Please note, this image has nothing to do with the DAMNED PUBLIC OPTION
Here is the final roll call vote for the billl last night in the House. I know you are all tired of making calls, but I’d like you to pick up the phone one more time. Look at the map, find out if your rep voted for the bill, and if he or she did, call them up and thank them.
These staffers have spent the last couple months being screamed at by unhinged lunatics on every side of the debate, so it would be nice for someone to call up and calmly thank them. And if your rep didn’t vote for the bill, find one who did who you like, and call them. As always, the number is (202) 224-3121.
Tim and I are busy setting up an ActBlue Account to reward those members who stood strong and made tough votes, but it would be nice if we could get the idea to just call your reps and thank them to go viral. Call your rep and spread the word.
***Update [Tim]***
If you live near a Congressional office, I bet that the staffers would appreciate cookies. Or, this being Balloon Juice, maybe a pie. Just sayin’.
Redshirt
I hate to say this, but this deal is not 100% done. The Senate still has to act – and we’re all 100% confident in the Senate, now? Lieberman’s still there, right?
Napoleon
@Redshirt:
The Senate bill passed and could be signed into law right now. In fact I would think Obama will sign it before the sidecar bill is passed.
beltane
Thanks for the improved picture. You are going to cause BTD to foam at the mouth.
zzyzx
Redshirt – we only need 50 votes for this, so Lieberman is pretty helpless.
Besides the fixes that this bill has are all very popular.
TR
@beltane:
No, his retardery is a pre-existing condition.
thomas Levenson
Just for fun, inspired by your first thus captioned post, I tried an alternative illustration at my place.
Will call to thank my guy, Frank, and my former guy (a couple of moves ago), Capuano, whose senate ambitions/prospects just took a step up for 2012, IMHO.
Violet
Awesome! I will be calling my Rep. I also owe a few others calls of thanks as well for them taking difficult votes.
Will be donating on the Act Blue page too.
NANCY SMASH!
SGEW
Shouldn’t that be “we got this”?
TR
@Redshirt:
Health Care Reform is a done deal. 100% done. The Senate bill, now passed by the House, is going to be signed into law on Tuesday by the president.
Reconciliation comes next. Lieberdouche has nothing to do with it, as they only need a bare majority to get it through and Reid has 52 on board. It will very likely happen.
But if not, the Senate bill still stays law.
Clark
Re: the Actblue account. You might think of doing the page as a polar opposite of the crazy apocalyptic FIRE NANCY page that GOP.com has set up. It would be nice to beat those fuckers yet again.
ellaesther
Another good way to let yes-voters in tough districts know that you’re grateful and will continue to support them, is to sends a letter to their office (home district offices – mail to the Capitol is very, very slow) and send a letter to your local paper.
Politicians ALWAYS read the letters to the editor of their paper, and it’s a good way to let the rest of your district know that many people were happy with the vote.
Here’s a sample letter, if you’re up to it:
To the editor:
I just want to say how grateful I am to Congressman/woman XXXX for voting “yes” on healthcare reform. I know that not everything in the bill is perfect, and I know that the Representative faced a lot of pressure not to support it, but I believe that we had to start somewhere, and I am deeply thank to Rep. XXXX for putting the needs of this country, as well as our future, before the demands of politics. [If you have a personal story of needing HCR, this would be a good place to put it in]
Sincerely,
name, title [if it gives you more gravitas!], address, phone
*It’s always a good idea to keep letters to the editor to less than 200 words!
geg6
That image is awesome sauce.
I am going to call Mike Doyle (despite his abhorrent practice of living at C Street) and Kathy Dahlkemper. Doyle was pretty much on board from the start, but Dahlkemper had a tougher row to hoe what with a crazy district and being a forced birther. But she came through in the end and before Stupak finally caved. Good for her.
Even the good ones around here suck. :-(
I will also be in contact with Mr. Altmire’s office. A lot. As are all my new union friends.
Barbara
Okay, I am pretty sure THAT particular image has not been used previously for either election or HCR purposes.
horatius
I love a part as much as the next guy. Should we wait on popping the champagne corks until Reconciliation passes?? For once, I’d like to see Lieberprick’s jowls of doom droop and touch the floor as he realizes he can’t stop reconciliation and stick it to the Democratic party anymore.
Nazgul35
I blame Rahm for BTD’s inability to keep track of their arguments from post to post…
taylormattd
HOW DARE YOU BALLOON JUICE!
This image is a slap in the face to Hillary, as well as the voters in Michigan and Florida!
