TPM highlights the most important remaining Representatives. Please check to see whether you live in any of these districts, or if you live close enough to make a credible offer to help with their re-election.
Undecided Dems Who Voted ‘No’ On The House Health Care Bill
John Tanner (D-TN), Brian Baird (D-WA), Jason Altmire (D-PA), Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL), Jim Matheson (D-UT), Glenn Nye (D-VA), Scott Murphy (D-NY), Harry Teague (D-NM), John Boccieri (D-OH)
Undecided Dems Who Voted ‘Yes’ On The House Health Care Bill
Many of the undecideds who previously voted “yes” are comprised of pro-life Democrats who are leery of the Senate bill’s abortion language and are led by Rep. Bart Supak (D-MI).
Easy to get Stupakers:
Brad Ellsworth (D-IN), Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA), Henry Cuellar (D-TX),
Hard to get Stupakers:
Marion Berry (D-AR), Jerry Costello (D-IL), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Steve Driehaus (D-OH), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Dan Lipinski (D-IL), Bart Stupak (D-MI)
***Update***
If you call any conservative Dems today, make sure to bring this up. The abortion language dodge is simply untenable.
***Update 2***
Changed the post title. It sounds more focus-grouped this way.
rob!
My congressman, John Adler, is NEVER on any of these lists, even though he’s not a firm no. What am I missing here?
Legalize
Can’t get through to Driehaus. I imagine the teabaggers have his line tied up with screaming nonsense.
shortstop
Not that I’m discouraging any of his constituents from calling, but I saw Cuellar on CNN last night (I like to turn it on every couple of months or so to confirm that it still sucks) and he is definitely voting for this bill. Anderson Cooper tried nine ways from Sunday to get him to criticize the bill and the process and Cuellar didn’t bite; he did a stellar job of getting every pro-bill talking point out while claiming he’s “still thinking about it.”
Moses2317
Let’s continue to turn up the heat on Rep. Lipinski. Watch this video of a Mother’s Open Appeal to Congressman Lipinski, call his office, and then forward the video to all of your friends and encourage them to do the same.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfAXXID4Mu0
D.C. Office – 202-225-5701
Chicago – 312-886-0481
Tim F.
@shortstop: Great to hear. Cuellar started out pretty far into DINO territory, so it’s especially encouraging to see him step up now.
Waynski
Hard to believe anyone from Illinois would vote against the President. I blame Rahm.
mr. whipple
per Oliver Willis, twitter: RT @cliffschecter: Solid source: boccieri to switch #hcr vote to yes
Call anyway. This is a very red district, and Boccieri is getting killed with chamber of commerce ads and a well-funded GOP opponent. We have to remember to have these folks’ backs.
FormerSwingVoter
Lynch’s MA office isn’t even answering their phones anymore.
Fucking cowards.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
Engel announces he is a yes vote.
mr. whipple
@FormerSwingVoter:
What is up his *ss?
Legalize
I finally got through to Driehaus’ staffer and they’re still adamant about the abortion language. She said that the Congressman understands that he might lose in November, but he’s “pro-life” and that’s just the way it is.
KDP
@Legalize: Are you calling the direct line (202) 225-2216 or through the switchboard. I’ve found that I can often get through on the direct when the switchboard gives me a busy. Good luck.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Legalize: well, according to low estimates, about 12,000 people are going to die between now and election day because of inadequate health care. (I know, it’s like arguing with a dining room table)
FlipYrWhig
@FormerSwingVoter: I thought I had heard buzz about Lynch as a Congressperson with an eye on bigger and better things.
Is Lynch getting a pound of flesh for something related to the Brown vs. Coakley contest? Or… I thought I remembered his name from a list of people potentially interested in that Senate race. Is he trying to position himself as the the Blanche Lincoln of Massachusetts, the candidate who sticks it to Democrats and Republicans equally?
Regardless of motives, it’s a strange position to take.
Waynski
Got a busy signal from Scott Murphy’s office. I don’t envy the Hill staffers today. Bunch of morans flapping their gums in your ears all day. Must be like watching Fox “News”.
DanF
My wife got called by a telemarketer yesterday with misleading anti-HCR poll questions.
Wife: Now, let me ask you something, do you have healthcare?
Caller: Ummm… no.
Wife: This bill will give folks just like you health care. Think about it.
David in NY
Scott Murphy has been unreachable. Phones not answering (message says lines are busy), message machine full. I did e-mail. Probably should fax.
Rathskeller
Honestly, if the bill is going to pass, I don’t necessarily want a Democratic rep in a red district to vote for this bill. I just want the damned thing to pass.
