Call Congress —
? This is a red alert: PENCE is calling moderates and telling them they have the votes. Only a TIDAL WAVE of calls tomorrow can stop them. ?
— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) April 30, 2017
The House GOP thinks that it might have either the votes or is close enough to having the votes for the AHCA that the last hold-outs will cave rather than have their arms twisted twice around their ears and a reactionary primary challenger. They also think that this is the last week or so where their calendar lines up for a double reconciliation for 2017. So call Congress.
Update
Health care lobbyist who has been reliable throughout #AHCA debate thinks House Rs are within 6 votes
— Dylan Scott (@dylanlscott) May 1, 2017
Right now the arm twisting is going on full force, so they need calls to say that their district just won’t let them kick people for tax cuts.
Update 2
BREAKING: Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.) tells me he's a NO on new GOP health bill! Brings to 22 the number of NO votes https://t.co/MFBvOPW9qP
— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) May 1, 2017
rikyrah
Will do
DCrefugee
Uhhh… Not to be pedantic, but is this about Zombie Trumpcare?
David Anderson
@DCrefugee: yes
Elizabelle
Who is Topher Spiro? Is he credible? He sounds like that puppet mouse from the Jackie Gleason Show.
And why would the moderates believe anything out of Pence’s/the Trump Administration’s mouth?
Not saying “don’t call”, but what’s in it for moderates with saddling themselves with TrumpCare, and this after two weekends of voters and scientists showing up to march, in whatever weather.
JMG
@Elizabelle: On the record, Trump administration official Gary Cohn said there’d be a vote this week and they have the votes. Ryan has told Dems there will be a vote on Wednesday. But as of yet, I haven’t seen a single “no” or “undecided” Republican from last week say they’re voting yes.
Mary G
Been calling, emailing, faxing & tweeting Darrell Issa all weekend. The local office never answers my calls anymore and voicemail boxes are full. I wish I could believe he is smart enough to vote against this travesty, but I don’t.
oldster
Topher Spiro is “Vice President for Health Policy, Center for American Progress.” CAP is pretty credible.
Is he crying wolf? I don’t think it’s quite like that. The dynamic is that the Trumpistas keep on claiming that they have the votes, in order to persuade the Republican “moderates” that they have the votes, in order to buffalo them into voting with the herd.
The Trumpistas are probably full of shit, so to that extent, the CAP guy’s reaction is crying wolf.
*BUT*–the reason why the Trumpistas are full of shit is that the “moderates” are still scared of their constituents. And the “moderates” will only be scared, if the constituents make the calls. So make the calls, please.
I don’t want to wake up on Thursday and find out that the Republicans actually did pull off a House vote that passed this bill. They could do it. And then Mitch could decide to suspend the Byrd Rule, and force it through the Senate. Things that we thought could never happen, have happened in the last year.
And they happened because good people got complacent.
If you are ever hesitating to call your Reps or Sens, just remember what November 9 felt like.
The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion
Called.
NeenerNeener
One of the squishy Repubs announced over the weekend that she’s not running for re-election in 2018, so she will suffer no consequences for a Yes vote this time.
tobie
Will make the call. I feel like I’m living through ground hog day, and I won’t even be immediately affected by the legislation. Can’t imagine what it’s like when you’re really vulnerable vis-a-vis changes in healthcare legislation.
Amanda in the South Bay
@NeenerNeener: Did she say (I assume you’re referring to IRL from FL) that she’ll vote yes, or are you assuming?
Another Scott
@oldster: TheHill has a couple of short pieces saying Priebus and Cohn “think” they have the votes this time, but there’s nothing definitive. I assume more stories about “moderates” (heh) changing their minds or not will be coming today.
I wholeheartedly agree. We have to fight them every single day and not be complacent.
Cheers,
Scott.
JMG
It occurs to me that were I one of the “moderate” holdouts and Pence called saying he had the votes, a logical response would be “then why are you calling?”
ArchTeryx
@tobie: What it’s like is having a gun held to your head by someone that keeps trying to pull the trigger, failing, but threatening to try again with the gun still on your head.
Walker
@JMG:
Exactly. If this were the Democrats, Nancy would be telling the rep “That means we have you covered to vote the way your constituents want”
Ohio Mom
Phooey. I thought I had the day off.
