A couple of updates.
Several readers sent me an excellent link to a Google Sheet containing contact information and suggested scripts for people to talk to their Congresscritters. This is very useful. I am not 100% thrilled with the script as it is more advocacy instead of information gathering but it is a good starting point.
Let’s see where we stand one day in:
The major trend that I am seeing is that Democrats don’t have a position yet. This is despite the Ryan Better Way Medicare privatization plan passing the House and Senate in previous years. That is a major problem. Let’s get another twenty five names firmed up today.
Name State District Result
Dave Schweikert AZ 6 Support
Mark DeSaulnier CA 11 No position
Ted Lieu CA 33 No position
Mimi Walters CA 45 Support
Scott Peters CA 52 Weasel
Jared Polis CO 2 Against
Cory Gardner CO Senate Weasel
Michael Bennett CO Senate No answer
Nolan MN 8 No Answer
Jason Smith MO 8 Weasel
Roy Blunt MO Senate Weasel
Michelle Lujan Grisham NM 1 No position
Ben Ray Lujan NM 3 No position
Martin Heinrich NM Senate No position
Udall NM Senate No position
Steve Chabot OH 1 Weasel
Sam Johnson TX 3 Support
McCaul TX 10 No position
Pete Sessions TX 32 Support
Beyer VA 8 Against
Kaine VA Senate No position
Warner VA Senate No position
Rick Larsen WA 2 Against
I’ll be keeping the running tab at this Google Sheet and updating after each calling round
MomSense
I’ll call Collins and King even though they are not on this list.
OzarkHillbilly
What else is new?
rikyrah
LOL at Senate Weasel.
Richard Mayhew
@MomSense: Call anyone who is not on the list as we don’t have information on them.
Mary
I spoke to Mikulski”s office yesterday and was told the Senator supports Medicare, but they don’t have an actual plan to oppose since they haven’t seen a bill yet.
waysel
Richard Mayhew:”The major trend that I am seeing is that Democrats don’t have a position despite the plan having been previously passed.” Could you edit your post to specify what the ‘plan previously passed’ refers to? I’m confused by that sentence, and I want to share this post to my Facebook, but ideally it would be a bit more clear.
WereBear
Yes. This is disgusting. I have been talking to voters who stayed home last week. These are not political sophisticates. They don’t get advocacy and coalitions and strategery. They are mad as hell and did not vote for our side because the republicans are hateful and the Democrats are weak.
I plan to call as many Dem offices as possible and give them something to do. Demand Trump be evaluated for his fitness to take office. Which he has not been, yet. The republicans just blew it off, the press sucked on his nether regions for profit, and the Democratic leaders hoped the electorate would notice that.
Not enough of the electorate understood what was going on. Oh, let’s educate voters so they know what is going on and they will vote for policies.
Maybe, someday, on the planet Rational, which orbits the sun named Sweet Reason, they will. But we aren’t there and we are in an emergency now.
Demand Trump be vetted. No one has done it yet. We got away with it when McCain went for Palin because the voters said, “She wasn’t even vetted properly you clowns” and she melted down.
So next time, what did the republicans do? They just skipped it entirely. And the press let them get away with it.
We citizens have the last firewall. We can still demand the rules be followed, can’t we? That’s how the Nazis killed all those people. They just broke the rules and got away with it until they could make the rules.
And then, millions died. We would like to pretend our circumstances are different, that we’ll have a tough four years and then sense will return to the land, but we’ve been trying that for sixteen years and I am sick of it.
The republicans get worse and worse and worse because no one stops them from breaking the rules.
Richard Mayhew
@waysel: Updated and explained… thanks for the help as I want this to be useful
WereBear
That is why my rep’s office said. Republicans only passed it five times. And they don’t have a plan? Yet?
We have to focus, people. The people we are calling? They are going to be fine. No matter what happens, they keep their job and health care and houses and children. So their hair isn’t on fire, even though their job should be along the lines of, “Holy shit, people are going to die because the republicans didn’t control Trump, didn’t vet him, spit in our faces when we bring up his many many disqualifying qualities, and the press didn’t do their job either. I have a job to do!”
They don’t say that. That is why they are weak.
Ohio Mom
I called all three of my Congressmen yesterday to see where they stand on Medicare vouchers:
OH
Senator Rob Portman (R)
Representative Brad Wenstrup (R) 2nd District
Both plead ignorance, will get back to me
Senator Sherrod Brown (D)
Against changes to Medicare
Have to run now
rikyrah
@Mary:
Phuck this they don’t have a plan. Obstruction is the plan
They want to turn it into a phucking voucher program. They are clear. Obstruct. Make them RUN on turning Medicare into a voucher program.
Another Scott
I expect a united message about how the national Democrats address things like this to coalesce very shortly. Nancy Pelosi has a press conference at 1045 AM EST today.
Let’s keep pushing, but let’s not bring out the flamethrowers yet.
Thanks for all of your efforts, everyone. It’s very important.
Cheers,
Scott.
JMG
Remember as you call the Democrats. The staffer on the line can’t say anything until their Rep or Senator tells them what to say. Said Rep or Senator may not want to say anything until the leadership says something and/or the caucus has met. What sounds like total passivity may be Congress at its accustomed pace. That’s why the calls are important. They’re a goad as well as a scorecard.
WereBear
That is what I expect, too. Or, that is what I hope for. I am tired of hearing “we will oppose them” and then they get steamrollered like a cartoon duck.
Why? Because apparently they think republicans will straighten up and fly right if they get scolded.
They are psychopaths. They don’t stop until they get stopped.
Paging Captain Obvious!
mike in dc
Putting an R or D behind each name in the post would be helpful. I saw the list and initially assumed it was all Democrats, so seeing “support” after some names was jarring.
WereBear
I am going to be calling and asking one simple thing:
Trump is not qualified for the office. Why are you letting him take it?
What will they say? The republicans were supposed to do that? The press was supposed to do that? The voters were supposed to do that?
What, we have run out of firewalls? What kind of leadership did not have a bang-up Plan B? A serious demand for Trump to be judged on his qualifications is part of the process. It’s part of The Rules.
Why are we, the party who wants to play by the rules, just standing around letting republicans break the rules and get away with it?
We have to quit fragmenting our voice. Demand that we at least have enough of a functioning government that there are still barriers to letting someone with Trump’s baggage just waltz in and take over the free world.
Future generations, if there are any, will think we are weak. If we let this happen, they will be right.
Mike R
@WereBear: The constitution provides three requirements, which one would say he is not qualified. Too bad they did not list being orange and a buffoon, but they didn’t.
Weaselone
@WereBear:
Then the people you talked to are stupid asshats who deserve the red hot poker the Republicans are going to shove up their rectums.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
You know the way Trump jumped like a toad when the popular vote is brought up suggests that there is something there.