Tim F.
@DanF: Very nice.
Lynn Dee
T-shirt idea: “I’m with Stupak.”
TheOtherWa
Baird’s not running, so I hope he votes YES just to spite the flying monkey right who have been harrassing him & making death threats.
Houstonian
Just phoned Cuellar’s office. I’m not in his district, but I am in the San Antonio area a lot and have friends and family there, which I told the staffer. His staffer said he was still undecided. I expressed my support for the health care bill and practically begged for his vote.
I also said I’d come work for his re-election if he voted for it. The staffer seemed a little surprised and pleased by that, so I don’t think that is a very common tactic. Perhaps one to consider for others who are phoning, if indeed you feel you can follow through. I guess I’ll have to find a way to donate a day of my time if he does vote for it. I do keep my word.
FormerSwingVoter
@FlipYrWhig:
This is even weirder when you understand that almost all of his support and funding comes from union members – union members who are literally picketing his MA office as we speak. A couple of big guys from AFL-CIO paid him an in-person visit. He told them that the excise tax was too anti-union, and they told him that it wasn’t and that he should vote for the bill. He said no.
On top of everything else, he already voted for it the first time around, so I can’t imagine that he’s hoping to get some Republican support. He’s basically committing political suicide and no one can figure out why.
PTirebiter
Along the lines of John’s observation yesterday about how the narrative is already changing, chatting on NPR this morning, Juan Williams is sounding like a Democrat. Nothing like the fear of success to build your fan base.
MikeJ
@Lynn Dee:
Eeeew. Why not “I ♥ Paedophiles”?
Joey Maloney
Presented for your edification, right after the top of the hour I sent the following email to Diane Rehm’s comment address. Her show today is the regular Friday “news round-up” and of course her panel of Karen Tumulty, Juan “Adenoidal Honk” Williams and Chris Cilizza were set to discuss TDB:
Sadly but not surprisingly I was completely right.
Edit: Blockquote WIN! I put nbsp; on the blank lines – that worked!
Balconesfault
Just called Cuellars office down the road in San Antonio.
Got shuffled to a mailbox system “because of large volume of calls”.
Mailbox then said it was too full to take any more messages.
Brick Oven Bill
Religion is Belief in the absence of Perception.
Even the President does not know what is in this legislation.
Now everyone put your hands above your head and form an ‘O’.
Lee
Living in Texas I figured it would be a waste of time to call any of our congresscritters (mine is Hall).
But I guess I can pretend to live in 78064 and give Henry Cuellar a call.
I also sent an email to a coworker whose family lives in that area.
FormerSwingVoter
@Brick Oven Bill:
Except that the bill is like, an actual physical thing. It has words in it and everything!
When you say that people don’t know what’s in the bill, that’s not a valid point. It doesn’t make you wise and courageous – it makes you a liar.
A lie isn’t a “difference in opinion”. It’s just a lie.
Crashman
@Brick Oven Bill: Yo, BoB… You can, actually, you know, read the bill here! Then once you read it, you’ll know what’s in it! But you better get cracking now; it’s pretty long.
renegademom3
Just called Harry Teague. Don’t live in his district, but I am an Admin. Law Judge who does Fair Hearings every day for his constituents on Medicaid, SNAP (the program formerly known as food stamps), and the various Medicaid Waiver programs for the disabled, developmentally disabled and elderly. It is a fucking nightmare.
Chyron HR
@Brick Oven Bill:
We are saddened that you continue to denounce Mathematics (one of the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences) as a result of the CBO adding some numbers and getting an answer that you didn’t like.
Hopefully someday you will accept the teachings of Apollo (abandoing the ways of Dionysius, patron of the nefarious Tea Pilot Joe Stack) and evolve into a being that accepts Mathematics. John Lennon would want it that way.
Omnes Omnibus
@Chyron HR: Win.
ellaesther
Blogged, tweeted, requested re-tweets…
My influence is very limited indeed, but I am trying my dangedest!
Brick Oven Bill
The President articulates his understanding of the bill to be ‘pro-reform’, and not ‘status quo’. I am beginning to believe that this is his level of understanding. He does not do well without a teleprompter.
Here is a real health care bill.
Citizens are productive members of society and earn compensation in exchange for their work.
They save a portion of their income to cover their medical expenses. They pay a doctor for his services.
Perhaps they purchase an insurance policy to help them avoid bankruptcy in the instance that they have an accident or a terrible disease.
Charities exist to help worthy people with medical expenses that they cannot afford.
Illegal aliens do not receive free services from the American taxpayer.