Back to the phone.
ArchTeryx
@oldster: Yep. If it manages to get past the House it’s a done deal. McConnell is far more competent a villain then Ryan. He will find a way to get it to Trump’s desk no matter what he has to blow up to do it.
randy khan
Just called LoBiondo (southern New Jersey), and his staffer said he’s reviewed the bill and is still a no.
Bostondreams
OT: ‘Why was there a Civil War? You know Jackson was really mad about it’
I work in civic education. I think I have to quit. Because oh my gosh.
“People don’t ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?”
stop stop stop
JMG
@ArchTeryx: Not so sure. Ryan can lose 20 votes, McConnell can only lose three, and he’s got two “no”s already.
Elizabelle
Will call my Tea Partyin’, Ayn Rand-loving, divinity graduate congresscritter in a few.
He’s a yes this time, it seems. The famous Dave Brat. Sigh.
Tokyokie
Just called my congress critter’s D.C. office. Waiting for local office to open. Probably pissed off the office worker who answered the phone and asked me to repeat the spelling of my street. “It’s the same as the big high school. If you were from here, you’d know that.”
sdhays
@NeenerNeener: To be fair, that also means she won’t suffer repercussions for voting No as well. A big part of the nasty dynamic on the Republican side is that they tend to be more terrified of their primary voters rather than their general electorate…
Yarrow
@Tokyokie: Why do they need the spelling of your street? Isn’t your zip code good enough?
@randy khan: He’s a Republicans, right? That should be a good sign.
Elizabelle
@sdhays: Yeah, that occurred to me. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is free to vote against TrumpCare and not suffer any adverse effects. She might even look good when it goes down badly.
May that be the case.
Jean
@Elizabelle: Brat is my rep. too. Totally disgusting.
NeenerNeener
@Amanda in the South Bay: She didn’t say one way or the other, that I’ve seen yet. But if she’s not running in 2018 neither the left nor the right has any leverage, and being that she’s an R it’s best to assume the worst.
Yarrow
@Bostondreams: Great. He’s nothing but projection. I guess we’re headed for Civil War.
chris
@Elizabelle: Well done! “Ayn Rand” and “divinity” in the same sentence! I didn’t think that was possible. Brat’s brain, such as it is, must be a strange place indeed.
The Moar You Know
@Mary G: They are open and answering as of right now.
msdc
@JMG: They wouldn’t need any of the declared nos if they got around 2/3rd of the undecideds to say yes. But the undecideds are probably the most vulnerable to constituent pressure (and the nos could use some reinforcement), so get calling!
JMG
@msdc: I live in Massachusetts, so calling is a two-step process. I call people I know in R districts and nag/encourage them to call. I traveled extensively in the US in my work career, so this actually works better than it sounds. I do call my own rep to say “Way to Go!” for her stances. The kids answering the phones are so pathetically grateful to hear from a happy constituent, it makes me feel good.
Tokyokie
OK, called the local office and didn’t do anything to piss off the guy who answered. I’ll call about the lack of a credible investigation of the Humpty Trumpty-Russia connection later in the week.
Tokyokie
@Yarrow:
So they can add or subtract from their mailing lists. And I don’t recall having received anything from her of late.
sdhays
@Yarrow: As I recall, South Carolina threw a hissy fit over their “state’s right” to human chattel being disrespected and threatened to leave the Union during Jackson’s term as well, but he told them in no uncertain terms that if they tried that he would march down there with the army and burn them to the ground (to paraphrase). And since it was Old Hickory (who told the Supreme Court to go f*ck themselves when they ordered him to honor a treaty with the Native Americans), they knew he wasn’t kidding and they piped down.
So, you see, our Republican President* is right. All we needed was a nasty racist dictator who would mostly do what the south wanted (preserving and expanding slavery) while threatening them with violence when their fever got too high every now and then, and all that unpleasantness could have been avoided.
Can he really last a year?
