Motley Moose – Archive

Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

The Final Stages of the Battle for Health Care Reform

The fight for health care reform in this country started more than 100 years ago. The current stage of the fight started more than a year ago. It has been raging ever since Barack Obama took office in January, 2009. We are now in the final days of the latest battle and the Right is bringing its full force to bear to try to prevent any changes to the status quo.

The Right has fought against any reforms that will benefit the American people at the expense of business interests. They have labeled the effort as an attempt to take over the entire health care industry. They have told people that it will turn the country into a socialist country, even though there is absolutely nothing to justify that claim since the public option was removed from the Senate bill. They have claimed provisions in the bill will lead to “death panels” that will kill off your grandparents or disabled children. They have lied and misled to the point that some people actually fear for their lives if this bill passes. They are not above using any tactic, telling any lie, and smearing any progressive in an attempt to protect health insurance companies and pharmaceutical industry profits.

The Right knows this is the final stages of the battle and are pulling out all the stops to prevent the American people from benefiting from Health Care Reform. They are flooding the internet with emails urging people to call Congress to pressure representatives. The list below comes from one of those emails. These are the people they are targeting in Congress. Please scan the list for your representative and call with a message of support if you find them in the list. Be sure to tell whoever you talk to that you are aware that opponents of reform are mounting a deliberate campaign and that you want them to know that you support reform. Also remind them that the calls against reform are coming from people that got their name from right-wing mailing lists and those people are not going to vote for them no matter what.

This is it, people. It’s up to us now. We can win this battle, but only if we are willing to fight. Call today. Call now. Call often. Send emails. Send faxes if you have access to a fax machine. Fight for what is right.

List after the break.

PLEASE CALL! DC OFFICE LOCAL

OFFICE
State District
Harry Mitchell (202) 225-2190 (480)

946-2411
AZ 5th District
Gabrielle Giffords (202) 225-2542 (520) 881-3588 AZ 8th

District
Ann Kirkpatrick (202) 225-2315 (928) 226-6914 AZ 1st District
Jerry

McNerney
(202) 225-1947 925-833-0643 CA 11th District
John

Salazar
202-225-4761 970-245-7107 CO 3rd District
Jim Himes (202) 225-5541 (866)

453-0028
CT 4th District
Alan Grayson (202) 225-2176 (407) 841-1757 FL 8th

District
Bill Foster (202) 225-2976 630-406-1114 IL 14th District
Baron

Hill
202 225 5315 812 288 3999 IN 9th District
Mark Schauer (202) 225-6276 (517)

780-9075
MI 7th District
Gary Peters (202) 225-5802 (248) 273-4227 MI 9th

District
Dina Titus (202) 225-3252 702-256-DINA (3462) NV 3rd District
Carol

Shea-Porter
(202) 225-5456 (603) 743-4813 NH 1st District
Tim Bishop (202)

225-3826
(631) 696-6500 NY 1st District
John Hall (202) 225-5441 (845) 225-3641

x49371
NY 19th District
Bill Owens (202) 225-4611 (315) 782-3150 NY 23rd

District
Mike Arcuri (202)225-3665 (315)793-8146 NY 24th District
Dan

Maffei
(202) 225-3701 (315) 423-5657 NY 25th District
Earl Pomeroy (202)

225-2611
(701) 224-0355 ND At-Large District
Steven Driehaus (202) 225-2216 (513)

684-2723
OH 1st District
Mary Jo Kilroy (202) 225-2015 (614) 294-2196 OH 15th

District
Zach Space (202) 225-6265 (330) 364-4300 OH 18th District
Kathy

Dahlkemper
(202) 225-5406 (814) 456-2038 PA 3rd District
Patrick Murphy (202)

225-4276
(215) 826-1963 PA 8th District
Christopher Carney (202) 225-3731 (570)