“Trump didn’t win the election, he merely gamed the electoral collage. He’s not legitimate”
Weaselone
@Weaselone:
Seriously, it’s not quantum mechanics. The secret to preventing Trump and the Republicans from enacting their policies was to keep a Democrat in the White House and give Dems control of the Senate.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
As a suggestion – if you have a Republican congress critter; word your message in away they can understand
“Trump isn’t a Republican, Trump knows nothing about government, he just stole the primary and then gamed the electoral collage while losing the vote. It’s your civic duty to save the country from his incompetence”
Barbara
I posted this link yesterday but when you call you can tell your Rep which way they voted on Ryan’s plan last year and ask whether they still oppose or support it. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2015/roll141.xml
Not a single Democrat voted in favor of this measure and 26 Republicans also voted against it, although for all I know some voted nay because they didn’t think it went far enough. Nonetheless, these Republicans are as follows, with state designations where I know it off the top of my head:
Amash (Michigan)
Buck
Comstock (Virginia)
Crawford
Garrett
Gibson
Gosar
Griffith
Harris
Huelskamp (defeated)
Hultgren
Issa (California)
Jolly
Jones
Katko
Labrador (Idaho)
LoBiondo (New Jersey)
Massie
McClintock
McKinley
McSally (Arizona)
Mulvaney
Rohrabacher (California)
Schweikert
Sensenbrenner
Woodall
If you are represented by one of those 26 (a few might have been defeated in addition to Huelskamp), or even if you live in the same state that they do, you should be putting pressure on them. McSally is an example of someone in a state where Medicare is a huge deal. This legislation received 219 votes last year. That’s only 1 more than needed.
WereBear
@Weaselone: Yes. And you are going to let us go down with them.
I thought the slogan was “Stronger Together.”
Everyone in the entire world knows Trump isn’t qualified. And yet, somehow, we are going to let him cheat his way into the most important position on the planet? They cheated every step of the way and we say, “Oh, well?”
Makes me wonder who the asshat is.
Come on people. Plan Z if that is what it takes. It is not too late to focus on a message, and the message should be: Is there an institution left who can stop him?
Because no one has stepped up yet.
Denali
The petition to the members of the Electoral College to vote for Hilliary Clinton on December 19th has over 4 million signers. Members are not bound to vote for Trump if they deem him unfit for office. Go to Choice.org to sign the petition. Hillary won by a over a million votes; Trump is not changing. Help prevent this coup from happening.
WereBear
@Mike R: We are supposed to be flexible enough to realize when we are being gamed.
Is he a tax dodger? We don’t know. Why?
WereBear
@Denali: I did. But that just throws it to Congress, doesn’t it?
WereBear
What will be our epitaph?
Yes, we saw it coming. Oh, I voted! And then I formed a group who…
We blame the Trump voters for being idiots. We blame the stay at homes for staying home.
We are supposed to be the smart people. Why are we just rolling over? The republicans cheat and we let them get away with it.
That is why we are seen as weak. Because if we let Trump become President, we are, aren’t we?
Denali
Sorry, the link is Change.org.
MomSense
@WereBear:
How in the world can it be legal to allow someone to become president who conspired with a hostile foreign power? If this isn’t all enemies foreign and domestic I don’t know what the fuck it is. And our elected officials are just going along with it based on some fantasies that they can extract some infrastructure projects out of this bargain?
Fuck that. They swore an oath to defend us from precisely this event.
Botsplainer
From what I’m seeing, it’s a waste of time. Get out while you can, and if you can’t, buy rifles, ammo and canned goods.
Very depressed.
bemused
In a thread last night, someone, Joyce ?, saw an ad on msnbc warning of Medicare privatization, if I read correctly. Anyone else see that? I’m wondering what group created it.
Mike R
@WereBear: As much as I would like to see anybody other than Trump, the constitutional requirements have been met. What we do now is spend time and money getting candidates to oppose R incumbents even if they aren’t all we want. Blue dogs may not meet purity tests, but I live in Nebraska and any dem, blue dog or not, would be better than what I am looking at as my representatives.
As far as knowing if he is a tax dodger, well blame the press, they sure let it slide. Blame the IRS for not charging him if they found something amiss. The problem is we lost the electoral college and like it or not the constitution doesn’t prohibit a drooling moron from running if he is a natural born citizen and greater than 35 years old. Even if we got rid of Trump there would still be Pence with Ryan and McConnell running congress.
Botsplainer
@MomSense:
Comey talked to Lewandowski ahead of shooting that letter, to let him know it was coming.
Active collision between the FBI and the Trump campaign. And of course, who is in charge of domestic counterintelligence? The FBI.
The 2020 election is already in the GOP bag, as the crimes associated with the 2016 election won’t be past the Federal statute of limitations – they literally have to win to avoid prison, and that includes Comey.
WereBear
Just got off the phone with (important Dem) office.
Apparently, I am not the only one calling up and asking them, “What are you going to do about this?” About Trump, specifically. About what the Dems are going to do to keep him from taking office because no one can believe there’s nothing that can be done.
“But he won the election.”
“But he cheated.”
“Yes. It should be investigated.”
“Why isn’t it?”
Call them up and demand an investigation. On everything. Because we know there’s something disqualifying. Somebody just needs the spine to call for it.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: I posted this at the end of the previous (apparently) dead thread:
I surely hope this doesn’t mean that Pelosi might be stepping down from a leadership role:
Glidwrith
Update on Scott Peters CA-52: one of the downthread commenters dug up the legislation that the Thugs have passed in the House 2-3 times (HR ?) and found from the roll call that he has voted against it every single time. The margin for passing is also razor thin: only 219 votes.
And I think we should seriously (even moreso) start screaming at every level of government.
To summarize: we keep wondering why the shitgibbons say they will deport 3 million immigrants, and may or may not include “illegal” in there. I checked (PEW survey) and the estimate is there are 3.3 million Muslims living in the US.
If you guys didn’t catch from downthread, we’ve got someone interviewed just last night (Higbie) that worked for a shitgibbon-supporting PAC calling for their round-up and used WWII Japanese internment camps as just cause for doing so.
Kobach earlier saying there should be a Muslim registry and Shitgibbon himself in the 60 minute interview said they would remove or incarcerate ‘criminal’ immigrants.
In one of Adam’s threads it was mentioned the military generals are reviewing the Constitution for how they can tell the shitgibbon ‘No’ reported by Richard Engel.
Keep calling and start calling up the state and city level officials: mayor, city legislatures, govenor and state house and senate.
Botsplainer
@Mike R:
I’ll never be done thanking our paid progressive activists for railing about blue dogs and the ACA for being a total corporate sellout throughout 2009 and 2010. Allowing tea party lies to go unchecked while providing no counterweight (or counterpresence at blue dog town halls) sure got us closer to single payer and progressive nirvana.
As always, Obama sold out, but now that the contradictions are truly heightened, we’ll arrive at the progressive utopia we all dreamed of. Cue the drum circles and giant puppets!!!