Chris
@ArchTeryx:
That’s what I’m afraid of too.
randy khan
@Yarrow:
He is a Republican, and probably represents the reddest part of the state, but I think he got bombarded the first time around. (We go to Cape May in the summer, so I have an address in the district.)
randy khan
@Chris:
I don’t know that it’s a done deal if it gets past the House – in fact, I think the odds are pretty crummy in the Senate, but (a) I sure don’t want to take that chance; and (b) having them either take a vote and fail or not even get to the floor again would be a very helpful sign of weakness. Couple that with the budget agreement, where they got more or less nothing of importance that they wanted (even the $15b for the military is a big so-what), and it will be clear that they can’t do anything about their priorities.
Elizabelle
@Jean: Lucky us.
Called the Glen Allen and DC offices; got right through to two very pleasant Dave Brat staffers. Am told he’s good with the MacArthur amendment (no surprise there) and a yes vote, but thanked them for registering my request for a “no.”
Sigh. It’s like fighting off zombies who want to make us all the dead.
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
They will NEVER stop trying to do this, NEVER. Democrats should campaign on this.
Chris
@randy khan:
The general vibe of people who count on the Senate seems to be that the Senate is more moderate than the House, and… suffice it to say that I don’t trust Republican “moderates” to stand up to their radicals. Give them a choice of right wing vs Democrats and they’ll pick the right wing every time.
Yarrow
@ArchTeryx: I will be calling all my Reps as soon as I get a few morning tasks out of the way. I called several times last week. I also called the week before when there were whispers about it and the person who answered the phone at my very dependable Dem Rep’s office said something like, “Yeah, we’ve been getting a few calls on that.” Heh. Good job, everyone! Let’s keep it up!
D58826
And equally depressing was looking at my facebook feed today. The number of people who just can’t wait to start a war with N. Korea is frightening. Like it is some kind of internet game.
Yarrow
@Tokyokie: If it’s to get you on or off a mailing list that’s one thing. I just wanted to clarify that they weren’t demanding an address when you call. I thought they weren’t supposed to do that. Maybe I’m wrong on that? Anyone know?
amk
@Tilda Swintons Bald Cap: Yup. The disgusting thugs will never stop trying. Hope none of the dems ‘peel off’.
Ridnik Chrome
@D58826: You would think people would have learned after Iraq…
Iowa Old Lady
OT, but apparently Sirius radio is airing an interview with Trump later today in which he says
He also says some confusing things about Andrew Jackson, who died in 1845, appearing to muddle some stuff that happened when Jackson was still alive and the Civil War, but who knows.
amk
Elizabelle
Called Barbara Comstock’s office (Tea Partier in what’s becoming a moderate Virginia district, near Dulles Airport, endangered Republican).
She’s still a NO. Thanked the staffer profusely.
Tokyokie
@D58826: My response to that sort of crap is, “Then you’re fine with your children dying in the conflict?” One aspect of the all-volunteer military that I dislike is how easy it is for folks from higher economic strata to be so willing to commit people from lower economic strata to die for their bellicose fantasies. (And the lives of millions of residents of Seoul mean absolutely nothing to them.)
Elizabelle
From a Slate article, here are some “moderate” GOP reps to call; make sure they stay a no.
Jim Newell, Slate, House Moderates’ Impossible Choice
Kill the health care bill, or lose your seat.
Original title: The Freedom Caucus has put moderate Republicans in a corner over Trumpcare
A Ghost To Most
@Elizabelle:
Perhaps Topo Gigio, on the Ed Sullivan Show?
Yes, I am an old
Elizabelle
@Iowa Old Lady: I’d bet he’s got Andrew Jackson mixed up with Andrew Johnson, but who knows what misinformation lurks in the mind of Trump.
Elizabelle
@A Ghost To Most: Loved that character. I had one of the Topo Gigio handpuppets myself.
Tokyokie
@Yarrow:
Being on their mailing lists doesn’t bother me a whole lot. Any mail I get as a result goes straight into the recycling bin, and I figure it’s a waste of their campaign money.
Tenar Arha
@Bostondreams: My head hurts. IIRC one statistic somewhere that including the lead up and aftermath, the Civil War is the time period with the most books written about it, by far, in American History.
Patricia Kayden
@ArchTeryx: And that would be a travesty for millions of Americans who benefited from the ACA. In their eagerness to hurt the Kenyan Muslim, Republicans forget that President Obama has healthcare for the remainder of his life and will not be among those severely damaged by the repeal of the ACA. I wish they would think about the 99% for a change. Sigh.