General Egali Tarian Stuck
An apparition of Rahm in that photo would be a nice touch.
Comrade Mary
Props to whoever ‘shopped the image, but I would suggest Nancy beside Obama, not behind him, and “We got this”.
Mary
Since everyone is calling, now would also be the perfect time to tell your Congressperson to please support the Administration’s (and the military’s) approach to Middle East peace and that the Israeli settlements must be stopped for peace negotiations to proceed. Clinton just conveyed that message in her AIPAC speech and got a muted response. AIPAC will be lobbying fiercely against the Administration.
Maybe we can win this one too.
Anya
Way ahead of you, John, Early in the morning, I called my rep Jerrold Nadler and thanked him and his staff. I’ve also sent an email to that whinny weasel Cantor with this “10 hours since Obama shoved his huge package down your throat, how does it feel?” I know it’s juvenile and we need to be magnanimous in victory but I could not resist.
norbizness
So long as there are yearly improvements to the base bill up until the year it really takes effect, fine with me.
scav
Party Hard but then allons-y because there’s still a lot to be done and improved. It’s not as though the mere passage of civil rights legislation created a bias-free ‘merca. No more than the election of our first black President did. We did it, we need to keep doing it.
Uloborus
@horatius:
Again, reconciliation is just frosting on the cake. We’ve GOT the cake. The senate bill is passed. The reconciliation bill only adds a layer of tasty and delicious provisos. It will be quite annoying if the senate fumbles it. HCR will still have passed.
kay
@TR:
I’m actually a little worried about student loan reform in the Senate.
I really, really don’t trust the Senate and lenders. There’s some kind of unholy alliance going on there.
I’m going to start faxing the two Ohio Senators today. Maybe I can get Voinovich :)
JasonF
@zzyzx:
What’s really funny is that we’re going to see Republicans try to obstruct the bill, which means they’ll be trying to save the “Cornhusker Kickback” and the “Louisiana Purchase” they’ve been railing against for the last six months.
Redshirt
@TR: Thanks for the explanation. So even the Senate has been tamed, then, for this issue. Impressive – most impressive.
jeffreyw
Ack! per the Kos tally, my critter voted aye on 2 of the votes but also voted with the rethugs on the recommit. WTF?
scav
@Comrade Mary: oh! and not enough Hammer!
Genine
I called Congresswoman DeGette (CO-1) and thanked her via a staffer. The woman who answered the phone sounded surprised and pleased.
joes527
@Redshirt: I get why republicans would make noise about the reconciliation bill dying in the Senate *before* the main bill passed. The idea was to panic nervous house democrats to vote against the bill for fear that reconciliation won’t get done.
But now that it is done, do the republicans actually plan to oppose the reconciliation bill?
Do they really want to publicly take up the cause of defending the cornhusker kickback?
I know that they are stupid, but that would be epic.
Emo Pantload (fka Studly)
Anyone besides me look at Stupak’s stunning performance of giving hell to the Republicans’ motion to recommit last night, and think of Senator Geary in The Godfather II, who tried to muscle Michael’s casino application and wound up unable to explain the dead hooker in his room to Tom Hagen?
Rachel Maddow may want to know who subsidized Stupak’s rent at C-Street and whether he reported it, but I don’t think we’re gonna here peep about that from the House Ethics Committee. Evah.
When, and only when, he needs to, Obama *will* assert who’s the alpha dog. Don’t. Fuck. With. That. Shit.
Praise be!
GReynoldsCT00
@Redshirt:
I was just thinking this morning that he’s been rather quiet lately…
Camchuck
Made two calls on my way into work today. Thanked a staffer for my rep Dingell and left a thank you message for Driehaus (district where I grew up).
Violet
As far as influencing the election, Dems need to make sure that everyone knows the Dems brought them healthcare.
I was in a conversation with a wingnut the other day about someone losing their healthcare. “Can’t they COBRA?” the wingnut asks. Because COBRA is now appreciated and thought of as an important tool in helping people – wingnuts like it too.
That kind of thing is going to happen with the health care bill. And Republicans will be first to jump in and say they were responsible. Dems need to make sure there’s no question who brought health care to (most of) the people.
inthewoods
Man, I can’t believe it passed. Just called my Congressman to thank him.
And, in celebration, here’s a picture of a new puppy (Newman!) my sister-in-law just brought home, snuggling with my dog Gracie who is now his best buddy.
http://tweetphoto.com/15404024
Citizen_X
YOU LIE!
jayackroyd
If you live near a Congressional office, I bet that the staffers would appreciate cookies. Or, this being Balloon Juice, maybe a pie.