WaterGirl
@WereBear: Someone in a thread last night explained that it does NOT throw the decision to the House. Short answer based on what was said last night: it only goes to the house if the EC does not arrive at 270 for one candidate.
Major Major Major Major
Gardner weaseled? Either that’s a good sign or you we caught him unprepared, which is also a good sign.
WereBear
Here is the analogy I used.
Someone has an abusive partner. They leave. They are tracked down and threatened. They move and get an unlisted number. They are tracked down again. They get a restraining order. They get shot.
Because we are not in a normal situation. We are dealing with psychopaths who lie and cheat and will do anything. There are levers to pull. But from what I am hearing… the people who are supposed to pull them are hiding in their offices.
Nothing will change for them. When they are voted out because of apathy, they will still have a pension and health care.
What am I going to say to my fellow activists four years from now? “Trust me this time?”
I repeat. These are not political savvy people. They don’t understand wonky. Please listen. They are the voters we didn’t get this time, and blaming them for being stupid won’t bring them out next time.
FlipYrWhig
@Botsplainer: WE NEED A FIFTY STATE STRATEGY SO WE HAVE MORE SUCKY DEMOCRATS TO HATE
WereBear
@WaterGirl: Well, that’s a ray of light.
But without public support, what will they do? Petitions are words on a page. These people need to know who has their back if they do this.
Who does? That’s the question.
MomSense
@Botsplainer:
So we had the FBI colluding with the trump campaign who was colluding with the Russians while the media played their lyre.
Also too I’m not past alleging that Sanders and Devine were in on this bullshit since Devine and Manafort were working together in Ukraine.
Major Major Major Major
@FlipYrWhig: THIS IS THE THING THAT’S BEEN BOTHERING ME ABOUT THESE FUCKS RIGHT NOW
For the last eight years: “We need a 50-state strategy! Bring back the 50-state strategy! What happened to Howard Dean?”
Now: “Well we didn’t mean the actual Howard Dean. Can we have the 50-state strategy run by somebody else?”
1,000 Flouncing Lurkers (was fidelioscabinet)
Another point of pressure on Medicaid reform: state legislatures. Granted, a lot are Greasy Old Psychopaths Controlled, but they have pension and insurance issues for retired state employees to deal with–and they rely on Medicare to save them $$$$$$ in this area. If Medicare goes, current employees are going to start raising hell over where their coverage will come from when they retire, and the local Solons will be looking at increased insurance costs. So will any place with a civil service, so consider how places like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York will feel. This also affects federal and railroad employees. I imagine that AARP will be wheeling up the big guns as well, so if you have a membership with them, opportunistic bastards that they are, share your concerns, as they say.
It’s all noise. My co-workers and I will be in touch with out State Employees Association forthwith.
MomSense
@Botsplainer:
What about the drone wars, Snowden, Wikileaks, and Assange. Maybe I’ll tell my kids to chisel I never fell for those cons/traitors on my headstone.
FlipYrWhig
@Major Major Major Major: I think it’s more like “Do we have a liberal majority in America yet? Do we have a liberal majority in America yet? Do we have a liberal majority in America yet? Aw c’mon, why not? How about now?”
gvg
@WereBear: He has to take office. We can’t actually stop THAT without an actual Civil War and there is no way people are up for that yet and hopefully ever. The thing we have to do that we can do is derail as much of the bad stuff as possible which will come from both Trump and the GOP Congress. Luckily they aren’t perfectly in alignment and sometimes want different things so maybe we can get them to screw each other up. We can get buyers remorse to set in as fast as possible, get set up to take back seats and state legislatures soon, etc. Waking up the passive population will help. Trump likes adoring crowds. being ignored or booed can influence him though we would have to actually offer cheers when he does what we want too. Hard for me to do but maybe required later.
It doesn’t help to demand the impossible. The election has already been held.
Major Major Major Major
@FlipYrWhig: I view the 50-state strategy as a shibboleth like “bring back glass-steagall/bring back the fairness doctrine” that sounds good but doesn’t actually do what the activists think it would.
Betty
Called Senator Toomey’s (PA Republican) office and Rep Barletta (Central PA Republican). Both offices say they can’t comment until the legislation is presented. I explained that Ryan has made public statements that are consistent with what the House has passed before and expressed my strong disagreement with the proposed changes. I let them know I will be staying in touch. Not able to get through yet to Senator Casey, the Dem.
Major Major Major Major
Oh, and it’s still early here, but I think we can guess how Pelosi, Feinstein, and senator-elect Harris feel about this.
Ruviana
@bemused: I don’t know about this at all, because I pulled the plug on my satellite about 3 weeks before the election (yay me!) but I’ve noticed a fair number of these over the years and they sometimes come from moveon. Remember them?
WereBear
The unnamed staffer at the unnamed office told me what they are being told. Which boils down to that. Yet… and these folks should know… I asked, “But he cheated. He could be a tax felon. We don’t know. He’s going on trial for fraud. How can he pass a security check?”
The person said, “We can call for an investigation.”
Why don’t they? Because republicans are going to call them sore losers? Because republicans will claim that we are cheating by investigating a totally unqualified candidate? When they have been cheating for sixteen years straight and never been called out for it?
The republicans are bluffing. That’s why they never vetted him themselves. They are betting we don’t have the guts to call them on it.
Sadly, if we don’t have the guts, I am never going to get anyone to vote for them again. I am being told that to my face.
Mike R
@Botsplainer: Gotta love heightened contradictions, more people without healthcare, less income and job security. A couple of minor wars, hey it is all good. Whoever dies or suffers needlessly is a hero in the fight against whatever the current bugaboo of the purity ponies of the left.
MomSense
@WereBear:
I can’t vouch for this but it is worth looking into.
Exit polls and official counts don’t match
CaseyL
I called the offices Sens. Cantwell and Murray, both of whom said there had been no discussions of plans, and of course no plans. I also spoke to Jim McDermott’s office – he’s retiring, but there’s no contact info Pramila Jayapal, his successor. The person I spoke to said the office would pass along my concerns to Jayapal.
When I talk to these people, I point out that the GOP will be locked and loaded to move fast on these issues and we have to be ready on Day 1 to oppose them. No one said, “Absolutely! and we are getting ready!” – no one I spoke to sounded at all urgent.
I’ll keep calling.
FlipYrWhig
@Major Major Major Major: It’s worse! The 50-state strategy does THE OPPOSITE of what they say they want. A successful 50-state strategy makes the median Democrat less liberal and makes the Democratic caucus more heterogeneous on policy terms. I’m willing to accept that, because any Democratic majority is better than any Republican majority, but the people who tout it most seem to think that it would achieve both a majority and homogeneity. There’s a huge flaw in the reasoning.
mai naem mobile
McCain – does not know. Staff was rude
Flake – weasely weasel. First gave me a “he’s hasn’t seen the legislation yet” then “he’s for affordable health care” to “he’s for freedumb, free market lalalala”
I take that,yes,he is for coupons and using chickens to barter for healthcare
Rep Sinema (D) staff said he’s pretty sure she would be against it.”I would be shocked if she was for it” but he needs to talk to her.