Legalize
Because the bill and the CBO report that scores it, contains things that BoB doesn’t like, i.e. numbers that prove him to be a fucking liar, no one knows what’s in the bill – not even the president! Magic. A bill can be terrible AND completely unknowable at the same time. Despite words and numbers and stuff.
BoB is the absence of _______________
ellaesther
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: As we say in Hebrew: Amichaya!
Thank the merciful heavens.
jeffreyw
Costello still not saying. Aide won’t say which way he leans, “he’s still reading the bill”. Bollocks.
valdivia
I just got an email from Plouffe apparently they need Rangel to be told to vote yes. I don’t know if he is wavering or he is being targeted by outside groups because of his iffy ethics situation but if you are a nyorker please call Rangel.
Brick Oven Bill
I have much work to do here.
Mathematics is not a Liberal Art and Science. Arithmetic and Geometry are. The role of Mathematics is to provide Perception as explained by Plato’s Four Understandings.
Max
Boccieri doing presser now. He’s a “yes”.
Boo-yah
Chyron HR
@Brick Oven Bill:
We are concerned by your statement that you “have much work to do here.”
Doubtlessly words like these were said by the leaders of the Tea Party movement prior to their attacks on a Unitarian Church, the Holocaust Museum, the Pentagon, an IRS office, and other such Liberal facilities.
Hopefully you will reject this path and join us in the nonviolent enjoyment of photographs of morbidly obese housepets.
renegademom3
Dear Bill;
you state that a sane health care system would provide that
“Illegal aliens do not receive free services from the American taxpayer.”
Illegal aliens do NOT receive free services. Even most LEGAL aliens do not receive free services, because there are strict rules regarding when a legal resident alien can receive medicaid. In New Mexico, here is the general rule.
“8.200.410.11 CITIZENSHIP: To be eligible for medicaid, an individual must be a citizen of the United States; or an alien who entered the United States prior to August 22, 1996, as one of the classes of aliens described in Subsection A of 8.200.410.11 NMAC or an alien who entered the United States as a qualified alien on or after August 22, 1996, and who has met the five-year bar listed in Subsection B of 8.200.410.11 NMAC.
glasgowtremontaine
Just in case the Mystery Senator is a Virginian, I called Mark Warner and Jim Webb, who both seem to be playing it coy. Results:
Webb: live-person line was busy (but I only tried once). Comment line has plenty of room to leave a message.
Warner: Highly sympathetic Richmond staffer says to call DC office, where they’ve set up an extra line: (877)676-2759, where I got through right away. The aide in charge of HCR is Leah Ralph. If you have to leave a message, specify that it’s for her.
Asking for her on the live-person line didn’t work so well: the dude on the other end turned the conversation into a game of ‘this is why you don’t need to speak to her’, rather than just taking my message down nicely. On the other hand, Rep. Goodlatte (R)’s Harrisonburg office had plenty of courteous time for my rant, but offered no hope. So … yeah. I’m gonna go watch the tortoise & dog video now.
@DanF: Beautifully played. Sometimes we can haz courtesy AND efficacy. Yay!
slag
@ellaesther:
I feel this pain. I forswore the Twitters long ago but twitted this post today anyway. It’s been so long that I don’t even know what hashtags we’re using anymore.
elmo
John Tanner is retiring, so offering to help with his re-election will just make him giggle. Dammit.
Frank
I am so pissed off at Stephen Lynch.I will call his office to let them know that even though I’m not in his district, I will be working to get him thrown out of office. Our state desereves better than a coward like this.
On a related point, it’s worth noting that Lynch was elected because of two liberal, purity Democrats that were both polling ahead of him during the primary, but neither one would drop out. So the liberal vote was split and this asshole won the primary.
aimai
I just talked to Lynch’s office–I was polite and staffer told me he was voting “no” but that they were still taking “comments” so I told her, in a friendly way, that I was really angry qua local dem/donor and that I’d be calling Pelosi’s office later to demand that Lynch be stripped of whatever seniority/perks he had with the house. I put it this way “is he going to support his leader and his party?”
But the good news is that Boccieri has, apparently, said “Yes” to health care.
aimai
ReneeW
I just got off the phone with my congressman’s office, Lloyd Doggett, who represents part of Austin. The other day on NPR I’d heard he was planning to vote no. I told his staff (both in town and in DC) that he needed to vote yes, and then enumerated the reasons why. I also had my sister, son, neighbor and a couple of others to call his office and do the same. His staff seemed glad to hear from us and appreciative of what we had to say.
aimai
What the hell, I just called Arcuri’s office too, spoke to a sweet young staffer who couldn’t have been nicer. I said I hoped that Arcuri was still open to changing his mind, I knew he was new in congress and might not have realized just how closely watched this big bill was. I said I knew the SEIU had already told Arcuri they would pull all labor support from him if he voted no on the bill and I assured her that if the bill passed without Arcuri’s vote he’d have made a ton of enemies, and if it failed because of Arcuri’s no vote he’d have made even more.