I assume my MD Democratic Reps will vote the right way but thank goodness for all of you who are making calls to your Congress Critters.
msdc
@JMG: Yeah, it’s important to give some positive reinforcement to the reps who are on our side too. But the top priority today has to be those Republican nos or undecideds.
Steve in the ATL
I don’t have a congressman to call :( On the other hand, Tom Price is no longer my congressman :)
Kay
I’m pleased Democrats stood against the stupid, mean-spirited “wall” but I admit I was also hoping that it went forward to some extent. I would bet 50 dollars it would be a gross, corrupt “legacy” for the Trump Family.
I was looking forward to photos of an abandoned construction site with materials on pallets and rusting rebar stacked up, in the rain, preferably.
If they actually got it built a better (future) President could hold a ceremony knocking it down once this Era of Nasty Assholes ends. They could quote Reagan :)
chris
@Bostondreams: #Andrew Jackson is trending, ie. in the top 10, on Twitter right now. I’ll bet he’s surprised.
Yarrow
@Tokyokie: I’m way more suspicious and less trusting. I figure they’re tracking who exactly is calling them so they can put me on a list of people whose lives they want to destroy. But then I get to call lots of Republicans. Don’t trust them at all.
Kay
Why do Trump supporters think Trump will be any more successful protecting Social Security and Medicare than he has been in any other area?
Why wouldn’t he fail there too? They’re relying on the Democrats they hate to tutor Donald Trump in how government works and show him how to protect these programs from his own Party?
Bostondreams
@Elizabelle:
No, it’s pretty clear he means his idol, Andrew Jackson. The man has no historical knowledge at all, and believes if he never asked a question, no one has. my gosh.
Yarrow
@Steve in the ATL: Ooh…I hadn’t thought of that. What actually happens for people in your district at the moment? Is there an office you call if you need something?
H.E.Wolf
@JMG:
When I called my Rep’s D.C. office this morning, the staffer said, “We’ve gotten 20 calls already this morning, and 200 last Friday!” This is in a blue district in a blue-and-red state.
Seconding JMG’s comment above, about the positive results from thanking the office staffers who field the phone calls. It’s clear that most of them (in this office, at any rate) are in their early or mid-20s, and are feeling as beleaguered as we are. The change in their voices after being thanked is amazing.
Above all, thank you to everyone who’s calling a Republican Rep – because your calls have been turning the tide in our favor.
Bostondreams
@chris:
It’s a good thing Frederick Douglass is around to help him understand things.
Kay
Trump did an interview where someone finally asked him how his health care plan works. He doesn’t know.
That would have been a good question 6 months ago. Why did no one ask him to explain fundamentals during that endless fucking campaign? I knew he couldn’t do it.
rikyrah
@Tilda Swintons Bald Cap:
Tis true.
2018 Campaign Rally:
Want to protect your Obamacare – then vote Democrat.
rikyrah
@D58826:
North Korean is not Iraq.
They have nuclear weapons.
They have a million man army.
They are already starving, so they have nothing to lose.
rikyrah
@Kay:
because, they are phucking morons, who think that he can throw off ‘the underserving’, but their good White selves will be able to keep their Social Security and Medicare.
And, I know, if we are able to keep off the hords of the GOP and protect SS and Medicare, we will not get credit. But, folks are gonna have to speak up.
NEVER EVER EVER
let these stupid azz Dolt45 voters get away with believing that the GOP saved these programs. I don’t give a shyt if you have to argue with them everytime.
TELL THE PHUCKING TRUTH TO THESE MORONS.
Hal
But aren’t Senate Republicans more vulnerable than House R’s? How many Senators are from districts Hillary Clinton won, even if she lost the state? Seems a huge gamble for Senators to take.
Kay
He also told the local police who gave him police protection for 3 days. If this is documented why didn’t it come out during the campaign? Donald Trump has been in business for 40 years. Why do we know nothing about him?
rikyrah
@Kay:
He doesn’t understand the fundamentals of anything. Ask 5 questions about a topic, and he can’t get past question 1.
randy khan
@Kay:
One of my pet Facebook trolls responded to my post about the impending vote by saying not to worry about pre-existing conditions because Trump says they’ll be covered and Trump is driving the bus. No response so far after I asked how it could be that the House bill didn’t look anything like what Trump said he wanted if that were true.