Mine is a block away. And my first reaction was that would be an irritation. But in point of fact, while the CoS probably wouldn’t care, the others would. So off to the fancy bakery next door to Maloney’s office.
MattF
And, don’t forget, the wingers need to be encouraged to go on threatening to repeal HCR. Oh please, don’t throw me into that briar patch! Only losers have pre-existing conditions!
phoebes-in-santa fe
I finally got through just now to Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM3) office in DC. Of course, he was a “yes” from the start, but I did want to tell him “thanks”. I talked to a young staffer for a minute and she said she was on the Hill last night and it was very, very exciting. I bet it was.
What a great experience she and her fellow staffers in Lujan’s office had. What a great lesson in government WE all had last night!
And I am waiting with bated breath for BJ ActBlue page.
MikeTheZ
@scav: Did somebody say hammer?
NANCY SMASH!
ellaesther
@Citizen_X: He is, it should be noted, also a babykiller.
kay
@Violet:
They do it all the time. Every single time I point to a person who can’t access medical care, they dispute that by reciting a list of liberal programs that they opposed that help people access medical care.
“Well, if he isn’t working, there’s medicaid, right?” As if Medicaid sprung up from the ground, some generic “good program” and they didn’t fight it tooth and nail.
They’re not the sharpest knives in the drawer, on the Right.
Their best response to a problem is to point to a liberal program that addresses it.
dslak
I see that President McCain is angry. I was worried for a minute that we might not get to hear what he thought of HCR passing. He’s in full “get off my lawn!” mode:
“Get off my lawn! And stop with all that partying!”
Michael
OT – The nuttery is exploding all over. This FReep thread was so good that I think I need a post-coital smoke – Tom DeLay is now being deemed a sellout RINO.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2476899/posts
gbear
In some districts, I would imagine that a staffers’ reaction to cookies would be ‘Why don’t you go first?’, ‘Not me, you go first’. I’d be wary if I was one of them.
Omnes Omnibus
I called my Congresswoman’s local and DC offices. I thanked them for the vote and offered my compliments on her speech. I could hear the DC people grinning when I said I was calling about healthcare. The local people were chattier, so I, semi-jokingly, asked when she was going to start working on a public option. The staffer laughed and said that effort was coming but might take awhile. All in all, a nice chat.
Alex S.
@jeffreyw:
I guess your rep wants to look good on paper with conservatives. Maybe he’s proud of his low “voted with the majority”-rating.
ellaesther
@ellaesther: Oh, and PS, I should have said:
If you send a grateful letter to the editor re: your Rep’s vote, do it today or tomorrow, because papers move on very quickly.
zzyzx
@joes527: It’ll be interesting. They want to oppose it so they can say that the Democrats pushed these provisions on them. It’s blatantly cynical but when has that stopped anyone before?
Fitzwili
Hi! I made several calls this morning . In every office but one the staffers were tickled pink to hear thanks and it sounded from their voices as if the storm had passed- that the screaming calls had subsided to an extent. However I talked to a VERY nice staffer at Betsey Markey’s office who told me that for her, the calls have not subsided – they have just gotten meaner.
Please call her office and voice thanks to her and her staffers to provide a balance to this fresh teabagger malevolence.
She really put her career on the line because she thought this was more important than herself. As we have seen from the behavior of the Senate – that is a rare quality in a politician and should receive recognition
MikeTheZ
@dslak: Wait, he really said he’s repulsed by the “euphoria”? That’s just too good to be true.
Edit: And of course Cuccinelli is going to waste my tax dollars with yet another lawsuit against the govt. Guy makes my blood boil.
Betsy
@joes527:
It’s actually not as stupid as it should be. They know that most people don’t understand the arcane process that got health care passed. If they vote against reconciliation, they’ll be able to say A) that they voted NO in all the health care votes, and B) if reconciliation failed, they’d be able to say “look at this terrible Democratic bill – it gave kickbacks to some states but not ours!” If someone called them out on it, we’d just be back to A.
So although their opponents could try to point out that they didn’t vote against the kickbacks, they can easily obfuscate by just saying “we voted against the bill.”
J.W. Hamner
@ellaesther: I’m drafting my letter to Capuano right now, and will put it in the mail after lunch. For whatever reason I’d rather send a letter than make the phone call.
