worst possible month,but i will scrape the Barrel…Saint Jane

Mornin’ Jane. I just got off the phone with Rep. Ed Markey’s office in Medford, MA. I didn’t get the staffers name, but he assured me that Rep. Markey would vote against any legislation that does not include a strong public option.

We had a spirited discussion about the Progressive Caucus endlessly getting rolled by the Blue Dogs, with a bit of a detour into ACES and the supplemental. The staffer also made the mistake of talking down to me about climate change issues. Note, to Congressional staffers, you never know who lives in your district or what their areas of expertise are, so don’t presume…

Proud that my rep is Jackie Speier and one of those 60. Will send a donation to her. Thanks, Jane. None of this would have happened without you and the Lake.

Going to see Carol Shea Porter this evening and will definitely be all over her about her non stance on health care. I wrote to her some time back and received a typical wishy washy reply indicating that the health care bus. is in a mess and needs reforming… etc, etc, etc. I will try and pin her down this evening and, frankly, if she does not firmly state that she supports single payer and, further, will vote against any bill that does not, at the very least, include the so called public option then I will no longer donate to her and will definitely not vote for her again.

Jane, we’re still glowing over your clip with Andrea Mitchell!

Me to hubby: “Jane’s planning for the next round.”
Hubby: “Wow-Jane’s set up a boxing match!”
Me: “Yeah, she’s a pro with a fierce left hook.”

We’re in for $100 this morning. Will look for more, too.

(((((( jane ))))))

Scraped here too but found a little something. With Family guy Joe Pitts as my rep, I’m obligated to help out others in more enlightened districts.

Everytime I see your gentle countenance take out another dinosaur I am so proud that I knew of you before this. Money is always tight in this old pensioners life but I will commit what I can because it is not just for me but for my grand children’s lives and for those who are retired without pension/medical plans like I am blessed with-an old SEIU retiree.

Would SOMEBODY PLEASE call the V.A. and have Secretary Shinseki increase my pension so I can contribute???

Damn I hate it when I get those emails asking for money.

I’m completely tapped out ’till Thursday, but I’ve set a reminder on my calendar to donate then. Great work everyone. I’m trying to think of a good way to cc my Blue Dog rep every time I give money to a genuine progressive.

Just send a postcard saying “today you didn’t get my money but —– did”.

John Larson, House Chair of the D Caucus, non commital, though the aide said Larson had an opinion but that as a constituent I was not privy to his thinking.

I rewarded the Progressives good behavior.

It seems to me that we should, at this point and going forward, make the following additional demand of House and Senate leadership and the WH, in addition to the obvious one we’ve been making, for a STRONG public option:

Abandon bi-partisanship with the Republicans now. If Snowe can be brought over into our camp in the Senate then focus on her and her alone, but otherwise these two-tailed efforts to bring around conservative Democrats AND Republicans in one go are dividing our attention.

Focusing on the conservaDems in the Senate is necessary and needs to continue (and continue with rigor) but the simultaneous attention on the Republicans is just wasted effort. The conservadems, led by Baucus, need to be forced to negotiate exclusively with us and not any longer with their Republican colleagues.

We all have differences, but the only differences that now matter are within the party. I don’t see any other way to move this forward than for us demand that our side drop the pretense of bipartisanship as an explicit condition of further progress. I feel strongly that we need to work harder to pass this within the party, and the party alone, or acknowledge that this effort will, in all likelihood, fail altogether.

Blue America rocks!

Amen, Jane, and thank you for your Joan of Arc’ing on this healthcare stuff, you’re having tremendous impact and helping US to do the same! My Heroine!

Was on a town-hall-by-telephone with Rep. Nadler last night. The teleconference format made it easy to keep things neat and tidy, and the questions were all divided between “my insurance sucks, is the public option dead,” and people desperate for help with particular InsCo-created health crises.

I didn’t get to ask him if he thought the Reps who’d signed the pledge would stand firm (too many questions ahead of me), but I absolutely agree we’ve got to reward these guys in every way possible, esp. since it’s so easy to cave, and accept InsCo dollars, and HARD to hold a principled line when you need campaign cash desperately, as they all do.

In his closing remarks Rep. Nadler promised to continue to fight for reform, AND for the public option, and urged everyone to keep up the fight against demagoguery.

The health care battle, by the way, is an exact template for how it’s going to go from here on in, on every single issue progressives care about. I’m afraid it’s a mistake to count on good faith from Obama, and I’m afraid we’re going to have to fight tooth and nail for every inch of ground we gain.

Thanks, Jane, you’re an inspiration.

What does everyone think about calling your Congressional Representative, who might be on the fence, and telling them about the ActBlue funding site, and that you will contribute to their campaign via ActBlue if they commit? Mine, for instance is Bobby Scott (VA), he’s a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and he’s co-sponsored legislation in favor of single payer, but he hasn’t committed yet. He might be persuadable.

Wow, you got Yarmuth! Excellent!

Yay Sam Farr. Money coming!

Jane et al,

Just wanted to let you know that I’m watching that page pretty closely. I also wanted to take a quick moment to shill for ActBlue–we’re supported by your tips, so if you think the ability to do what you’re doing is important, see if you can find an extra 5% so we can keep providing the space for stuff like this to happen.

-Adrian, Deputy Communications Director, ActBlue

I was elated today when I read that the public option is definitely in play and it is picking up steam. Also, more grassroots Democrats are showing up in larger numbers at town hall meetings and in some areas outnumber the fist-shaking, gun-toting NRA assault weapon GOP thugs.

I was disgusted with NBC News tonight when they showcased again all the negativity over health care reform and erosion in the Democrats’ and Barack Obama’s approval ratings. One graphic bulleted 1.Government takeover, 2. illegal immigrants will all be covered and, 3.included mandatory abortion funding — all lies.

But, then it was followed up with a woman exclaiming that if her grandmother gets cancer, under the Obama proposals she’ll just be tossed aside because her care would cost too much to keep her alive. With media people like this to carry the water for the Party of No Republicans, who needs any more enemies?

However, if the above article Rewarding Good Behavior is a trend then things should start to turn around and hopefully support will get stronger. Maybe even NBC will recognize that the angry AR-15 assault weapons-carrying mob doesn’t control the entire message.