I think its worth calling people who’ve said “no” officially because my guess is that phone calls drop off after that and their lines are open and its never over until its over. Anyone can claim to have “recieved a lot of votes from concerned citizens” and use that as an excuse for flipping, if they decide they want to flip.
Call him. They know this is a question of national importance, and that people calling from outside the district may have a big effect on the next local election in terms of money, time, and attention.
aimai
Sarah
i have been trying both the main switchboard & my congressman’s office (blumenauer – a reliable yes, but i thought a supportive call couldn’t hurt) for the last hour and getting busy signals on both. is something going on??
sacman701
Props to Boccieri. Good to see one of my fellow Italians doing the right thing after the recent asshattery of Capuano, Arcuri, and Massa.
one two seven
@Max
Great news on Boccieri! I live next to his district, have in laws there and once did some campaigning there several years ago. Its a tough place for a Democrat in this environment but he’s really impressed me so far and was the one name I was hoping to see flip more than any other on the above list.
Yossarian
Don’t underestimate the fact that Stephen Lynch is just a really stupid person.
rob!
JOHN ADLER. JOHN ADLER. JOHN ADLER. JOHN ADLER. JOHN ADLER. JOHN ADLER. JOHN ADLER. JOHN ADLER. JOHN ADLER. JOHN ADLER. JOHN ADLER. JOHN ADLER. JOHN ADLER. JOHN ADLER. JOHN ADLER. JOHN ADLER. JOHN ADLER. JOHN ADLER.
Corner Stone
@Chyron HR:
I, for one, derive no enjoyment from photographic evidence of ritualized animal abuse.
Anya
I sent a fax to Scott Murphy’s office. I informed them that I volunteered for him and phone banked the last time and I was willing to offer more volunteer hours and donation to his re-election campaign if he voted for the bill.
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Sister Simone Campbell, the executive director of Network, used a simillar argument in an interview with CBC Radio’s, As it Happens
http://www.cbc.ca/asithappens/latestshow.html
Houstonian
Don’t forget to call your Reps to thank them for their Yes votes. Especially the recent switchers. They’re probably getting lots of angry calls now. They’ll appreciate being appreciated.
Corner Stone
@Yossarian:
This is really odd. I’ve met and personally spoken with 8 Congresspeople at different places and times in my life.
A couple of them seemed very bright and otherwise like a highly functioning adult. A couple were more run of the mill. The rest left me with the impression that I was shocked they had tied their own shoes that morning when they left their house.
I wonder why (to wildly and flagrantly overgeneralize) it seems so many truly stupid people get elected and re-elected to office?
ETA – I try not to judge too much from soundbytes if I can help it. Although some are self-evident, others may be out of context or were delivered to a specific audience, etc.
Ohio Mom
I live a mile or two away from Driehaus’s district (lucky me, I have Jean Schmidt representing me, and there’s no use in calling her). It took many tries to both his DC and local number to get through yesterday — don’t remember which number it was.
I complained both about his lack of support for HCR and his vote a few weeks ago against a bill that prohibits schools from dealing with special needs kids by tieing them up or locking them in closests. He was one of 8 Democrats to vote against it, it passed without him.
I told his worker that he’s going to lose anyway, he might as well do the right thing. I also got the abortion excuse, as well as, “I don’t know anything about that other vote.”
To me, unless he comes around on HCR at the last minute, he might as well be a Republican.
one two seven
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aLBtQqsaHP.g&pos=8
Here’s the Boccieri announcement. I guess Charlie Wilson (OH-6) also said he’s voting for the bill. He’s not on the above list, but he’s in a R+ district and doesn’t always vote with us.
The Grand Panjandrum
Marcy Kaptur now says she’s leaning toward a yes vote.
Drip, drip, drip.
Will
My congressman Albio Sires NJ-13 should be a firm yes. But when I called, his staffer wouldn’t say yea or nay, just wanted to know what MY desire was for his vote. I told them I vote regularly and donate, and I will again for Sires if he votes the right way.
Will
@valdivia:
Seriously? Rangel?
Liz
@Yossarian:
I am getting ready to call his office as we speak. I never liked him much, wouldn’t vote for him, but being the nice easy going person I am, I signed re-election papers for him just last week. Had I known this was coming I wouldn’t have.