BethanyAnne
@taylormattd: rofl!
beltane
@Michael: Did Tom DeLay actually say something rational, or are they just imagining things over there. One never knows.
me
The only thing staffers at my Rep’s campaign office will get from me is shit in a burning paper bag on their stoop.
slag
@ellaesther: Great idea on the letter to the paper. Makin’ it easy for us…very nice!
dslak
@MikeTheZ: Why are these kids today so damned happy?! I blame the drugs and the rock music!
BTD
Thanks John.
I appreciate the addition. Seriously.
Congrats to you all. You won.
Jon H
“If you live near a Congressional office, I bet that the staffers would appreciate cookies. Or, this being Balloon Juice, maybe a pie. Just sayin’”
I dunno. It better come in the original sealed wrapper.
I mean, if you worked for a Democratic Rep, would *you* take food from a stranger after the wingnutty shenanigans?
I suspect Barney Frank’s office would consider giving that pie to the bomb squad.
mistersnrub
OT:
Another sign of end times: Bill O’Reilly has officially become the voice of reason on Fox News. He had a major sad listening to Palin butcher the English language last night. You could just tell that he thinks the engine’s running but there is no one behind the wheel with her. He even tried to get her to cede that the bill did some positive things (!). Does anyone else think a rift is occurring btw the psycho-Beckian wing and the old school-O’Reilly wing?
jibeaux
@dslak:
I think someone is asking for their website to be rickrolled with ABBA clips, too.
SIA
Just called Rep Lewis’ office. A wary sounding staff person relaxed and sounded pleased and relieved as I found myself almost crying while thanking them for their courage. Where did that emotion pop up from anyway?
Today is a good day.
Danton
My rep–he voted yes–is Bart Gordon, who is retiring because the district is going beyond red into fluorescent scarlet. The district office offers the best constituency services I’ve ever experienced (I’ve lived all over). We’re baking them cookies tonight and will drop by tomorrow with that and a couple of pounds of coffee “imported” from Dean and Delucca of NYC.
Michael
I called John Yarmuth’s (KY-03, Louisville) office to thank him. The staffer was very nice and appreciative, told me that calls were running 50/50. I advised that I am a longtime acquaintance and former friend of the likely Teabagger opponent that will be emerging from the GOP primary, and that I’d be sending John money come fall.
That earned a pretty good chuckle.
Third Eye Open
Called all of Allan Boyd’s offices, both women I spoke with were a bit taken aback, but seemed to understand that I was sincere. Oddly, his home office, the one in Panama City (R-buttfuckcrazystan) was not taking calls and went to a recently emptied VM-box. I wish I could have been there to delete those messages one by one. LOLZ
Lurker
@kay
Just making sure you received the information you requested a while ago:
https://balloon-juice.com/2010/03/19/open-thread-627/#comment-1635459
:-)
@John Cole – I called Representative Adam Schiff’s office. The staffer knew me by name at this point. I gave him my heartfelt thank you for Schiff’s “Yes” vote on health reform.
The staffer had received a ton of angry calls about this bill. I thanked him for weathering all those calls, and I told him I would vote for Adam Schiff in the primary.
I also told him that I would probably call in the future about other issues, too. :-)
ellaesther
@slag: I live to serve!
KDP
@joes527:
They are, apparently, going to pick at the taxes on investment and savings income as well as the taxes on income over 200k as affecting Social Security. That’s right, now they want to protect Social Security.
This morning Cornyn’s response to the question “Why did no Republicans show at the scheduled meeting with the parliamentarian on Friday?” was “I wasn’t in town on Friday.”
Geez, if it’s so important to be involved in the process, don’t ya think ya might show up at scheduled process meetings?
ellaesther
@J.W. Hamner: I think there’s something that feels more hearfelt about a personal letter, particularly these days. I think that calls are great, but as we’re no longer in a rush to get our voices heard as quickly as possible, I think that folks will really appreciate it if you sit down and take the time to write a note.
GregB
We should all thank Boehner for his contribution to numerous Democratic re-election commercials for his overheated George Wallace of healthcare shtick.
SGEW
@BTD: Magnanimity!
Yer a good one, BTD.
Now let’s argue about something else! Cap and trade vs. cap and tax, maybe? Military commissions vs. civilian courts? What’s next?
joes527
@Betsy: Yes, but R’s voting no doesn’t matter. It will be a straight up or down vote, (with 52 D’s already on the record as supporting) so fuck you Leiberman.
