and a nice letter thanking them for her leadership. I mean, Jesus, can you imagine how ungratifying it’s been for her to corral the House while getting nothing from the 12-year-olds in the Senate?
When this thing passes, Madame Speaker deserves a vacation. And her staffers deserve a pastry basket. . .
Michael D.
Way off topic, but this makes me sad… but happy that it is happening to Sean Hannity. Looks like he’s got his hands in the cookie jar!
Oh. Yes.
EDIT: Link
Tim F.
@El Tiburon:
Why?
Mike Kay
@El Tiburon: I trust Paul Krugman and Ezra Klien. They both are big supporters of the bill.
Omnes Omnibus
@El Tiburon: I think at this point she is irrelevant. Everyone knows the bill as it stands is not perfect. Work will need to be done starting the day after it is passed to fix its flaws. BUT, and this is huge in mind, a health care bill that starts in the direction we all want it to go will have been passed. Social Security, Medicare, Civil Rights… Incremental progress is progress.
Mike Kay
@Tim F.: Well, she is cute.
slag
@El Tiburon: Here’s the deal–it’s very simple. Could this bill be a better bill? Yes. Will there be a better bill anytime soon should this bill fail? No! If this bill passes, can it be improved on in the future (even the very near future)? Yes.
At this point in the process, this issue is a no-brainer for intellectually honest Democrats. And anyone who says otherwise is either lying or deceived themselves. It really is very simple.
freelancer
OT- This might be posted elsewhere, but Sean Hannity, despicable grifter.
I could care less if he’s ripping off the rubes in his audience, but to piggyback off the families of fallen soldiers is just fucking evil.
Mike Kay
@freelancer: Elmer Gantry.
Scott P.
The problem with this line of argument is public perception. Obama thinks the bill eliminates recission. So does Congress. So do the voters.
So let’s say that the evil insurance companies managed to grease the exact few palms needed to slip in the precisely ambiguous language that will allow them to continue recission.
What happens after the bill passes then? The companies continue recission, and the public screams bloody murder. Obama and Congress are already on the record against recission. So they write a fix and pass it into law. So the insurance companies, at best, buy themselves a year. Big deal. And that’s if FDL is correct and everyone else is wrong.
gwangung
If efforts stop here, with just this bill, then it will be a somewhat hollow accomplishment.
On the other hand, I’m not sure ANYONE was thinking we should stop here.
cd6
I called Red Adam Smith’s WA office. I’ve got a local area code so I figured it would carry more weight.
I mentioned I’d seen commercials that Smith & his friends were going to destroy America if they voted to pass the bill (Chamber of Commerce is running commercials saying as much) but I still supported reform anyway. The girl on the other end of the phone laughed and said thanks.
gwangung
Hm. Ya don’t think there’d be some punative damages coming up here? Legaslative intent is pretty clear, here…
Uloborus
@El Tiburon:
You know, given that cost controls really are the most important part of this, let me lay out a few.
Insurance companies cannot refuse coverage or increase costs for anyone based on anything (but age, isn’t it? There’s only one exception). They can’t raise rates without government approval. They have to provide a certain percentage of actual health care per dollar they’re given – 85%, as I recall. The government negotiates with the insurance companies to set rates on behalf of everyone who gets any government money for insurance – and if they think a company’s rates are unfair, that company is cut out of the entire pool automatically, and that’s a huge financial stick.
In addition, there’s this whole nebulous but very, very powerful thing called ‘pilot programs’. There’s a hundred other ideas they’re going to try out in local areas, with a central department assigned to figure out which ones work and then make those nationwide.
The thing is, people like the CBO make their cost predictions based on none of this having any effect. They have to – it’s professional. They don’t have hard numbers, and there’s no way to have them. They don’t doubt the cost controls will work, they just refuse to offer numbers they can’t back up.
El Tiburon
@Uloborus:
Why do you think she’s arguing in bad faith? This is what I simply don’t understand and I disagree 100%.
I certainly don’t believe Cole and the posters here are arguing in bad faith. I don’t think Sirota or Markos are arguing in bad faith even though they oppose each other.
Take one example from the FDL list:
.
Is Jane wrong on this? Is she making this up?
Uloborus
@El Tiburon:
She is not ‘wrong’. She is ignoring facts that are inconvenient to her argument.
The bill does not empower an agency to enforce. It doesn’t have to. The government already has agencies to enforce this. It just gets added to the pile of existing government industrial regulations that, say, ensure there’s a limited amount of rat poop in your cans of tuna.
