Okay now that we are starting to collect stories, we also need to start finding out what will happen to Medicare. That means calling Congress.
When you call Congress, you need to call your Representative and your Senators. Those are the only people who may or may not take action on your call. Everyone else will at best forward your message to your Rep or Senator. Right now we do not need to do advocacy, we need to do an intelligence appreication of where people stand on Paul Ryan’s “A Better Way” for Medicare.
So when you call your Congressional office, let’s ask a very simple question that we should be able to get a yes or no:
“Does Congressman Doe support Paul Ryan’s “A Better Way” plans for Medicare?”
The next round of calls we’ll start getting a little more pointed. My objective is four fold.
- Gain an accurate appreciation of the current reality
- Get us moving and engaged
- Make Paul Ryan’s plan a strictly partisan thing and turn this fight into Social Security 2005
- Split the Republican Senate caucus as they’ll have to provide all the votes and can only afford three defectors
Report your results in comments:
Arclite
Not sure how many congress people are available at 5AM…
=P
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
Man, these things are a lot more boring when your Rep is Keith Ellison and your senators are Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken.
JPL
My congressman is Tom Price and he has been leading this effort for years.
GregB
NPR this morning. A five minute interview with the pro-Trump African-American minister from Ohio who was a Trump surrogate in the campaign, followed by an piece about how Saugus, MA swung to Trump and included around 5/6 different interviews with male Trump supporters and one interview with a woman who supported Hillary.
Oof.
We are spiraling into to madness.
JPL
@GregB: I agree. He has to be paying for good coverage.
Raphael Kearns
@Richard Mayhew Here’s a link to Josh’s article at TPM about this exact question. Fortunately or not. I live in Texas so I get to call Cornyn, Cruz, and Burgess (of neonatal masturbation fame).
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-tool-kit-for-sleuthing-out-medicare-phaseout
Poopyman
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: Me too. Steny Hoyer, Cardin, Hollings.
Not that I’m not glad I’ve got ’em!
rikyrah
You are right, Mayhew. Time for the phone calls.
WereBear
@JPL: Yet, even “liberal NPR” has been in the tank for republicans for a long time now. We’ve been soothing ourselves with “oh, they just go for sensationalism” but that’s not true because Trump’s many many wild stories were played down or outright ignored.
Let’s face it. The Borg got them.
Schlemazel
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
Well, 2 out if 3 for sure.
I had regular phone conversations with Sen. Klobucher’s office during her years under Bush & they lied to me about her position & her votes. They went so far as to tell me she had not voted for measures the record showed she had voted for (GOP/Bush proposed measures over the war and IIRC, North Korean nuke deal). They got very upset with me when I pointed out the votes are recorded & the public can see how they voted.
WereBear
I am planning to tell them that, when my husband dies for lack of medical care, I will have him dropped off at their offices, because I cannot afford to bury him.
Mai.naem.mobile
I have Jeff Flake and McCain. McCains office or worthless from past experience. I have no idea how he wins when his constituent service sucks. I personally think(just gut feeling) that McCain is not going to last through this term. He doesn’t look all that healthy. I think his POW stint is catching up on him. I called Flakes office last week on the ACA. At least they weren’t rude like McCains. I have threatened this before but I may have to switch my party registration in 18 if I am still in AZ to vote for Flake in the primary because Camacho(if he hasn’t stroked out by then) will have his guns set on traitor Flake and Flake’s primary opponent will be a teabagger. Or I could just think like Clare McCaskill if 18 ends up being a wave election.
Patricia Kayden
Bravo Richard. This is a great idea and is a proactive way to handle our new political reality.
Ohio Mom
Is pushing back against this something AARP is going to do? I haven’t joined, haven’t seen the purpose in it. But they are big and if they are going to take this up, I’ll respond to the next bulk mailing.
Eric
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: Does a neighboring Republucan know you don’t live in their district? Or a Blue Dog Democrat?