In order to even slow the reconciliation bill down, they are going to have to go into parliamentary shenanigans. I doubt that they can interfere even with that, but if they are going to oppose the reconciliation bill, it will have to be via procedure.
Even if they want to play up their doomed opposition in the press… All the D’s have to do to respond is to enumerate what is in the bill that is being opposed.
Yes, sure, the R’s will all vote no. That is a given. But with the numbers where they are at, that amounts to capitulation. I’m thinking that quiet capitulation to the reconciliation (with their “no” vote on record) is the best that the R’s can hope for. Anything else will just provide too much material for democratic campaign ads.
Omnes Omnibus
I am thinking about calling Paul Ryan’s office. Any suggestions of what I should say?
Pasquinade
This freak is definitely not chilling out
http://twitter.com/glennbeck
heh
General Egali Tarian Stuck
WE didn’t win anything. People who don’t have health insurance and those who do WON. The fact that insurance companies also won does not fill my heart with glee, nor does it take anything away from the also WIN for the American people. The wingnuts are right to say this isn’t over, there is more to be done, and it would be just peachy if we didn’t also have to also fight with people on our own side, along with the wingnuts, to continue the battle. Just sayin…
New Yorker
I called Nydia Velazquez’ office and thanked her for her vote. Honestly, though, I’m one of those people who never had a doubt about my elected reps: Velazquez in the house and Schumer and Gillibrand in the Senate.
Looking at the map, what the hell is wrong with Staten Island? They finally elect a Democrat, and he still votes no on this?
Infodriveway
I just called all of our Washington State Congressmen’s offices to thank them for their vote last night. It might not hurt to do this with all of the Democrats in your state’s delegation (that voted for HCR). We’re lucky enough that all of our Reps voted in the affirmative.
Also, too: Along similar lines, if there are Democrats from your state delegation that voted against HCR, you might want to ask them why. Perhaps start a conversation about the subject…
Svensker
MSNBC is taking a poll, which is running 62-22 against the bill. Why don’t you all go help them out?
Joel
Fast forward to 7:25 into the clip.
“Fezzik, you did something right.”
Infodriveway
The aide at Rick Larsen’s office (my Representative) said callers have been about 50/50. The ones against HCR are very upset, but callers in favor have been very, very happy.
martha
@Omnes Omnibus: You are a good person. I think I would probably ask him how he could vote against the real, quantifiable needs of his constituents. And, I would say I look forward to seeing his campaign reelection ad campaign that specifically details his plan for eliminating social security for his constituents and providing vouchers for Medicare that are worth 20 cents on the dollar all the while adding to the deficit. Yes, I want a winning Powerball ticket too!!!
Comrade E.B. Misfit
I called my congressman’s office to thank him and I thanked the staffer for putting up with all of the abusive calls from the bill’s opponents. He said they got a lot of them, and he seemed pleased that folks are thinking of them.
Legalize
Rep. Driehaus’ staffer sounded exhausted. I thanked the Congressman profusely for doing the right thing, but the staffer sounded like she thought she might be out of a gig by the end of the year. I hope not. I told her that we’ll do what we can to get Driehaus re-elected. No, I didn’t say a word about abortion, or Stupak, or executive orders.
LD50
You win the thread. Please accept our home game.
Jules
I just got off the phone with Vic Snyder’s office and the staffer was so relived to hear a friendly voice (how sad is that) she said the lack of civility is amazing.
I was like, well Bohenr did tell everyone that a yes vote would destroy America.
matt
Rush’s first words:
“Hanging by a thread.
15 minutes of stupak rage. “equal role in destroying the country as barack obama” “no different than nevelle chaimberlain”
“mccain is upset just looking at how happy they are”
“repeal and lawsuits to get it struck it down”
Fitzwili
@ Third Eye Open
Boy you are right- the staffers at Boyd’s office sound practically shellshocked. If anyone else wants to call the Tallahasee office and say thank you- it sound like they could use it!
matt
Rush’s first words:
Hanging by a thread.
15 minutes of stupak rage. “equal role in destroying the country as barack obama” “no different than nevelle chaimberlain”
“mccain is upset just looking at how happy they are”
“repeal and lawsuits to get it struck it down”
“we now have leftist radicals in charge of your health care instead of doctors”
“really are facing the prospect our country will never be the same if this stands.”
morzer
Tragic news, my friends, we’ve lost John McCain by being all uppity…
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/88285-mccain-dont-expect-gop-cooperation-the-rest-of-this-year
What shall we do with his warmth and wisdom, his bipartisan comity, his passion for horses and asses.. I mean horses’ asses….?