Ron
Sigh, Arcuri has come out and officially says he plans to oppose the bill. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Yes, we’re a slightly red district, but what kind of idiot thinks that a no vote on HCR will get him republican votes, especially after he voted yes for the original house bill. I’ll still call his office after I get home from work to bitch about it, but I’m so frustrated about that.
Anya
According to GOS front page Scott Murphy is a definate yes.
Irishnana
Although my Rep. Jerry Costello, is listed as a “hard to get” member of the Stupak Stupid, I’ve been trying to get everyone I know to apply pressure. He comes from a safe, Dem district and has no excuse (other than the Bishops telling him how to vote!)
Either it’s working to soften his position or he’s playing with us, but his Aide this morning seemed to walk back his insistence on “no” by saying that he didn’t support “the Senate bill” but was carefully reading the House bill just released and had not yet made up his mind.
Don’t give up Illinois!
Socraticsilence
My Senators are pretty much locked in- Baucus wouldn’t vote no because its his “legacy” and Tester actually backs progressive solutions- my state’s lone Rep on the other hand- yeah, he’s a Douche.
shortstop
My parents are down at Bill Foster’s district office right now telling his people that if he doesn’t vote for the bill, he’ll be on the wrong side of history and disincentivize his base for November. As both of them are mild-mannered, recovering Republicans who are well into their Medicare years, I suspect the staff will enjoy this.
Mithras
Heard an ad on the local business-fascist AM news station from “Committee to Rethink Reform” for people to call John Adler and pressure him to vote no so as not to “borrow billions from foreigners” to pay for the bill.
jibeaux
@shortstop:
Go Mr. and Mrs. Shortstop! Holla!
jibeaux
@Ron:
It’ll never happen, but how awesome would it be if the Dems losing their seats lined up exactly with the Dems voting no on this?
JoXn
I read Baird’s statement on health care reform and called Baird’s DC office. I targeted my comments to the concerns he expressed on his website, and said that I thought that ending recissions and denials for pre-existing conditions were an important step towards making things better. I also pointed out that as an employee at a software giant with a famously generous healthcare plan, I was liable to get hit by the excise tax, but I didn’t mind because I thought reform was so important.
No indication from the staffer on how the congressman’s leaning, but he politely thanked me for my call.
dyspeptic
called Lipinski’s office. Surprisingly, the woman there seemed genuinely happy I called in support of the bill.
Comrade Kevin
You in Oregon need to call up DeFazio’s office.
Ron
@jibeaux:
To be fair, Arcuri was probably going to be voted out regardless. He’s in a red district that barely reelected him in a democratic wave election in 2008. I saw some mention of potentially primarying him somewhere but I think the deadline for that is past.
guhm61
Just called Kanjorski’s Luzerne County office ( Pa.-11). Got a frazzled staffer who quickly stated that he remains undecided and she noted that the lines here and in DC have been “jammed”. End of conversation. Now I’m sure he is getting slammed by his Catholic constituents ( and he is Catholic himself ) about this faux abortion issue. Perhaps the support for HCR by the National Catholic Reporter, the Catholic Health Association and 60,000 nuns has stiffened his resolve ( because he is on record as supporting the bill ). But if the plan remains to add the President’s student loan reform measures to the HCR reconciliation bill – well that may be his problem ( as well as that of Chris Carney Pa.-10 ) with this process and why they remain undecided. Sallie Mae is freaking out saying that this will cost jobs there and their facility in this area employs about 900 people. Kanjorski has been on the House Financial Services Committee for some time and should have a decent grasp on this matter. There’s no way that these guys are going to support this process even though they both support HCR if there is the slightest chance that it will result in people losing jobs. Kanjorski has had difficult elections of late and Carney is the first Democrat in decades – maybe ever – to represent his district. I’m going to fax my support for the HCR bill to both of them. As a behavioral healthcare provider, I know that the expanded Medicaid eligibility standard will be a very significant advance for people suffering with psychiatric conditions but who can’t afford services.
IrishGirl
I tried to call but couldn’t get through and didn’t have time to keep calling as I am at work. But I did email and tweet the two Dems in AZ that are undecided–Harry Mitchell and Gabrielle Giffords. Threatened to do everything in my power to ensure that they have a primary opponent defeat them in next election even though I’m not in either one of their districts.
Xecky Gilchrist
Called Matheson – took five tries today. They’re hopping – I made it quick.
Ron
I tried calling Arcuri’s office today, and got a bunch of busy signals followed by an answering machine when I finally got through. Given that he had already said that he was voting no, I am hopeful that it was busy with people calling him to change his mind.