WereBear
@Ohio Mom: They finally got involved in 2005, which astonished me at their tardiness, considering how central this concern is to their membership.
But they are a marketing group, not an advocacy group, so I should not have been.
RedDirtGirl
Yesterday I put the phone numbers of my senators and congresswoman in my phone to make it easier to do just this sort of thing. I have made a pact with myself to find something to call them about every week, so thanks for this week’s call.
gogol's wife
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
Right, same with DeLauro, Murphy, and Blumenthal. They don’t need me to tell them this. I was planning on hitting the Bannon theme with them.
gogol's wife
@Ohio Mom:
I don’t have the patience to read the AARP stuff, but my impression during the campaign was they were “both sides do it.” They would just offer the candidates’ programs side by side and not editorialize. I think they should have editorialized the hell out of it. I’m considering dropping my membership. Maybe they’ll surprise me. But you give me a good idea — I’ll try contacting them.
gogol's wife
@WereBear:
They used to be more of an advocacy group.
madmommy
Ugh. Steve Scalise, David Vitter and Bill Cassidy. None of them are worth a good goddamn. Just put their numbers in my phone and will call anyway.
HRA
I once needed help for a personal problem which would come under the law for military personnel. I had called my own government representatives and was not given any satisfaction at all. I called the closest army base and spoke to a JAG representative who said it would take a long time for any action. Then I remembered this one Republican Congressman who I found to be admirable from another state. I made the call and spoke to a staff person. The next day I received a personal phone call from the Congressman. He solved the problem.
So yes do not be leery of calling anyone in Congress. I was not asked why I was calling him from another state or my party affiliation.
WereBear
I have a mixed bag. Schumer (which my iPad corrected to “schemer” tee hee) and Gillibrand, who are pretty reliable Dems, and then our Rep, Stephanik, who is like Legally Blonde Goes to Congress when it comes to parroting the propaganda.
So that one, I might have fun with.
Jamie Schultz
When I called Pete Sessions’s office yesterday, the staffer I got pleaded ignorance and ran away as fast as possible, suggesting I call Paul Ryan’s office.
I’ll be sure to try again today, though. And tomorrow. And so on.
Skippy-san
My Congressman is the not so honorable Mo Brooks who is one of the worthless members of the Freedom Caucus and whose constituents benefit from Medicare but are too stupid to realize it. Brooks would sell his own mother to screw people. My Senators are the ever worthless Shelby and Sessions so little help there. They sold their souls to the devil a long time ago.
Another Scott
I posted this upstairs by mistake.
I’m not a telephone person (I much prefer e-mail and writing), but I’ll work on changing that.
Rep Don Beyer (VA-8) – District office – P: (703) 658-5403
Sen Tim Kaine – Manassas office – P: (703) 361-3192
Sen Mark Warner – Vienna office – P: 703-442-0670
We need to find a way to get in front of these issues, and not wait until they’re in the news a few hours before the final vote (if we’re lucky). The important work on legislation is done in the committees and before. We need to let them know that we’re paying attention and we want them to push back when the legislation is being drafted, when trial balloons are being released, etc.
Medicare, the ACA, and all the rest of the health care policies are life-and-death important, of course.
I worry, though, that there’s going to be a push by Trump’s people to push some sort of “giant infrastructure” bill through quickly while his supporters are still happy and engaged. A quick victory there will set the tone for the rest of the year. And just like in 1981 with Reagan’s tax cuts, there will be pressure for everyone to get their presents and their pet issues on the bill. And the Teabaggers will push hard to sell off the Interstate Highway System, airports, seaports, water and sewer systems, parks, and all the rest in “public-private partnerships” which means making everything have an admission fee, toll, or increased costs for users and people who depend upon them. Once you have uranium mining outside the Grand Canyon or oil fracking in Yellowstone, or toll booths on the 405, or Martin Shkreli owning and running your water company, it’s very hard to go back…
We can’t be complacent. We’ve got to fight, every step of the way. We can’t assume that any of the words they use mean the same thing to us as they do to them. Speech was given to man to hide his thoughts.