It is the same with her argument about forcing people to buy insurance. She knows damn well the bill also pays for the vast majority of that. She yells about the cost of it a few points down. She is isolating specific talking points and pretending there’s no context. That is why I say she is arguing in bad faith.
Corner Stone
@gwangung:
I’m sure they’re quaking in their Manolo’s.
HRA
@Admiral_Komack:
That’s really funny -Jerry Nadler not for HCR? When pigs fly IMO.
kay
CNN is reporting that Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao (R-LA) is again undecided, even considering voting yes. Cao had previously said he would definitely vote against the bill, despite voting yes in November. President Obama yesterday asked him to take another look at the abortion language in the Senate bill and see if he could vote for it.”
I know this is good news, but it makes me laugh how coy and indecisive they are.
Why does Obama have to beg him to read the bill? What else is he doing?
Mike Kay
@Corner Stone:
Manolo? I figured Jane for Christian Louboutin — considering she’s an elitist.
Snowwy
Called my Rep, Barbara Lee (CA-9), again. This time got a staffer who’s in love with hedging her answers, but I’m confident Lee will do the right thing.
Also called Jerry McNerney’s (CA-11) offices. They were glad to get a friendly, supportive call.
John Hall’s getting so many calls they’ve just started sending them all to voicemail, and the mailbox is of course full…
slag
@El Tiburon: Now you’re arguing in bad faith. Or you’re choosing to ignore the reality. If this bill dies, healthcare reform of any kind dies for the foreseeable future. Period. Full stop.
Yet you choose to ignore that fundamental and blatantly obvious reality. Why? What’s your motivation? What do you think is going to be accomplished by killing this bill? That Congresspeople are going to say to themselves, “Well, that didn’t work. Let’s try again tomorrow with a more liberal version!”? Or are you trying to accomplish something else?
Either way, anyone who advocates for killing this bill shouldn’t wonder why their motivations or their grasp on reality are suspect at this point.
Ivan Ivanovich Renko
@phoebes-in-santa fe: Which Ohio rep was that? As a northeast Ohioan, I’d like to show him or her some love, too! (My own rep is a semi-wingnut Republican.)
Uloborus
@slag:
Awww, go easy, Slag. He wants actual arguments. Bear in mind, if someone is used to trusting Hamsher, she says the most AWFUL sounding things about this bill that really make it seem like much worse than nothing at all.
You know, maybe he really is a subtle concern troll, but while he’s just asking for why she’s wrong, we should tell him.
El Tiburon
@Uloborus:
Yeah, and we have an SEC and other regulatory bodies that protect us from…oh, nevermind.
We all know enforcement is the key to any law. To assume that a pitifully understaffed and underfunded govt. agency (whatever agency it may be) will be able to oversee and regulate this I think is pie in the sky.
So you don’t dispute that this bill “forces” people to buy private insurance. WTF? Seriously? Like Sirota said, this is some scary shit. Even if the govt. pays for most of it this should be a major warning flag to everyone.
Bottom line is we are propping up the insurance companies. Sounds like a massive giveaway to the very industry we are trying to defeat.
Mike Kay
@El Tiburon: you must be kidding. Sirota always argues in bad faith. Always. He prides himself on having no compunction in using distortions to persuade undecideds.
I mean the guy used to work for AIPAC.
slag
@Uloborus: You are right. I am wrong. I see the time for debate as being over, but I suppose others do not. Everyone makes that decision for themselves. So, I will try to restrain my impatience from now on.
My apologies.
Uloborus
@El Tiburon:
Sigh. Now YOU’RE doing what she does. Actually, El Tiburon, we have farmlands instead of deserts and you’re not being poisoned regularly by what you buy at the grocery store and small children are not working in factories because the vast majority of the time government regulation works. In fact, the similarities to the agricultural reforms that saved us from the dust bowl are remarkable.
Yes, making everyone buy insurance ‘sounds’ scary. That is how Hamsher is making people think it’s bad. It really does *sound* like it’s bad. However, you are also forced to buy a military. Universal health care means everyone buys in. Everyone. The only difference here is that it’s not being done directly as part of taxes, because of my next point.
This bill is not designed to either prop up or punish the insurance industries. Having been in health care, I will tell you they do not want these 30 million people, but that’s beside the point. If you want to punish the insurance companies, this bill doesn’t have that in mind. It’s designed to provide a vast improvement in coverage and cost controls for health care. It doesn’t give a fig if the insurance companies live or die as long as those goals are accomplished.
I would love to punish the insurance industries. I think it’s about 1% as important as what this bill does.
El Tiburon
@slag:
How am I arguing in bad faith? By admitting that I’m not certain that the bill is all it is promised to be?