Elizabelle
OK, some moderates for us to call and inquire/buck them up/thank them:
Charlie Dent of Penn. is still a NO. Good dude. Thank him.
(610) 770-3490 Nice human answers
Not a moderate, but thank her for her NO vote:
Barbara Comstock, Northern Virginia near Dulles Airport
Sterling VA (Loudoun County): 703-404-6903 human answers
Winchester VA (Shenandoah Valley): 540-773-3600
Mike Coffman, Colorado near Aurora
(202) 225-7882 Voicemail
Aurora office: 720-748-7514; VMail, maybe office not yet open for day
Leonard Lance, New Jersey
Westfield: 908 518 7733 nice guy answers; no announced decision yet on Trumpcare
Flemington: 908 788-6900
Dan Donovan, New York
Brooklyn 718 630 5277; human answers, no decision yet
Staten Island 718 351 1062
Ryan Costello, Pennsylvania (born in 1976!)
West Chester office, near Philly, has voicemail saying they’re getting heavy call volume from outside the district, so yea us, I hope. Wyomissing message makes it sound like they don’t mind hearing from out of the district callers; just leave a message. Hmmmm.
West Chester: 610 696 2982
Wyomissing 610 376 7630
Fair Economist
@oldster:
I’m not sure that works that way. Generally speaking, in politics, you pay for voting with the winning side because the voters hurt by your action care while the voters helped will end up concerned about something else they got hurt by (losses affect people more than gains). With something so wildly unpopular, the “moderates” would prefer to vote against it for the general election. If it fails, then they may pay a price for doing that in the primary. But if it passes, nobody is going to care they voted against, and they can vote against with impunity
gene108
Called my Rep, Tom MacArthur (NJ-3), who is supposedly a moderate, but put in an amendment exempting Congress from the AHCA 2.0 rules.
Office drone said he knew nothing about a vote this week.
Also, I have noticed the office droned are less cheerful, when they answer the phones now versus Jan and Feb, when I started calling. They just sound resigned to their fate of hearing from constituents, who are voicing their displeasure.
Kay
@rikyrah:
I have two Trump supporters as neighbors- a couple- both of whom are on Social Security disability. I think about it every time I see them. It has changed the way I see them. It’s hard to be generous towards these people and slot in some well intentioned reason they supported this guy.
The nastiness sort of spreads. Now I wonder why they can’t work and I didn’t think about that before.
I’m just tired of sort of “holding the line” for people who go out of their way to screw other people in their same situation. I don’t think this is my job, to buffer the effects of their own stupidity and nastiness.
They like “markets”. Okay. Let’s let this political market work. Cut ’em all off.
Iowa Old Lady
@Tenar Arha: But nobody asked why! Only the guy in the fool’s cap.
rikyrah
@Kay:
You don’t have to be nasty.
I would personally be condescending to them, in an arrogant, know-it-all, sort of way..
But, I’m petty like that.
I have no patience, nor respect for his voters.
NONE.
Their feelings don’t mean shyt to me.
H.E.Wolf
Also! I just phoned the D.C. office of the GOP Rep in a neighboring district, which is starting to lean Democratic, and expressed my concerns as a resident of the Rep’s state who would be affected by his vote. I mentioned that I live just outside of GOP Rep’s district, but close enough to work for a Democratic challenger if the Rep votes to take away health care. [cue scary music]
randy khan
@Fair Economist:
I agree that normally you don’t claim you have the votes to get more votes, but in Trumpland they may think that there’s some kind of landslide effect – that people want to be on the winning team. That would be very Trumpian.
glaukopis
Just phoned my GOP congressman’s and senator’s offices here in Ohio too.
randy khan
By the way, if you call *and* email, you might get counted twice.
Elizabelle
Feels to me like they’re using the Trumpcare votes as a terror tool. It’s frightening and demoralizing, but we’re calling congressional offices, and that’s huge.