Botsplainer
@MomSense:
By the time we die, our tombstones will consist of random rocks, some chunks of ruined masonry and a few bits of rubbled concrete from ruined overpasses. Maybe somebody can find a scavenged unburnt 2X4 and scratch that on with a sharp piece of rock.
mai naem mobile
Hey,Richard – Jared Kushner’s brother Joshua is a cofounder of Oscar – the insurance selling start up. Not sure if that means anything at all because I’m guessing it will become another crony capitalism issue within Trump Inc.
Major Major Major Major
@FlipYrWhig: Yep.
liberal
@Botsplainer: Huh? Feckless advocates are responsible? I didn’t know they were in charge of the Democratic Party.
liberal
@FlipYrWhig: I advocate it (or something rational that is close to it), and I’m perfectly aware of what it entails.
WereBear
@MomSense: Thank you. This is my point.
There are plenty of avenues to investigate. Yet, no one ever does. Somehow.
And that is why half the possible electorate sat on their ass a week ago. They have already given up. They think it is pointless because right now a scary dangerous man is running around the room and the Dems sip tea and talk about how uncouth he is.
We have wondered aloud here how the whole corruption stench lingered around our candidate. Thanks to my week-long investigation, they are telling me why. Because they don’t see any of the politicians suffering. Or acting particularly worried. Or affected when what they try doesn’t work.
Like I said, they are not sophisticated. What they think is, “It’s all fixed, and they don’t care, and why should I donate money and time when I don’t have any.”
schrodinger's cat
@WereBear: All true, but can you truly help those people who can’t or won’t help themselves?
Jason
VA-08, Don Beyer: no stated opinion, told to call DC office, called DC Office, could not get to the healthcare staffer, so I stated negative opinions on Ryan plan
VA Sen. Warner: had to leave message at local office, so called DC office. no stated opinion, So I stated negative opinions on Ryan plan
VA Sen. Kaine: no stated opinion, Got my email address to give me a response later. I stated negative opinions on Ryan plan
Major Major Major Major
@liberal: we aren’t talking about people like you. I advocate it too.
Rmass
Ed perlmutter, co 7th no answer.
Mike R
@liberal: They never have been and probably in my lifetime won’t be as they don’t seem to want compromise. Just my opinion and with that and a couple of dollars you might be able to get coffee and a donut, but some progress is better than reverting to a feudal society.
ArchTeryx
This all is one of the stupidest debates I’ve seen on this site, and I’ve seen plenty of dancing-angel-and-pinhead discussions around here. This is almost like a chicken-and-the-egg problem: Do voters stay home because they perceive Democrats are weak, or are Democrats weak because their voters stay home?
I don’t think it ultimately matters. You solve one, you solve the other. Getting our voters to actually fucking get out and vote – especially in midterms – is the key to everything, and other then a primal scream against Bush in 2006 – after he let an American city drown and people in it die by the thousands – we. just. don’t.
And a large part of it is that they hold pretty much every one of the honor cards. We’re playing off nothing but 7s and 8s and no long suit. They’re bidding for grand slam and they’ve already won a small slam. Until we break the hold that they have over a large part of the populace, turnout will keep right on killing us.
WereBear
They thought they were helping! These are people who turned out for Obama, gave money, drove little old ladies to the polls. They know Republicans are bad for them, their families, and the country.
But they have lost heart. They don’t see Democrats as people who fight for them. Now, we have been banging that drum all week, but a) they also thought Hillary would win, and b) they wanted to let DC know that they are tired of all the crap the Republicans get away with. That is the message they “were sending” in the only way they knew how.
These are Democrats who now see the leadership as weak. That is why I keep emphasizing that word. It has been emphasized to me.
cmorenc
@Mike R:
A major part of the founders’ concept behind the electoral college was precisely to place a buffer of wiser, more knowledgeable men between the ignorant, easily swayed rabble among the electorate and as the actual means of selecting the President. This isn’t working out the way they envisioned.
Major Major Major Major
@ArchTeryx: I don’t care for epistemology.
We lost the election; now we must fight in congress and the courts while we prepare the electoral veterans for 2018 and recruit/train new troops.
FlipYrWhig
@liberal: You also know perfectly well that there are tons of people who agitate for the 50-state strategy who talk about it as though it’s a way to get more liberals elected.
MoxieM
How do we help if we live in a state like MA (lucky us) and have Warren, Markey, Tsongas, etc. ?
Matt McIrvin
@cmorenc: Not only that, it never worked that way. The moment we were past George Washington as a candidate, people started running on party slates and that was what the electors voted for, absent very unusual circumstances.
schrodinger's cat
@WereBear: This is a democracy, if the leadership is weak, its because we are weak, too comfortable, too cushy. We need to organize now, in these two months, while there is some semblance of normalcy.
Ian
@WereBear:
You can investigate all you want, but when your the minority party in the house your investigations will be privately held. If you find any damning evidence you have to then get a federal prosecutor to go along. This will take longer than January 20th.
Matt McIrvin
@MoxieM: Their feet need to be held to the fire too–maybe especially theirs. We know they won’t vote to privatize Medicare, but are they going to get out in front of this?
Warren has also signed onto the whole “maybe we can get some economic populism out of Trump” idea, along with Sanders and Schumer and some others. Maybe she knows what she’s doing, but I think it’s extremely dangerous.
janeform
Stabenow (D-MI, Senate), Detroit office: “I haven’t spoken with the Senator on this particular issue.”
ArchTeryx
@Major Major Major Major: Exactly what I’m saying. Pointing fingers and carping about how weak the Democrats are (and that’s mostly one particular commenter) isn’t going to do us a damn bit of good. The only way we’re going to break the hold they have is by fighting.
Here’s one of those times I quote my favorite band:
“You can fight
Without ever winning
But never ever win
Win without a fight…
I can learn to close my eyes
To anything but injustice
I can learn to get along
With all the things I don’t know…”
WereBear
@Ian: And see, this is why the people I’ve been talking to go all glazed on me, and say, “When I screw up, I don’t get to keep my job.”
We go around hugging each other and saying, “We did our best. Look at what we got done.”
But the people we need in our corner have been ground down. We need them, but they are not like us.
I’ll shut up now. Let history record that I gave a primal scream of my own. I didn’t just bolt out of bed and decide to rant at all of you. I’ve been checking all my sources and what I am hearing back is disgusted exasperation. Because no one is holding Republicans responsible for cheating.
I mention that and some of these folks explode. It’s like seeing the boss’s uncle get all the raises for doing none of the work. People, these are the ones who are already not showing up.