For the record I think it’s better the bill pass. If for nothing else the political victory for the Dems and the complete meltdown on the right.
I don’t really expect my insurance premiums to go down, but that’s okay, I make decent cash. My hope is that if something catastrophic happens to me I won’t be kicked off for whatever reason. For that I’ll be extremely grateful to this legislation if it does that.
And I certainly hope those of lesser means now have a path to obtaining the level of healthcare that I enjoy, especially children.
But to imply that I have some ulterior or nefarious motive is simply absurd.
Corner Stone
@Mike Kay: You can fap to Jane all you want.
My point is that no one will ever touch the insurance companies in a serious and punitive manner.
It’s like the old joke about – how many battalions does the Pope command?
You can put it out there all you like. Enforcing it is a different matter.
Or am I wrong to feel govt hasn’t really made much use of enforcement mechanisms currently in place in other arenas?
Uloborus
@Corner Stone:
See my comment above. Yes, actually, you are. You are very wrong. You see a couple of high profile failures, because no system is perfect, and assume the whole system doesn’t work.
EDIT: Now pardon me, folks. I have more fun things to do for awhile! Tiberius, I hope you absorbed my arguments. Things really aren’t as bad as she’s making it all sound. She’s showing you all of the arguments against and ignoring the arguments for, even when they invalidate her arguments against.
El Tiburon
@Uloborus:
So Hamsher only tells the truth she wants to tell and you don’t? That we are not being poisoned regularly doesn’t mean that oversight and enforcement are just peachy.
We all know what it takes to destroy a regulatory body. Michael Brownie anyone? For every “children not working” story I can toss you a story of contaminated meat because the FDA caved to the meat packing industry. Or Enron. I know you are not that dense or naive.
We are not buying into Universal healthcare. Not even close.
Mike Kay
Re: Sirota. Of course you are entitled to your opinion. I think Sirota’s record of fighting for progressive causes speaks for itself. Also, I think many of you are tossing out this “bad faith” accusation without being aware of its true meaning. To accuse Hamsher or Sirota of trying to deceive or mislead is simply wrong. Just as I don’t ascribe that to any of you here.
Corner Stone
@Uloborus:
Your comment above is hilarious. I could cite a dozen incidents in the modern era where people were in fact poisoned due to lapse regulatory controls.
And Toyota, for example?
But, wevs.
martha
@Omnes Omnibus: I just called Tammy Baldwin’s Madison office (I’m also a constituent) and registered my happy support. It was a very pleasant conversation…
slag
@El Tiburon: You are right. I shouldn’t have done that. It just surprises me that after a year of debate and discussion (here at least), after several CBO scores, a seven-hour-long discussion right there on the CSpan, a ton of experts weighing in on this issue, and the glaringly obvious political realities of the situation, we’re still listening to anyone who claims to be a Democrat and is advocating to kill this bill. But since that’s where we are, I’ll bite:
1. Myth: This is a universal health care bill.
Fact: Who says this? I don’t know anyone who believes everyone will be covered under this bill. Under this bill, 15 million more people will be eligible for Medicaid alone. That’s improvement.
2. Myth: Insurance companies hate this bill
Fact: Again, who says this? WTF do I care if insurance companies love or hate this bill? Who thinks this is even a remotely reasonable argument to bring up?
3. Myth: The bill will significantly bring down insurance premiums for most Americans.
Fact: It depends on what you consider “significantly”.
…
See…bored already. All of this is irrelevant when you realize that it’s either the bill we’ve got or it’s nothing. There’s nothing in even Jane’s list to suggest that this bill will make things worse for people. And the downside of killing the bill is steep. So, it all comes down to this question: Why are we still talking about this?
Jane Hamsher appears to have taken leave of her senses. And if you still listen to her, then I suggest you rethink that.
Felonious Wench
@Houstonian:
I mentioned a grandmother up front. Grandmas are sacred. Guess it pushed the staffer’s button, she was very close to her grandmother too.
I also sent an e-mail to Pete Olson (Rep. Right-wing frothers, Texas), who represents my district. Yes, I know it’s not as effective, nothing is going to matter to this man. And I wanted to COMPOSE, damn it. Told him I know he’s not going to change his vote, but health care will pass anyway, and I hope that when he casts his vote, he takes a moment and thinks of the words of Jesus Christ about the poor.
Since he loves to use religion to support his BS, thought some Scripture might be fun to throw in, so added some New Testament. Won’t change his vote for a minute, but it was cathartic for me.
Corner Stone
@Felonious Wench: Ha! CD-TX22’ers unite!
Olson’s not in the same ballpark as DeLay but give him a few terms.