Elizabelle
@randy khan: Besides which, it’s Dense using the tactic. Not renowned for acuity or good governance.
artem1s
@rikyrah:
pretty much the campaign Ossoff is running in GA06 against Handel. It should be effective as she is on record for being against poors getting health care. And she toxified herself by having tRump down for a fundraiser last week. I want everything these people do to turn to dust and ashes in their mouths.
twitter.com/AHCAWhipCount/status/845287799674880004
Head of House appropriations is apparently a NO
Chris
@randy khan:
People are really fucking stupid sometimes.
randy khan
@artem1s:
That looks like it’s from the first round. The last report I saw indicated that he hasn’t said anything about this round.
Chris
@Kay:
This.
It’s been my thing with those voters for a long time now: I can forgive people for being stupid, but these people aren’t stupid, they’re actively ill-intentioned towards the rest of us. They didn’t vote Trump because they thought he’d make their lives better (they may have been dumb enough to think that, or they may not), they voted for Trump because they thought he’d make our lives worse.
sharl
@Bostondreams: There is no way Trump came up with the Andrew-Jackson-coulda-prevented-the-Civil-War wishful thinking on his own. The candidate list of people who could have put this dumb idea into his head is a long one: regular staff person (Bannon, Gorka, Sessions, etc.)? Or one of the numerous racist wingnuts who have access to him?
Who can say?
This sound like the kind of wishful thinking one might hear from the League of the South crowd. Probably notDaniel Larison, who sticks to foreign policy stuff these days, and I doubt Trump reads him (or anyone else) anyway. Could be something Trump saw on twitter, I suppose.
Dude’s a trip…
RealityBites
Called my worthless representative, Goodlatte. Told the staffer I opposed the AHCA, and that I would also donate time and money against Goodlatte if he voted for it. She said she would make a note of my “threat”. She actually used the word “threat”. I’ve been calling a lot. I hope they are ” sick” of hearing from me.
Elizabelle
@RealityBites: They are. Sick of you. They’re thinking of you as “RealityBitches.”
Which we love you for. Keep it up. Goodlatte. Gag.
Yarrow
@RealityBites: If you’re bored with calling the D.C. office, try calling the local office. Bug someone else about it. You might get registered as two calls. I call all the offices I can.
SiubhanDuinne
Called Rob Woodall (both DC and local offices) and left messages.
Jean
@Elizabelle: I’ve called too, and it’s just an exercise in futility because our district is so large, so gerrymandered, that it was absolutely shocking when Cantor lost. Cantor deserved to lose, but to Brat? From Bad to Worse.
Ohio Mom
I called my Representative, and also my state senator and representative because Ohio is thinking of freezing all disability funding. Gotta pay for those tax cuts. Guess I should probably add Kasich to my call list.
Now I am in a bad mood. Listing out loud all the ways their nefarious plans are nefarious is depressing.
Like you, @RealityBites: , lately I have been adding promises to help their future challengers. I especially like telling Brad Wenstrup’s staff that he could end up back as a podiatrist, removing corns and cutting old men’s thick toenails day in and day out.
LurkerNoLonger
@ArchTeryx: kind of like that scene in Schindler’s List.
Elie
I made my calls and also sent an email to friends to do same… sigh — hopefully we can prevent this thing from passing…
TenguPhule
@Elizabelle:
What do you mean like?
TenguPhule
@Kay:
I thought we had all come to the conclusion that Trump supporters are stupid idiots who enjoy when other people suffer harm and believe they will always be exempt from bad things happening?
Gravenstone
@Hal:
A reminder that Senators don’t have districts, only states. So Clinton friendly districts within an overall Trump friendly state likely wouldn’t pose much of a threat there.
Mnemosyne
@artem1s:
Hopefully Ossoff is smart enough to realize that “mammograms” will be his best attack word against Handel. As in, Karen Handel tried to deny mammograms to women who needed them.
different-church-lady
@Kay: Because the press thought it would be fun to have an idiot racist as president.
Ben Mays
I called and emailed Rob Wittman’s Office (VA-R). Staff guy sounded exhausted.
Julia Grey
@Hal:
Senators are from states, not districts. That’s the House.
So if Clinton won a state, that makes the senator from it vulnerable.
Hal
@Gravenstone: Doh! My bad. I always default to the house when I think of midterms for some reason.
Zelma
@randy khan:
Where are you from in South Jersey? Frank is my congressman too. I just sent out a call to our local Democratic Club members to call him ASAP. I think he’s pretty safe because he’s close to the local hospital folks. And they are not happy.