Jack & Jill Politics

Found this over at Balloon Juice

Against Their Will
by Tim F.

Readers here have reported the same thing.

I work for a company that employs 10’s of thousands of people—mostly in red and purple states. I didn’t work the last few days of this past week—so I’m just learning about a memo they sent us that essentially tells us we could lose our jobs if HCR passes on Sunday—so we should call our representatives and tell them to vote “no.”

Please, please tell your Reps’ staff that this is going on. All Republicans have is fear, but don’t underestimate that. Fear is incredibly effective when pros wield it.

***Update***

Houstonian.

Phoned my Rep., Sheila Jackson Lee’s office again this morning. Staffer was thrilled to hear from someone for the bill and said they were being swamped with calls from people screaming at them against the bill. Reiterated that they really appreciated the call.

Phoned Solomon Ortiz’s office. He’s not my Rep, but I’ve got connections in his district, so I didn’t feel completely unreasonable calling. Told the staffer I was for the bill and the staffer was completely taken aback and said, “Wait, you’re for the bill?” I laughed and said, yes, and I asked if there was a decision from Congressman Ortiz on his vote. Staffer said Ortiz was in a meeting and nothing was certain yet (I’ve read he’s leaning Yes). I asked if they’d been getting swamped with “No” callers and staffer said yes and it was really, really nice to get a call supporting the bill, and not to be yelled at. We had a very pleasant chat.

What I took from all that is that the “Vote No” types are burning up the phone lines. Staffers are tired of being yelled at. Please call and offer support for the “Vote Yes” side. The staffers are so appreciative of it and it’s important the Yes constituents make themselves heard.

What To Do When The Phones Are Busy
by Tim F.

Have you tried your Rep’s local offices? If you know who your Representative is then google his or her name to find the local office (find your Rep’s name here). If local numbers are also busy then send a signed fax using, for example, the free online fax tool here.

Faxes often have more impact than phone calls, and you’re more likely to get one through. Please do not bother with email.

Reminder
by Tim F.

Phone your Representative. It feels better than yelling at pseudonyms on an internetblog.

Here is how you do it.

(1) Use a phone. Email has nigh on zero impact. Trust me on this. Letter mail gets read, but you don’t have time. Reach the House switchboard at (202) 224-3121 .

(2) Remember, this person works for you. You pay his or her salary and you voted for them. You’re the boss here, or at least one of them, and it’s they who should worry about what you think of them.

(3) Identify your name and the town or neighborhood where you live zip code. If you are not a constituent don’t bother. Since you guys never listen to me, at least google a zip code in the appropriate district before you call.

(4) State the issue. This is easy: pass the Senate bill or the party gets it. We can (and certainly will) fix the shortcomings later.

(5) How strongly do you feel? Don’t apologize about feeling passionate or pissed off. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

(6) What are you going to do about it? (Updated from earlier) This part is not that relevant when they’re getting a ton of calls. Every teabagger threatens the end of the world, so they get pretty jaded about it.