Somehow, I think we’ll survive the long lonely nights.
LD50
@matt: Isn’t that shithead supposed to be in Costa Rica by now?
t jasper parnell
This is OT but K-Lo’s House of Crazy appears to be off the air; could it be that they finally went Galt. One can but hope.
Sock Puppet of the Great Satan
Great image, would be even better with Nancy wielding her +5 Hammer of Passing Healthcare Legislation.
ellaesther
@Mary: As will come to no one’s surprise: Seconded.
Especially if your Rep. or Senator is on their respective Foreign Relations Committee!
BJ’s own The Grand Panjandrum did just this last week – here’s the result: http://emilylhauserinmyhead.wordpress.com/2010/03/18/jeanne-shaheen-talks-about-israelpalestine/
(And don’t forget to call State! Here’s a post with some links, a suggested phone script, and some thoughts about why these changes in the US-Israeli relationship really, really matter: http://emilylhauserinmyhead.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/theres-something-happening-here/).
joes527
@morzer:
un-spoof-able
John Cole
@Sock Puppet of the Great Satan: We are working on it- funny you would say that.
ellaesther
@LD50: Don’t forget: It took roadblocks, too.
shortstop
I’m thinking that with all the teabaggers’ threats of assassination and settling their legislative scores with Brownings and suchlike, any food dropped off at a congressional office will go straight into the circular file.
Say it with flowers. Or gift certificates. Or…what else? I can’t think.
Legalize
It really is a shame that St. McCain (who was a POW by the way) will no work with the President. It might be best for Obama to not sign the bill just to make sure that the McMaverick will help out the Dems. And another thing, I made the mistake of turning on Morning Joe this morning. Why the fuck was John Cornyn on my tee vee? I’m never making the mistake of turning that shit on before I leave for work.
Omnes Omnibus
@martha: I called his Janesville office. I used your suggestion almost verbatim. The staffer was polite and said he could not answer my questions but that the Congressman could get back with me.
I also called Dave Obey and Gwen Moore with thank yous and congratualtions.
J.W. Hamner
Letter to Rep. Capuano in the mail… here’s the body text:
Not too gushy I hope? F-it… I’m in a good mood.
Sock Puppet of the Great Satan
“We are working on it- funny you would say that.”
Cheers.
I didn’t think you could get a +5 Vorpal Hammer, but I think Nancy’s gavel decapitated Boehner.
Must be 4th Edition Rules.
Sock Puppet of the Great Satan
“McCain: Don’t expect GOP cooperation the rest of this year”
The Angel of Irony just suffered a concussion from falling down on the floor laughing herself to semiconciousness.
Hint to McCain: A threat is not a threat if you’ve already carried in out.
ericblair
@matt: “repeal and lawsuits to get it struck it down”
But, I thought all this lawsuitin’ and stuff was really bad and that all we needed was some good American tort reform to make everything better! I’m so, so confused.
JAHILL10
Called my Rep. Robert Brady and Reps. from surrounding districts who voted yes to thank them. The staffers sounded pleasantly surprised and happy to hear a sane (I guess I sound sane compared to a teabagger!) voice of appreciation. And it felt good. This was a wonderful thing they accomplished. Let your guys know you appreciate them!
Tim P.
@Sock Puppet of the Great Satan:
Sure you can, it’s under epic item creation. :p
JasonF
Thanks for the heads up, Senator, because right up until the moment I read that, I was totally expecting GOP cooperation, what with me being an idiot who has been living in a cave since 2008.
Short Bus Bully
Yes We DID!
No matter what comes over the next few years, my vote for Obama was worth it because of yesterday.
Obot 4 Lyfe
shirk
I called Rep. Sam Farr’s office to express thanks. Even though CA-17 is a blue district and Farr’s vote pretty solidly yea throughout, the staffer was very appreciative, and even more so when I explicitly said I wanted to thank all the staff for their hard work fielding anti-HCR calls and generally supporting the effort.
Great idea. I wouldn’t have thought to do this without the encouragement. Pick up the phone!
New Yorker
@morzer:
As opposed to all the great cooperation we got on everything else so far this year from the GOP.
Somewhere, David Frum just smacked himself in the forehead. In a way, I kinda feel for Frum. It can’t be pleasant to watch something you believe in get destroyed by grifters like Limbaugh and Palin and the total lunatics who listen to them. I imagine it’s like my watching the Mets being run by idiots like Jeff Wilpon, Omar Minaya, and Jerry Manuel and being powerless to change anything.