And the way our Party is handling Trump means they won’t next time, either.
FlipYrWhig
@Matt McIrvin: I am not a fan of this Warren/Sanders thing because I think it gives Trump WAY too much credit and inadvertently dings both Obama and Clinton as having fallen down on the job of helping The Little Guy. Democrats would have helped The Little Guy to the tune of billions of dollars by now if not for 8 years of Republican obstruction. I don’t like the idea of Republicans getting away with putting the onus on mean, aloof Democrats who cared too much about everything but everyday people’s everyday concerns. There were stimulus plans and mini-stimulus plans aplenty, all scuttled by Republicans deliberately. Don’t let them get away with whitewashing that history. Sanders is a self-serving dipshit I don’t expect much from, but I do expect better from Warren.
schrodinger's cat
@FlipYrWhig: I never much liked school marmy Warren anyways, more hype than substance. So far only Harry Reid has said something that I can agree with.
Elmo
@WereBear:
This has been pointed out to you more than once, and you’re not listening. He doesn’t have to. Or, to put it another way, he already has. The one that matters.
The only security check we require the President to pass is to win. That’s it. He gets the votes of the majority of the electors, and he gets to grant security checks starting on January 20. There is no bureaucratic super-state that can step in and deny him the Presidency because they don’t find him worthy.
You keep saying he broke the rules. What rules? Tax law? Doesn’t matter. The American people are perfectly entitled to hire whoever they want for the Presidency, as long as that person is over 35 and a natural-born citizen. It isn’t “weak” to acknowledge that, any more than it’s “weak” to acknowledge that I probably can’t chop down an oak tree with a herring. It’s just reality.
gene108
@ArchTeryx: @WereBear:
A lot of it gets back to the media. It’s hard to appear strong, when the people, who depict you to the public are determined to show you as weak and cowardly and corrupt.
It’s hard to appear weak, when the media goes out of its way to show you as strong, no matter what your shortcomings are.
I do not know how to get around this.
I thought after Bush & Co. screwed up so badly the media would get its head screwed on straight, but they have just gotten worse.
FlipYrWhig
@schrodinger’s cat: If they want to work with Trump I’d prefer that they say something like, “It’s nice to see our Republican friends suddenly sounding like Democrats and talking up what sounds a lot like some of the proposals we’ve put before the Congress repeatedly over the past 8 years.” Donald Fucking Trump didn’t invent the idea of paving roads and repairing bridges.
germy
More fun on the street: This morning I walked to the grocery store. A big pickup truck drove past me. “Honk honk honkedty honk honk!” The driver waved at me out his window as he sped by. I don’t know him and he doesn’t know me. Just more celebratory acting out from the proletards. (I call him a prole, but his truck cost more than both my wife’s and my cars together, and I’m sure his subcontracting work earns him twice as much as what I pull in as an editor).
My wife has been bugging me to get our bathroom re-done. She wants the tub removed and a walk-in shower installed. New tiles, etc. I’m about to tell her I’m really not in the mood to have these fucking subcontractors walking all through my house. Last year I had a fence repaired, and the guy was a duck dynasty/bundy fan. He started out polite, but got more assholish as the job progressed, because the contractor I negotiated with (his boss) didn’t bother giving him all the details of the job.
I’m sorry; I don’t want these assholes in my house.
Maybe next year.
Some of you have talked about boycotting black friday, and donating the money instead. I’m thinking of taking the money I’d pay to some prick of a subcontractor and instead donating it somewhere.
Mnemosyne
Just a quick reminder for folks from my years of customer service experience: be polite, but firm. Yelling at the person on the other end of the phone (no matter how much you want to scream) makes them LESS likely to want to help you. Being upset/sad is okay, but anger will just make them want to hang up ASAP.
janeform
Dingell (D, MI-12) Against. Her staff person was very talkative and encouraged me to support Rep. Dingell and keep on calling. She said that Dingell met with Rep. Upton (R, MI-6) and they’re working on it, which is interesting because Upton is a Republican, and pretty far right. Dingell will be sending email updates rather than letters to constituents since “things are moving so fast.” They’ve had 184 calls from constituents re: Bannon since Monday. That’s dominating at the moment.
ETA: Peters (D, MI Senate): goes to voicemail. My general feeling about him is that he has no backbone.
RedDirtGirl
Congresswoman Yvette Clark (cd 9?) NY against privatization of MC & SS.
Major Major Major Major
@ArchTeryx: lives are at stake. Like yours. *i* get that, even if not everybody does.
Barbara
So when I listen to most people trying to expound the why of defeat, I think about the times I have gotten into cabs at airports and given an address and the cab driver turns around and asks if I know where that is. Because most people confidently assigning blame are even worse than those cab drivers, they sound like they are trying to give directions in a city that they just moved to. I think the only real lessons we can take for now are high level lessons about process and decision making, because we don’t know what the mood of the electorate will be two or four years from now. The first lesson to learn is that the DNC or the Party should never clear the decks for any candidate. It is never any one person’s turn. Likewise, I do think a very good rule of thumb is that if you lose a hard fought primary one time, you shouldn’t run again. The Republicans could have used both of those rules with McCain and Romney. For now, the lesson we should have learned in 2009 is, the midterms really matter. Let’s do what we can to keep voter registration and outreach going.
ArchTeryx
@gene108: They did that, very briefly, during the Katrina horror. For one brief, shining moment, the blinders came off. There was no “both sides do it”. No false equivalence. No “Democrats are weak mommies and Republicans are strong daddies”. THE REPUBLICANS LET AN AMERICAN CITY DROWN AND LEFT ITS PEOPLE TO DIE. Live and on camera.
And the media were so shocked, actual journalism was committed, that they couldn’t walk back later. And oh, how some of them tried! But for once, the people refused to let that atrocity disappear down the memory hole. That propelled us into 2006 midterms, and wouldn’t you know it? We bloody well showed up and kicked their asses right out of Congress, against a gerrymander nearly as thorough as the one we have to fight against now.
FlipYrWhig
@Barbara:
Oh, Jesus Christ. There were primaries, Barbara, and millions of people voted. Maybe the lesson should be, if there’s a candidate you prefer, urge that person to run, and then vote for that person.
WereBear
@FlipYrWhig: Yes, that would help a LOT.
President Obama’s last press conference was great, it’s not that I don’t think he’s doing his best. But it’s almost like we have been forced into dog whistles ourselves.
@gene108: That’s just it. When I talk to the staffers, THEY are often the ones saying, “We have to hit back harder, we at least have to put all this stuff out there so our people know we are fighting.”
But their bosses aren’t listening.
Barbara
@gene108: Look at the media. It really, really struck me this year. Most of the media are as white as snow. They have this in common with the Republican Party, they are doubling down on white viewers because trends are so unfavorable, and in the case of the media, it’s not just a demographic trend but a technology trend.