585-9988
PA 10th District
Paul Kanjorski (202) 225-6511 (570) 825-2200 PA 11th

District
John Spratt (202) 225-5501 (803)327-1114 SC 5th District
Tom

Perriello
(202) 225-4711 (276) 656-2291 VA 5th District
Alan Mollohan (202)

225-4172
(304) 623-4422 WVA 1st District
Nick Rahall (202) 225-3452 (304)

252-5000
WVA 3rd District
Steve Kagen (202) 225-5665 (920) 437-1954 WI 8th

District

32 comments

  1. I’m going to call Gary Peters, who is in the district next to ours. I added him to the Moose ActBlue page during the 2008 campaign, so while I may not be a constituent, I do have some right to give him some input.

    Could someone with posting rights on dkos crosspost this there?

  2. HappyinVT

    Rachel made a great point on her show last night.  After playing an excerpt of the robocall to Perriello’s constituents she then made the point that these Reps are darned if they do and darned if they don’t.  Vote for health care reform and the NRCC will go after you for voting for it; vote against health care reform and they’ll go after you for flip flopping.  Either way, the NRCC will not simply leave you alone.  Might as well vote for it.

    Mike Arcuri has said that he’s a “no” vote at this point; he’s flipped.  He’ll see if he flips back.

  3. Shaun Appleby

    With all the media hype on health care reform, and although Obama specifically and Democrats generally are losing ground, his personal stake in this issue remains important:

    PRINCETON, NJ — Americans remain more confident in the healthcare reform recommendations of President Obama (49%) than in the recommendations of the Democratic (37%) or Republican (32%) leaders in Congress.

    Gallup from March 2-3 asked Americans a question first asked last June — whether they were confident or not confident in the healthcare recommendations of eight groups of potential influencers. The list of those measured includes not only Obama and the Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress, but also hospitals, doctors, pharmaceutical companies, health insurance companies, and university professors and researchers who study healthcare policy.

    As was the case nine months ago, Americans express the most widespread confidence in doctors, hospitals, and university professors and researchers. Americans are least likely to have confidence in health insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies — although these two institutions have only marginally lower confidence ratings than do Republicans in Congress.

    Frank Newport – Obama Retains More Trust Than Congress on Healthcare Gallup 5 Mar 10

    Not only is Obama’s personal support essential but time is of the essence to get this done.  I have badgered my local representative, Gary Ackerman of NY-5, on health care reform and have been assured of his support.  Seems pretty solid.

    It’s time for Democrats to stand and deliver or face the wrath of their constituencies.  There is no safe harbour in this present storm.

  4. HappyinVT

    Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) offered some cover on Friday for fellow Democrats’ plans to use a majority-vote process to finish their healthcare bill.

    snip

    “I believed then, as now, that the Senate should debate the health reform bill under regular rules, which it did,” Byrd wrote in a letter to the Charleston Daily Mail. “The result of that debate was the passing of a comprehensive health care reform bill in the Senate by a 60-vote supermajority.”

    snip

    “The entire Senate- or House- passed health care bill could not and would not pass muster under the current reconciliation rules, which were established under my watch,” Byrd explained. “Yet a bill structured to reduce deficits by, for example, finding savings in Medicare or lowering health care costs, may be consistent with the Budget Act, and appropriately considered under reconciliation.”

    http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-

  5. HappyinVT

    The invented Republican/ Foxy News talking point du jour is that the Democrats intend to ‘ram health care reform down our throats’ even though ‘the American people don’t want it.’

    Bzzz. That’s just wrong! First of all, when there is a landslide triumph for a party as there was in November, 2008, for the victor to actually govern and legislate is not ‘ramming’ anything down anyone’s ‘throat.’ It is doing what the people asked you to do. Obama campaigned on this issue, and presumably that fact had not escaped the electorate’s notice.

    Just so we don’t forget, if we sized the lower 48 states according to their population, this is what the Democratic victory looked like, according to cartophilia:

    statepopredblue512

    http://juancole.com/

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