The Grand Panjandrum
Cole if you ever get tired of using this graphic then maybe this video can be used occassionally.
Fitzwili
@geg6
I called doyle and dahlkemper- staffers were very appreciative- said the positive calls meant the world to them! They still sounded underseige so if any one else has the time- these might be good offices to call!!
ChrisZ
New image is amazing! This banner will have the Republibaggers trembling in fear.
Sock Puppet of the Great Satan
“Sure you can, it’s under epic item creation”
+5 Vorpal Hammer of Passing Healthcare Legislation (+6 Against Republicans plus Fort. Save against Stun)?
Boy, that must have cost LBJ and Dingell a lot of XP when they forged it before passing Medicare in 1965. No wonder LBJ didn’t run in 1968.
Also, Pelosi must have taken a couple of Cleric levels, as she cast “Restore Testicles” on the Democratic caucus.
Norbrook
Just a question: Why isn’t Rush on a plane to Costa Rica? Wasn’t that what he said he was going to do if this passed? I think we should encourage him to keep his word! I’m sure that we could get a crew together in a hurry to help him pack.
SadieSue
Thanks for the idea to call & thank my Rep, John. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it (probably because I was just as sick of making calls as everyone else was) but it felt good to say thank you & I could tell the by the tone of his voice that the aide who answered was delighted to hear something simple & pleasant.
Of course, on the flip side of this call, I spent the two hours before I called my Rep on the phone with a very old friend who is VERY conservative with him mourning the end of America (soshulism, doncha know) & quoting Charles Krauthammer & Ann Coulter as experts on America which resulted in me snorting at him & telling him he needs to read better media. In light of his obvious concern, I did manage to tone down my rejoicing a tiny bit, but rejoice I did! He knows I believe what I believe for a reason & respects me for that so he told me that if, in 10 years, things work out the way I think they will, he will donate a large sum of money to a Democratic organization (my choice) in my name – so here’s hoping (for many reasons!) this works out as we hope it will.
Fitzwili
Wow the more I am calling offices from ” safe” blue districts – the more I realize how much everyone was and is still evidently underseige. Everyone has sounded so gratefull- the thank yous are still less than the rants- so I would call even if you are in a true blue safe district and say thanks to the staffers on phone duty.
asiangrrlMN
Just called Rep. Betty McCollum’s office and thanked her. She’s in a safe district, but as I told her staffer, every vote counts.
Ok, the staffer did sound a bit surprised, but I thought it was because of my name. Maybe they’ve been getting ‘no’ calls, too.
TooManyJens
LMAO @ the addition of the giant gavel.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
@me:
Ah, you have one of those too. I live in the second reddest county in Misery and no, it’s not in the batshit, insane southwest corner of the state but the overlooked, batshit, insane central part of the state. “My” “rep” has no more interest in representing me than Tunch does.
TooManyJens
I’d really like to call my Republican Congressman again to let him know that we’ll be voting his ass out in the fall for opposing HCR, but sadly we probably won’t. And he knows that.
…oh, what the hell, I just called anyway to say that the statement on his web page is full of lies and that I will be happy to donate to and volunteer for his challenger this fall.
the farmer
One more We Got This pic.
*
SGEW
This conversation requires a link to Zifnab’s epic comment from the Gary Gygax thread about the Magical Unity Pony (Lg Magical Beast; XP 50,000).
jayackroyd
And, yes, the cookies were appreciated. Brightened my day.
asiangrrlMN
Oh, and NANCY SMASH! Damn. That has to catch on.
IndyLib
@Omnes Omnibus:
Good for you. His staffers are always polite, but I seldom detect so much as a gleam of understanding or intelligence.
I called Bill Foster’s (IL-14, Denny Hastert’s old seat) to thank him for his yes vote. My daughter, son-in-law and her stepson live in his district and all have pre-existing conditions. I left a message, his staffers weren’t answering calls on HCR.
I’m going to call the Dem Reps here in Wisconsin and thank them. Maybe that will mitigate the disgust I feel for being represented by that idjit Ryan.
ksmiami
One last obligatory reference to The Princess Bride… “You keep saying that (Waterloo). I do not think it means what you think it means.”
ksmiami
One last obligatory reference to The Princess Bride… “You keep saying that word (Waterloo). I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Mnemosyne
If people would like to send treats that the staffers can eat without worrying that some nutbar is trying to poison them, here are a few companies that will send them direct:
http://snookies.com/index_flash.html
http://www.brownies.com/
http://www.ediblearrangements.com/
PS – If you want to bring homemade treats anyway, make sure that your name, address and phone number are prominently displayed on the package. That will at least reassure them that the police will be able to find you if you did poison them.