The Moar You Know
@WereBear: He didn’t cheat. We failed. And until we accept that simple fact, we ain’t gonna fix our failures, or the results thereof.
What is it the alkies say? Can’t fix your problem until you admit you have one? Dems need to admit that we lost on our own merits (and our failure to even try to corral the media, and our failure to field a good candidate, and our failure to push back on any GOP talking points or so-called allies spouting said points (lookin at you Sanders and Stein you lousy worthless bags of shit), and our damnable overconfidence, and our utter failure to GOTV) and fix that.
Barbara
@FlipYrWhig: Sorry, I don’t agree with you. Webb and O’Malley were weak and Sanders was an interloper who had a lot of weaknesses. Clinton did not run against any other strong Democrats. I don’t want to revisit, I want to learn for the future, and this particular lesson is not one we are going to need to draw on the next time.
waysel
@WereBear: I appreciate what you are saying. And I agree. The fact that 70% of the population is not in the streets crying outrage over this Russian takeover of the USA has me ready to give up altogether on ‘Democracy’. And our elected officials just say ‘mumble mumble’ about the much loved Medicare, and squat about a presidential election rigged by hostile forgiven powers.
germy
I called my congressman and he said, quote: “I’d like to help you son, but you’re too young to vote.”
(Eddie Cochran)
I called my congressman’s office and the nice young lady told me he is against Ryan’s plans for Medicare/SS.
I told her I suspected as much, I just wanted my voice heard.
Betty
Got through to office of Senator Casey (D- PA), The staff person said he has no position yet but that he has in the past opposed efforts to privatize Medicare. I asked him to tell the Senator to hold strong and assured him that I would continue to contact the Rs until I get a straight answer. I also brought up the ban on Medicare being able to negotiate drug prices. Something the D’s should be pushing to eliminate if they want to reduce costs.
WaterGirl
Is anyone watching Nancy Pelosi? DISAPPOINTING
edit: She’s talking about working with Trump and stuff like early childhood education. Oh, and p.s. we don’t like Bannon very much and we’re writing a letter!
FlipYrWhig
@Barbara: Maybe Clinton “did not run against any other strong Democrats” because the other strong Democrats liked her and thought she’d do a good job. Of all the things to call “the first lesson,” that’s a rather goofy one.
Botsplainer
@Barbara:
White media can do a good job. Eichenwald and Farenthold come to mind.
Where it all falls apart is keeping score by poll data and 24/7 cable and print bleating that alternates between stenography and discussions on the effectiveness of messaging. All reflection on policy, the effects of policy and real investigation get lost in the sea of mediocrity.
GregB
In the event anyone missed this. DNI Clapper has resigned.
the wesson
People should fight however they can and however they are suited to – demonstrate, call your Congressman, delegitimize Trump, whatever. (And yes, vote, but I’m sure everyone here has done that.)
Sure that Choice.org petition probably won’t get electors to shift by itself. But if (god willing) something really awful about Trump emerges between now and Dec 19, the petition will be additional support for getting radical and denying Trump.
And so on and so forth.
GregB
Suddenly thd thought of Mitt Romney and tge white horse prophecy saving the US from destruction seems appealing.
WaterGirl
@GregB: Yeah, and his letter said this shouldn’t be interpreted as any kind of protest or a lack of faith in the incoming president. Fucking coward.
germy
@WaterGirl: It reminds me of an early Marx brothers gag. Some gangster threatens to kill Groucho, and he responds with a threat of a strongly-worded letter to the NY Times.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@FlipYrWhig: trying to remember exactly when Biden decided not to run, but I don’t know if people were taking Trump seriously at the time. I do think Biden might, might, have been a better candidate against Trump, against a more conventional R, I’m not so sure.
WereBear
@waysel: @WaterGirl:
This is what I was afraid of. I told people Nancy Pelosi is a fighter and she might cheer us up and give us some direction and check out the press conference today.
It’s not that I mind looking like a fool. It’s that they somehow don’t realize they look like fools.
All week, people have been telling me Dem Leaders are not taking the threat of Trump seriously. This is not helping.
Half of my information sources are not even going to want to talk to me again. They are DONE. They are going to hunker down and ignore politics for a long time.
Quit screaming at them that this is all their fault for not turning out. They didn’t expect this either, did they? Any more than we did. They are not us.
If we are going to have a big tent, we have to recognize that.
Mike R
@cmorenc: Oh I agree, we let too many non property owners and non males vote as they saw as a way to keep the riffraff at bay. They were wise men but not infallible. The first sentence intended as snark.
Now off for some horse therapy.
Another Scott
@FlipYrWhig: Co-sign.
The election was close. The GOP is not going to be able to do all the things they ran on. We will have small victories along the way, but only if we keep together and fight.
Yes, the national Party needs to do some soul searching, and I think Obama outlined a good path forward (Not taking any votes for granted, not writing off any votes either. Things will get better, and they’ll get better faster if we’re smart, empathetic, and prepared.)
The election wasn’t a mass repudiation of Hillary or the DNC or anything else. It was very close (too close) and we need to work on increasing our margins. But the fundamentals are strong and we shouldn’t throw out our advantages in haste.
Has anyone been able to hear Nancy’s remarks? Any comments? Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
WereBear
See? Now I’m going to have to stay home for a while. We wondered why “corruption” was such a theme this year. Trump voters don’t care. They think it works for them.
Uncle Ebeneezer
@WaterGirl: Where are you watching?
germy
@WereBear: She’s not losing her healthcare or her pension. None of them are.
All I want is the same healthcare and retirement plan that Ryan enjoys.
Major Major Major Major
@WereBear: um, people should vote, though. In aggregate low turnout is a system’s fault–campaign, suppression, general low political engagement–but at an individual level nobody is to blame but the person who didn’t fucking vote.
gogol's wife
@the wesson:
That was my thinking about the petition too. Not a sufficient condition, but it might help in tandem with something else.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Ryan Crocker, who IIRC was Bush’s man in Iraq, looks like he’s fifty-fifty on whether to mouth “things might not be completely fucked, we’ll have to wait and see”, or jump out the nearest window
JMG
@WereBear: Clapper had made it known months and months ago he was resigning at the end of Obama’s term. Guy’s been in government service, military or civilian, for 50 years! Seems to me he’s earned retirement.
schrodinger's cat
@Major Major Major Major: Yes if people in the dirt poor state of Bihar can turnout at 70% levels, I don’t see why more people here cannot. Its a democracy and if you don’t participate you don’t get to complain.
Elizabelle
@WereBear: I appreciate your strength and spirit.
And I think a major rally after inauguration is too goddamn late.
December, people. Let the world know. Many/most of us did not vote for this joker and his alt-right and third-string retinue.
WereBear
You have put your finger on exactly the problem. They can be calm. They’ve got nothing on the line. And this disconnect is the screaming I am hearing from my sources.