Keep up the good fight, everyone.
Cheers,
Scott.
Ksmiami
@Another Scott: everyone call aarp and remind them that the plan to end social security and Medicare means the end of their existence- without those programs there is no aarp.
Gin & Tonic
I’m one of the lucky ones, with a smart Democratic Rep and two intelligent and effective Democratic Senators.
Raphael Kearns
@Jamie Schultz: When I called Cornyn’s office Monday asking him to condemn Bannon’s appointment the staffer I talked to said he couldn’t do that. I asked why and she asked me if I had emailed the DC office and I said no then I told her he certainly could speak on the floor of the Senate in opposition. She then asked me my zip code and hung up on me as I was asking her didn’t she want my name. It also took 7 rings before she answered the phone. Perhaps I interrupted her lunch. I called the Dallas office.
When I called Cruz’s office the staffer was very polite, asked my name and number and said she would call the DC office and pass my info along. I know she may or may not do it but at least she was responsive.
I haven’t called Burgess’s office about that but I’m planning on calling them again about Medicare.
Raphael Kearns
@Ohio Mom: I looked on the AARP website on Monday to see if there was anything at all about Medicare and didn’t see anything on the front page. But I would hope they will start talking about it soon.
I wish I knew how to purchase a list of voters from my county that I could send mail about Medicare Phaseout but have not been able to find any information in my county.
I am interested in getting names and addresses of voters aged 62 and older to try to stir up some interest. Maybe encourage them to go to the next Town Hall in my area and confront (politely) Representative (Masturbating Neonate) Burgess.
Raphael Kearns
@Eric: Mine always ask my zip code so I guess I’ll need to find applicable zip codes for out of state Legislators.
Raphael Kearns
@Another Scott: Here’s a link to a HuffPo article that a former staffer tweeted about this past weekend. She basically says that the only thing they pay attention to is when they get phone calls in the local offices. She said that snail mail if less than effective and email gets no love.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/contacting-your-congressional-representative_us_582a0965e4b060adb56f8e95
clay
Here’s a dumb question: Neither of the current House Reps in Jacksonville (FL) will be returning for the next session. Should I call their offices, or those of the newly elected Reps?
I would think that I should call the new folks, but I’m thinking that they may not have put together a proper staff to deal with this sort of thing yet. I assume that they’re scrambling to get things organized. And I’m finding it surprisingly tough to even get contact info for them.
If I call the current reps, I’m sure I’ll get a response, but whatever they say won’t mean anything come January.
gogol's wife
So far, AARP is useless. I’ve been bounced around to 10 different people, all either clueless or trying to sell me something. Try this number: 202-434-3720. I’m supposed to get a call back from them about what their plan is.
low-tech cyclist
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
Ditto when your Rep is Steny Hoyer, and your Senators are both solid Dems. (Currently Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski; Chris Van Hollen will replace the retiring Mikulski in January.) But still want them to know that they’ve got support.
low-tech cyclist
Richard – Josh Marshall just pointed out something useful to deal with Congresscritters’ attempts to duck the question by saying they want to wait until there’s an actual bill before taking a position.
In 2015, the House already voted on the Ryan budget that included the Medicare phaseout. Here’s the roll call. Can always ask your Congresscritters if they would still vote the same way on that bill, or whether they’d vote against it now.
Paul Gottlieb
Everyone here should write or call (NOT email) their congressman and senators and make them say what their stand is on preserving Medicare–as is! Any elected official who claims that they will “save” Medicare through privatization is a liar and should be targeted for electoral extermination. Medicare is an extremely popular program–with Republicans and Democrats . Write your representatives, write your newspapers.Make noise! If we can make the next election a referendum on Medicare, we can knock off a lot of Republicans.
Shalimar
@Ohio Mom: AARP was started as a way to open up new markets for an insurance company. Supplemental insurance is still a major part of their business today. I’m not sure how this affects their stance on Medicare, but I would think they are at best ambivalent about a plan to turn it into a version of Obamacare.