Mike Kay
@El Tiburon: What has Sirota ever done ? Name one accomplishment? And working for AIPAC and getting kicked off a campaign in Philly for race baiting doesn’t count.
karen
Just got off the phone with Tom Perriello’s office (VA-5), who assured me he would be supporting reform! I am not a constituent, but since I am a UVA alum, I felt sufficient legitimacy to call the office. It took me hours to get through but I was thrilled that he has announced his support.
Karmakin
It’s simple. The insurance companies either comply with the spirit of the law, or they’ll end up eating an aggressive public option right to the face.
Mike Kay
@El Tiburon: btw. If this is a giveaway to the insurance industry, then why are eminent liberals like Paul Krugman and Ezra Klein wildly supportive of the bill?
If this is a giveaway to the insurance industry, why did the industry spend $11 million in attack ads this week alone trying to kill the bill?
If this is a giveaway to the insurance industry why have they been financing all the teabagger protests using industry lobbyist Dick Armey and his PR outfit “Freedom Works”?
Felonious Wench
@Corner Stone:
It’s embarrassing. Did you see this one?
http://crooksandliars.com/logan-murphy/texas-republican-pete-olsons-major-he
So proud this man represents my district. Uh huh, yep, sure am.
I need a Shiner Boch. Now.
Fitzwili
Hi! I mentioned it in another thread but if you are calling a rep in a conservative and/or catholic district- mention the nuns ! The nuns are key element of support – they have a type of moral authority that is very hard to argue against in many people’s minds.
(Grandmothers are also a good second choice evidently!!)
Every staffer has responded positively to the pep talk – and I do think the pep talk is sorely needed in these final days!
FlipYrWhig
@Mike Kay: There are a million analogous situations that would bother no proudly progressive person even though they were “corporate.” If the government issued everyone coupons for, say, compact fluorescent lightbulbs, that would definitely produce revenue for “corporate” businesses. I _can’t imagine_ Hamsher or Sirota bellyaching about the horror of it all, or demanding that there be no such coupon until there were publicly-owned lightbulb stores. I don’t know why issuing uninsured people a coupon, as it were, that can only be used to buy health insurance is the Rubicon for “corporatism.”
Which is not to say that the public option or National Health _aren’t good ideas_. They’re excellent ideas! But we put up with “corporatism” in many, many aspects of life as it is, and there’s no reason to treat this as an especially horrifying case.
Madeline
@DA: Me too – never occurred to me to call her, but I just did and her poor staffers sounded sort of breathless. They did indeed appreciate the supportive voice. Just asked about a dozen friends to call too.
gyma
Called my rep’s (Betsy Markey, CO-4) office yesterday and her DC office just now. They aren’t answering the phones, so left messages both times thanking her for announcing her decision to vote yes. This is Marilyn Musgrave’s old seat and I’m sure her offices are being slammed by ditto heads.
El Tiburon
@slag:
Agree w/ you on many of those points. I don’t think anyone has ever really called this universal healthcare.
I’m reserving judgment. I’m hoping for the best but I have my doubts that this will be the transformational legislation we are hoping for.
Regardless, I praise Hamsher for her fight and sticking to her guns. Fact is she is fighting tooth and nail for the bill we all wish we should have. And she is not doing this for the thrill and exposure of being on TV.
Some of the accusations (not by you) around here are simply idiotic.
El Tiburon
@Mike Kay:
Name one thing David Sirota has done:
Two New York Times bestsellers detailing corporate greed and corruption in both parties and advocating progressive policies.
Worked for Bernie Sanders and Ned Lamont’s campaign to beat Joe Lieberman and Brian Schwietzer’s run for Governor in Montana.
His column was selected to replace the legendary Molly Ivins after her death.
He supports fair trade over free trade, unions and worker rights. He criticizes neoliberal policies, the DLC and corporatist democrats just to name a few.
So I guess you’re right. He really hasn’t done a fucking thing. He is a total d-bag. Thanks.
El Tiburon
@Mike Kay:
Those are good points. I trust Krugman and Klein equally along w/ Sirota.
I think what is happening is two different battles are being fought here. The Krugman/Balloon Juice/Daily Kos faction is for passing this bill, as shitty as it is in a lot of ways.
The Hamsher/Sirota faction is fighting more for the soul of the progressives and the Democratic party. As Greenwald discussed
when do we as progressives/democrats/whatever stop caving?
I agree w/ Markos that the time for negotiation and debate is over. This is what we have and it must be passed. But to argue that Hamsher & Sirota are arguing in bad faith is just stupid and childish.
I’m sure if Krugman were more in the Hamsher camp you’d be arguing that his opinion was worthless.