Corner Stone
@JMG: Yeah, IMO Clapper is doing Trump a semi-favor in resigning now. Otherwise Kushner may not have realized there was another role that was going to need to be filled post-Jan 20.
Corner Stone
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Crocker certainly wasn’t happy but after all the shit he’s been a part of in the ME you would think he’d be terrified right now.
catclub
@WereBear: It throws it to congress if Hillary does not get a majority.
dogwood
@FlipYrWhig:
The Sanders Warren thing is going to be trouble for us when it comes to opposing Trumpism. Anything that gives this man any type of legitimacy is dangerous for the country in the long run. And I’m not someone who favors knee-jerk obstructionism. Had the Republicans elected a Kasich or even Jeb, I’d say cooperate if you can get something. The country isn’t in economic crisis right now; if it were voter turnout would have been much higher. Trump and Trumpism shouldn’t be acceptable. Snuggling up to get some infrastructure project that will only increase his popularity and further normalize him is scary to me.
ArchTeryx
@WereBear: Which is why when I called Kirsten Gillibrand’s office in New York, I basically let it all hang out and told the staffer that my life depended on the ACA and Expanded Medicaid. I told her I realize that I’m just one of millions of peoplein this state, but that for me at least, it is life or death.
The staffer told me she’d pass my concerns on to the Senator. I have my doubts of the truth of that, but I can only hope.
MomSense
@Barbara:
Who is on your list of strong Democrats?
Barbara
@FlipYrWhig: Maybe.
Another Scott
@WaterGirl: Thanks for the report.
I’m going to sound like I’m an apologist, but I don’t think Democratic people who have been in Congress for decades are idiots. They know how the place works, and maybe they know what they’re doing.
Let’s game this out:
– Suppose Nancy came out and said:
1) “We demand Bannon be fired!!” Trump says, “No. GFY!”
Then what?
2) “We demand that Ryan’s plan to voucher-ize Medicare be withdrawn!!” Ryan says, “No, GFY!”
Then what?
2b) “We demand that Ryan’s plan to voucher-ize Medicare be withdrawn!!” Ryan says, “No. But here’s what we’ll do. We’ll let states lower the eligibility age to 50 if they want if we can voucher-ize it. You want lower eligibility ages, don’t you?” (as he rubs his hands together gleefully because he knows that hardly any state would do that without help from the feds, and there would be no funding from the feds to do it).
Etc.
It’s probably best to keep to general “we’re here and we’ll be reasonable while supporting our great democracy” talking points at present. Getting too far in front of the legislation and drawing lines in the sand that can easily be spun into senseless opposition or hypocrisy is a way to even worse outcomes.
I don’t like it either that we’re not getting a lot of help in the push-back thus far, but it’s still very early.
But we’ll see. :-(
Cheers,
Scott.
Major Major Major Major
@dogwood: agreed. Not surprised by Sanders but I didn’t expect that Warren’s economic populism would also be so white.
mai naem mobile
I don’t think the Dems are going to be overly aggressive until they know what’s going on with the filibustwr. That’s what I am assuming. I think they should go for Bannon but only so that they can get a scalp to keep the base happy. I still think the key is Camacho’s tax returns. So do the Dems have an equivalent of Roger Stone?
Barbara
@MomSense: Al Franken, Sherrod Brown, Kristen Gillibrand. I love Hillary Clinton but I can see our recent history — the recent history of Dems — and it tells me that the only Democrats elected since 1976 had voices that had not yet become familiar. Believe me, how I wish it were otherwise, but I think the stakes are too high to ignore these things.
Another Scott
@Elizabelle: There’s apparently going to be some sort of rally in DC this afternoon. I don’t know the details.
Cheers,
Scott.
WereBear
@ArchTeryx: I called her too. I got a rather dismissive staffer.
“Can you put your concerns into a category so I can write this down for the Senator?”
“Yes, you are not paying attention to the fascism warnings.”
Puzzled silence. Groping response. “So there isn’t a specific issue you are calling about?”
“Yes, call it the complete breakdown of all the institutions I was told would prevent this from happening.”
“That seems a little too broad…”
“Okay okay, put me down for ‘I am upset you have never done enough about Republicans cheating.'”
“I will pass on your concerns! Thank you so much for calling!”
Sheesh. I’m supposed to do all their jobs now?
Major Major Major Major
@mai naem mobile:
We would, if we didn’t insist on tossing the hacks out of the party on their asses.
Elizabelle
@Another Scott: please keep me posted. Returning to Virginia in a day or two, and would def turn out to protest.
You’re my eyes and ears! Still on the 85% news blackout.
MomSense
@Barbara:
Do you honestly believe that the DNC kept them out? The DNC is a fundraising organization. They also organize the convention and not much else. Have to say I can’t see any of those three (who expressed zero interest in running) doing any better than Clinton did.
All three of them would still have had new restrictive voter ID laws in FL NC GA MN WI PA MI AZ and OH.
Our nominee ran against the media, FBI, Russia, GOP, Wikileaks (Russia) NRA RNC andntrump campaign.
Major Major Major Major
@MomSense: and Gary Johnson.
Another Scott
@Elizabelle: First Broad Post-Election Rally – Thursday, DC Sen. Bernie Sanders to Join Day of Action – As Labor, Environmental, Consumer Groups Unite To Press Agenda of Social, Economic Justice and Equality – Sen. Bernie Sanders will join with a broad array of labor, environmental, healthcare, consumer and other advocacy groups in Washington DC Thursday, November 17, to promote a people’s agenda and a common commitment to stepping up grassroots mobilizations for economic and social justice and equality as the incoming Trump administration takes office.
That’s all I know. HTH!
Cheers,
Scott.
Major Major Major Major
@Another Scott: sounds like the sort of thing that might have been more useful a couple of weeks ago.
germy
@MomSense:
And my friends on the left who thought Stein was a serious contender.
WereBear
Some of the local disgruntlement is how we have found great candidates two cycles in a row to run against an odious Republican… only, twice in a row, get outspent because the DNC won’t give us a dime.
germy
Aleta
Here’s a petition asking Congress to investigate NSA statement of Russian hacking of the election.
Mnemosyne
@ArchTeryx:
Here in SoCal, one of my co-workers at the time of Katrina was an old school Republican and he was LIVID about the people of New Orleans being abandoned. And I mean that literally — he turned a shade of red-purple I’ve rarely seen before or since, and I doubt he voted Republican from that day on.
MomSense
@Major Major Major Major:
Ugh
MomSense
@WereBear:
That falls more to the DCCC and DSCC. If the candidate is not deemed viable, they will out their money behind candidates who have a better chance. In the Citizens United World we cannot compete monetarily so they have to make awful choices. I don’t like it but that is where we are.