My opinion, if Medicare dies, AARP’s reputation as the major group that advocates for the elderly dies with it. Even if they would make more money from voucherization, they need to recognize the mortal threat to their brand.
Glidwrith
Called Scott Peters in CA-52 and I got the ‘not authorized to respond to your question’, so who knows. I spent some time yelling at the nice intern that now was not the time to go into a fetal curl and it shouldn’t be a hard choice to say ‘NO’ to hurting people. Not to mention I was one of the votes that helped keep him in office in the prior midterm cycle when he won by only a few hundred.
I am now following Jacy’s advice and unplugging. Grrrrrrrrrrr.
Ksmiami
@Shalimar: exactly. They cease to have a raison de etre without ss and medicare
jenn
I just wanted to say that regardless of whether or not you know what your Senators/Reps are going to say (either on the Dem or Rep side), it’s still worthwhile to get that call in, so that it is registered that their constituents care about the issue.
Judy Cochran
@Glidwrith: Call both the local office and D.C. office. Don’t let them scare you off. This is an important issue. Best to be cool and collected. Repeating is good.
Kristine
Had some turnover here in far NE IL. Dold (R) is out–Brad Schneider (D) is my new rep. Kirk is out and Duckworth is in. Then there’s Durbin.
I assume it isn’t worth calling offices of outgoing reps. Do incoming legislators have anything set up at this point–I intend to search, but wonder if anyone knew offhand?
Doug Gardner
I’m in Ohio-1, Steve Chabot (R), and I left a message yesterday with no reply. Today’s call was answered and my question was “entered into the system for someone in the DC staff to review”. They took my contact info, so I’ll see if I get a call back. I noted from TPM’s piece in 2015
that Chabot voted for the Medicare phase-out last year, so it will be hard for his staff to walk away from that.
PhoenixRising
NM-1, Michelle Lujan Grisham: She hasn’t advised us (staff) of any particular position on the Speaker’s plan but she knows that Medicare is an important part of our seniors’ safety net (so, mush).
Dionne
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: I am in the 8th District in Minnesota and reached out to Rep. Nolan who just narrowly defended his seat, again, from Mills. Will update with any response.
Anthony
Called Rep Beyer (VA-8) and Sen. Kain and Warner. Beyer is against Paul Ryan’s plan. Neither Kain or Warner have issued talking points on the Medicare issue.
karen marie
@Gin & Tonic: You should still call. They need to hear the phone ring. Please.
karen marie
My blood pressure can’t take this. I called my rep Dave Schweikert, spoke to a very rude person claiming to be his chief of staff, Beau Brunson, who told me Schweikert would vote for Ryan’s plan to “save” Medicare by destroying it, because “it will run out of money in seven years, according to the CBO.” Mr. Brunson thinks shouting and talking over constituent callers is hilarious. Have I mentioned recently how much I hate Arizona?
bendal
I’ve got two useless Senators (Tillis and Burr) and a Democrat who is in such a solid blue district (Price) he never speaks out about anything because he doesn’t have to.
Lizzy L
I called my Congressman Mark Saulnier (CA-11), and got a pleasant-voiced staffer who took my name, address, and phone number, and told me the Congressman would respond by letter. However, Saulnier’s a Dem, and he voted against the Ryan budget in 2015, so I have no doubt he’s not going to support “A Better Way.”
NMgal
@PhoenixRising: WTF, this isn’t hard, lady. OK, I guess I better go ahead and call my rep (Ben Ray Lujan). I didn’t think I had to, but it will be good for both of them to hear some noise from their constituents. BTW, I looked on MLG’s website about a previous position you could point out, and there’s this letter from 2013 that she cosigned. BRL has a news release from 2015 with this quote: “As we celebrate the anniversary of these landmark programs, I will continue my efforts to protect Medicare and Medicaid from Republican efforts to privatize and slash them that put insurance companies ahead of seniors, children, and people with disabilities.”