Little Dreamer
@Sock Puppet of the Great Satan:
Strange that I actually understood that comment, since I am not a player, just a former spectator. ;)
Mnemosyne
@Omnes Omnibus:
I suggest something like this.
Dr. Morpheus
@Comrade Mary:
Agreed, please fix.
Sock Puppet of the Great Satan
Hmm…
Speaker Pelosi: St: 6 Int: 16 Wis: 20 Dx: 18 Con: 22 Chr: 16
Cleric: Lvl 3 (Catholic, plus access to the “Restore Testicles” spell).
Tough Italian Mother/Grandmother: Lvl 7
Person You Do Not Fuck With: Lvl 10 (Prestige Class, so no 20% XP penalty)
Dr. Morpheus
@GregB:
Oooo, that would be an awesome video. Fading back and forth from George Wallace screaming, “Segregation forever!” and John Boehner screaming, “Hell No!”.
Dr. Morpheus
@BTD:
BTD, join us to fight for Grayson’s Medicare for All Buy In bill!
I know that the HCR organization I volunteer for is gonna fight for that next.
deminoz
So i tried to organise to send cupcakes to Pelosi’s office for the staffers but getting anything onto the hill just doesn’t work unless you personally know someone.
An idea/thought….could we pool resources, find out where the staffers go out to drink and “put” some money on the tab for them?
Dr. Morpheus
@Tim P.:
OMFG! How many fellow D&Ders are there here?
I should point out that I no longer play…
Dr. Morpheus
@Sock Puppet of the Great Satan:
Laughing my fuckin’ ass off here!
Comrade Mary
I think this whole process needs an alignment chart, something like this one.
EDIT: Oh, wow — I didn’t notice the pic had been enhanced — AWESOME!
Mwangangi
That hammer has to have the Law property in addition to having Obstructionist bane and Axiomatic burst qualities… (too much?).
rikyrah
you need to thank the Nuns too.
and that picture has already been copied- thanks.
DFH no. 6
My representative is Blue Dog Harry Mitchell, AZ district 5 (Snotsdale, Tempe, etc. — primarily eastern ‘burbs of Phoenix).
For a Blue Dog, he’s actually pretty good (and the only kind of Dem this district is likely to elect for the foreseeable — Harry replaced 6-term clown extraordinaire J.D. Hayworth, who Harry defeated in ’06). Harry’s “Blue-Dogness” is mainly displayed by his affinity for business interests, anyway, which is fine (he’s not particularly outspoken in any direction on “culture war” issues, which practically makes him a DFH in these here parts).
After pestering his office with phone calls over the past several weeks, I was happy to hear last Friday that Harry would vote ‘yes’ (as he did on the original House HCR bill).
I will be stopping by his local office some time today to deliver my thanks, along with a hefty donation to his upcoming campaign (and I will also volunteer for his campaign as I did the last two times).
My local paper (AZ Republic) has never printed any of my dozen or so letters sent over the years, so I’ve stopped trying and won’t attempt this time either. Probably better for (my) business, anyway.
Sock Puppet of the Great Satan
“That hammer has to have the Law property in addition to having Obstructionist bane and Axiomatic burst qualities”
Y’know, it’s probably a reflection of my 1st Edition prejudices that I didn’t even think of that.
*Real* DMGs have a Big Red Demon on the cover. At a pinch, it could be a red book with a Fighter and a female Magic-User fighting a dragon. The new-fangled stuff is nice, but it’s just not the same.
And don’t let me bore you about Runequest and The Fantasy Trip..
BenA
I live in PA-15. Northeastern PA is a weird fucking place. I’m represented by a pro-choice Republican… Charlie Dent… who’s not exactly awful… but he’ll never come out against the party on a national vote… only on things that fly under the radar…
Of course the Dems near me to the north in rural PA are pro-life… I still called an donated some cash to them. Their staffers just sounded exhausted. They weren’t exactly gushing. Heh.
Sock Puppet of the Great Satan
Hey, if Boehner isn’t a great name for a monster who’s both Undead and can cast “Disable Testicles”, I don’t know what is.
brantl
Next up, how about a damn public option to start causing cost control, since nothing else in this bill does that?