ETA Inshould add DGA for the governors races.
dogwood
@Major Major Major Major:
There really is a herd mentality in places like this. Someone like Warren comes on the scene, says a few things that make democrats swoon, and we’re off to the races. She’s a populist, and that style appeals to white democratic activists. I’m not really disappointed in her because if we actually paid attention rather than got caught up in the Senator/ Professor cutesy Charles Pierce stuff, we’d have a clearer picture. If I lived in Mass. I would happily vote for her, but I am well-aware that she underperformed there in 2012, with respect to Obama. Her appeal isn’t as universal as the populists want to believe.
drylake
Just called Barbara Lee’s office in Oakland and was told by the polite young person answering that s/he hadn’t heard about the medicare issue–wtf??–but my concerns would be passed on to Barbara. Heard Maxine Waters on Chris Hayes last night, with her hair on fire about this, so I presume at least part of the progressive caucus is on it; but do call, even (or especially) people who are presumptively most firmly on our side.
Barbara
@MomSense: I don’t want to troll this subject any longer. I think it’s a lesson we should keep in mind for the future. That’s all.
Auntie beak
Spoke with both Senate district offices and my Representative’s local office in Connecticut 02.
Sen. Blumenthal no official position
Sen. Murphy has not supported in the past
Rep. Courtney no official position
Kari Q
Minor correction:
The Representative from CA – 11 is named Mark DeSaulnier
Lizzy L
@germy: Why do you say this? Members of Congress pay into Medicare and Social Security just like the rest of us. They and their families are covered by private insurance, which they pay for. This has been true since 1983.
Marty R
I put a call in to Jared Huffman, D, CA. He is in DC and staffer will call me back with the answer after contacting him. I fully expect the answer will be “no”.
Lizzy L
@WereBear: If you mean that people in Congress have a different medical insurance from the rest of us, this is somewhat inaccurate. See my previous comment. If you simply mean, they’re rich as fuck and don’t need to worry about paying for their insurance no matter what happens, you’re dead on.
WaterGirl
@germy: Fuck. That would be a lot more funny if it wasn’t so true. Thanks for the (momentary) laugh, though!
WaterGirl
@Uncle Ebeneezer: too late now, but I was watching on-line at c-span. I bet they have video, though.
germy
@Lizzy L: Sorry. I assumed they were set for life.
WaterGirl
@gogol’s wife: Also, KOS (not the biggest fan, myself) has a petition asking democrats to obstruct every single appointment. Fuck comity. Comity is dead. These are not normal times. Obstruct the bastards and try to save everything we can.
I signed, I hope others will too.
WereBear
@Lizzy L: The staffers I spoke to share my danger.
Their bosses do not.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle:
Could not agree more!
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major: I believe you got that wrong. That should be Gary Fucking Johnson. For the rest of Gary Fucking Johnson’s life.
Arclite
What is some good wording to ask the question?
Lizzy L
@WereBear: What does this mean? Again, if you mean they’re rich and therefore immune to the problems which will engulf the rest of us if Medicare goes away, you are right. Is that what you mean?
O. Felix Culpa
@MoxieM: How do we help if we live in a state like MA (lucky us) and have Warren, Markey, Tsongas, etc. ?
O. Felix Culpa
@Elmo:
So going to steal that. :)
O. Felix Culpa
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Well, he would have been a more male candidate.
Arclite
@O. Felix Culpa:
Also missing those (undeserved) unfavorability ratings and baggage.
There’s a lot of frustration and dissatisfaction with not only government but most institutions in the US these days. Some I’m not sure that even a popular establishment candidate like Biden could have won. On the other hand, Clinton lost several states by only a few thousand votes each, so Biden may have won those states, and thus the election.
The EC has got to go.
waysel
Pease bear in mind, everyone, 1) if the msm had just stayed in the center, she would have won. 2) If Comey had kept his mouth shut, as he was supposed to do by all rules and tradition, she would have won. 3) If Putin had been blocked from interfering, she would have won. 4) If the VRA hadn’t been gutted in 2013, she would have won. Leave in any three, just subtract any one illegal interference, and she would have won. Don’t blame the voters who were thrown off the rolls illegally, or severely underserved with machines and hence were unable to vote, or were prey to heinous ID restrictions. Don’t blame the candidate, either.
O. Felix Culpa
@waysel: This. Thank you.
Miss Bianca
@waysel: thanks for this.
@O. Felix Culpa: *waves*
Kelly
Called Kurt Schrader, Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden’s offices this morning and spoke to people. Did not have a script or take notes. I just vented my fears about Ryan’s Medicare/Obamacare lies. Insisted Ryan must be called a liar. Insisted they need move fast because the R’s will move fast. Explained our dependance on Obamacare, that we are planning on Medicare in just a few years and don’t have time to adjust to a new reality. Nobody has a position. All the staffers were polite and sympathetic. They all seem to be focused one talking me off of the ledge;).
Shrader’s a blue dog but seems to mostly give lip service to the blue dog ideas. Much to my surprise I had the most pleasant conversation with his guy. The lady a Merkley’s office said he was against Ryan’s scheme but in retrospect I think she was falling back on Jeff’s opposition to Ryan’s previous scheme. I have a lot of hope that Merkley will get out in front of this. Wyden’s danced with Ryan before and I vehemently opposed another trip round the ballroom. I worry about Wyden. He’s been a reliable liberal but he often seems to think his duty is to reach across the aisle. Staffer closed with Wyden’s always stuck up for old folks and Medicare always will.
Glue
Just called my Congresspeople:
OH
Senator Rob Portman (R) – hasn’t released his position
Senator Sherrod Brown (D) – against changes to Medicare
Representative Marcy Kaptur 9th district (D) – against changes to Medicare
O. Felix Culpa
@Miss Bianca: Howdy! Somehow I always end up posting as threads are expiring. So, in response to your comment yesterday, yes! would love to meet up if you find your way to NM. We’re here, except for the week around Christmas. And the Jan. 21st March in D.C.
ETA: And maybe O. Felix, the thread-killer, strikes again. The power!
Auntie Anne
Just called Carper and Coons from Delaware. Carper’s local office did not know his position, but they will get back to me. Coons’ local office did not know his position either, but the staffer doubted he’d be in favor of ending Medicare.
beth
Just called Mark Sanford’s office. Said they’d have to have someone get back to me since they don’t know anything about it. Such bullshit.
beth
Ha – just called Lindsey Graham’s office. They don’t even let you speak to a real person – you have to press one to leave a message regarding legislative issues. I left a message about Medicare and also told him it would be delightful if he’d actually hire a person to speak to his constituents.
Original Lee
@WereBear: Really late to the thread, but I think calling the governor of your state might get you farther than calling your congresscritter. In many states, the governor has some control over the Electors. State reps are also useful, potentially. Even if they are branded R, they might be NeverTrumpers.
smintheus
Kaine has no position? What a marvelous VP he would have turned out to be.
knocienz
As a note, your google doc has Scott Peters (CA-52) as the wrong party.