O. Felix Culpa
I called Rep. Ben Ray Lujan’s (D, CD-3) office in Santa Fe, was referred to his D.C. office. Called that number and the staffer was “not sure” where the Congressman stands on Paul Ryan’s Medicare plans. Staffer took down my contact info and said they would let me know more when the legislation comes up. I suggested it might be better to take a stance and make a plan sooner than that.
Then called Sen. Udall (D), who has taken a strong stand for the environment and against Steve Bannen’s presence in the White House. As above, staffer very friendly but no position specifically on Medicare privatization available yet.
Same for Sen. Heinrich (D). His local staff person said the senator has not issued a position statement yet, but since he had opposed privatization of the VA, he was likely to oppose this measure as well. They all took down my information and said they’d get back to me.
I plan to keep calling on this and so many other issues of concern.
Mnemosyne
@RedDirtGirl:
Great idea! Nutty conservatives call them 24/7, so we need to be calling regularly as well.
I can’t make calls from work, but I can fax letters. All of my federal representatives are Democrats, but I want to make sure they stiffen their spines and don’t go along with any compromises.
O. Felix Culpa
@NMgal: Yes, please call Ben Ray Lujan’s office. I just did and there’s no position yet. They MUST hear from us. We can’t assume that they’ll fight hard on our behalf if we don’t push and let them know we have their back.
Mnemosyne
Also, keep in mind that the Dems saying that they’re “taking no position yet” are waiting to hear from their constituents. Make sure you persist and keep (politely) calling.
(They’re probably waiting for an actual plan so they can say “I oppose it because of X, Y and Z” since Dems don’t like to look like oppositionist assholes.)
NMgal
@O. Felix Culpa: Will do. This is silly, opposition to anything Ryan is going to propose on Medicare is a no-brainer – not news what they want to do. Thanks for calling everybody.
BTW, I noted this posted on BRL’s Facebook page yesterday: “Despite his stated desire to bring the country together, President-elect Donald Trump’s appointment of Stephen Bannon as Chief Strategist is completely unacceptable, divisive, and dangerous. Bannon’s ties to White Nationalism and his leadership of Breitbart News – a website that has trafficked in anti-Semitism, xenophobia, misogyny, and racism – disqualifies him from any role in the White House. This, combined with House Republicans’ failure to stand up to this appointment, is troubling. I remain committed to standing up for every American, no matter their faith, where they live, or who they are.” Good on him. Why not get out in front of the Medicare issue as well?
NMgal
@Mnemosyne: Indeed, thanks for the reminder. Most elected officials are stuck in business as usual mode, whereas I have my hair on fire, for good goddam reason. We are not in normal times and norms should change so we don’t get steamrolled – steamrolled less, anyway. So will start making noise in that direction.
O. Felix Culpa
@NMgal:
Haha. Me too. Are you aware that a group is organizing buses to go from ABQ (and maybe other NM locations if there’s enough demand) to the Jan. 21st Women’s March on Washington? Here’s info and where you can sign up.
MadClaw
If you have dem reps/senators, call showing you support them. I know calling the republicans seems useless, but the point is to inundate them with calls, just state your point calmly.
Should we be calling Paul Ryan’s office too? As speaker of the house, he does represent all of us. He’s the one that needs the most calls. His local district ph# 608-752-4050.
Richard Mayhew
@MadClaw: we know where he stands. Right now it would be only harassment. That might be valuable in the future but not worth the effort now
MadClaw
We should be calling their local offices too, not just the DC offices.
SgrAstar
I just called my unimpressive republican congressman’s office and spoke to a surprisingly engaged staffer who promised to get back to me via email. Summary: “Geez, we don’t have any idea how he feels about privatizing medicare but he does hate obamacare.” Ok then. I’m going to do my best to get all of my friends to call them too.
Marmot
I just called Rep. McCaul to ask whether he supports replacing Medicare with a voucher program. McCaul does not have a position on it yet but is very interested in what constituents think.
Edited to put the right subject in this thread.
gyma
I called Sen Cory Gardner’s office just now (R-CO) and the nice young man reassured me Republicans are not going to privatize Medicare. When asked what they were planning, he didn’t know. I explained how concerned I was about turning Medicare into a voucher system and he claims that wouldn’t happen. Hahaha! For the record, Sen Gardner doesn’t have any town hall meetings scheduled so we won’t be given a chance to ask any questions or voice our concerns/opinions. Very helpful.
Then I called Sen Michael Bennett’s office (D-CO) twice and couldn’t get anyone to answer the phone.
Next up was Jared Polis (D-2nd CO) and a very sympathetic woman listened to me until I broke down crying. The official answer is that Rep Polis is against privatizing but doesn’t make official comments without first reading the bill. She did let me know that they are aware of what’s being considered and that this will likely happen very quickly after the inauguration.
Jon
I called Sam Johnson’s office (R-TX 3rd District) and the staff member that answered said she hadn’t had a chance to discuss his position on Ryan’s “A Better Way” plan. I mentioned that he’d voted for the plan in the Ryan budget in March of last year and was wondering if he would vote “yea” again on it and she still said she didn’t know. She took my e-mail address and said they’d be in touch.
Felanius Kootea
Ted Lieu (District 33, California) has no public statement yet on Paul Ryan’s plans for privatization of Medicare.
Uncharismatic megafauna
Rep. Rick Larsen’s (D WA-02) receptionist didn’t know his position on Ryan’s proposal but said he supports the ACA and Medicare (no surprise). I asked that he speak out forcefully against Ryan’s plan to destroy Medicare. Not worried about Sens. Murray and Cantwell.
Felanius Kootea
Dianne Feinstein does not have a public statement yet on Medicare privatization but plans to release one soon.
NMgal
@O. Felix Culpa: Thanks for the tip, I’ll look into it!
Jon
@Jon: Following up, here’s the response I received via e-mail from Sam Johnson (R-TX 3rd District):
That sounds like support for the “A Better Way” plan but there’s not an explicit “yea”. Guess I’ll be calling again.
The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion
Neither Roy Blunt, that loathsome Senatorial Wormtongue, nor Jason Smith, ambulatory pimple in the House of Representatives, is willing to commit to supporting Ryan’s bullshit at this point. Put both of them in the “No comment” column, for now. Awaiting a response from Claire McCaskill’s office.
gbear
I called my senators about an hour ago. Their staff didn’t know of any details for a plan to fight against Ryan’s plan. I made a point of imploring that they be prepared enough to not be blindsided by a stealth attempt to ram it through. My senators are Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, so I don’t have to wonder where they stand, just hope that they’re able to jump on it at lightning speed. I trust Franken to be on top of things.
I also made the point that ‘can’t we all work together and get along’ is a dangerous bullshit stance. We should not be playing nicely. We should not give the slightest indicaton of bi-partisanship on Obamacare. Medicare, Medicade or Social Security.
Haven’t called Betty McCollum’s office yet but I know where she’s at.
NMgal
@NMgal: Just called Lujan’s DC office. Talked to a clueless intern who had no idea whether there is a position, or really what to do with my call. So I told him, “Write this down…” Gave him a short spiel about strong opposition to any “voucherization” or privatization, and that I recommended the congressman get on the stick now about vocal opposition and planning, not get caught flat-footed when the bill comes up. I think I may have said something about the new order and no business as usual. I’ll follow up with something written.
Steve!
Just called the DC office of Mimi Walters (R – CA 45) and spoke to a very nice intern who had no idea what the Congresswoman’s position was on voucherization, even after putting me on hold for several minutes. He did say that she supports the Better Way plan in general (I think the term he used was “big fan”), so I think you can put her in the bad column on this one.
Neldob
Just called Ken Calvert’s office (R-CA 42) and the intern had no idea what I was talking about and said he would get back to my email.