Giffords staff is asking for addresses straight away (4.00 / 4)

Luckily I live in the district.  But beware, you may get screened!

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by: jrdub @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 16:26:41 PM UTC

I state that I am a DCCC donor at the beginning (4.00 / 5)

of every call.  They at least pretend to listen then.

John McCain won't insure children

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by: magster @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 16:58:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Good one! (4.00 / 2)

Maybe that will get their attention.

Yes, Virginia, there are progressives in Nevada.

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by: Andrew Davey @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 17:06:41 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I told 'em Yavapai county, (4.00 / 2)

seemed to be good enough. Nice fella asked me if I had called my rep.(Kirkpatrick), I said I sure as hell had.

one nation, under a groove...

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by: GANJA @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 17:29:58 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Start right out by giving your name (4.00 / 3)

then make your request.

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by: joanneleon @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 18:21:08 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yep. Dina Titus is on board! (Nevada 3rd) (4.00 / 8)

YAY! I just called her DC office, and the staffer was very nice in explaining Dina's take on health care and the public option. Yes, while she frustrated me at first (in not supporting the bill in Education Committee) she's more than made up for it since in working to get the best bill possible.

Now I just hope we can get Harry Reid delivering on the Senate side. Wish me luck! :-)

Yes, Virginia, there are progressives in Nevada.

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by: Andrew Davey @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 16:37:57 PM UTC

TPM: many undecided (0.00 / 0)

This an interesting account, though it's hard to reconcile all the reports.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo...

As we've been reporting today, House Democrats held a private caucus meeting on health care and the various public option possibilities for a final version of their bill.

A Democratic leadership source tells TPMDC that leaders read out the names of the entire caucus this morning to get Democrats on record with their positions. Members were asked if they support a "robust" public option.

"There are a lot of undecided members," the source said.

New Jersey politics at Blue Jersey.

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by: Hopeful in NJ @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 16:50:29 PM UTC

People get squishy (4.00 / 9)

whenever a whip like this happens, a lot of people who were once listed as "solid" supporters get squishy. That is, they know it matters a lot to the leadership, and so they smell a chance to get something for their district in the bill.

Undecided becomes a negotiating position.

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by: Chris Bowers @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 16:57:43 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

They should follow up with Q on if they've decided (4.00 / 1)

on whether to keep their seniority on committees.

John McCain won't insure children

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by: magster @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 17:12:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I very much support Pelosi threatening directly, or any other way she can to get this. (4.00 / 3)

The leadership had better start stomping (if only feet, or only toes) because if we don't stomp on this, the Democratic Party will be stomped. I am amazed at how stupid people are. Smart people can so effing dumb.

--

The government has a defect: it's potentially democratic. Corporations have no defect: they're pure tyrannies. -Chomsky

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by: HousesofProgress @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 18:48:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

ps. (0.00 / 0)

There's a typo in the title of the post.

New Jersey politics at Blue Jersey.

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by: Hopeful in NJ @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 17:14:33 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Wouldn't It Be Nice... (4.00 / 6)

...if Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), who represents over 550,000 people, had a vote in the House?  I'm just sayin...

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by: howardpark @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 16:52:04 PM UTC

the concentration of folks in the Village who want to preserve (4.00 / 4)

the Last Plantation is pretty high, unfortunately.  

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by: chicago dyke @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 17:23:39 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

This exactly true. (4.00 / 5)

If the people of DC where mostly european-americans this would have ended 100 years ago.

Shame on everyone in congress. Shame.

--

The government has a defect: it's potentially democratic. Corporations have no defect: they're pure tyrannies. -Chomsky

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by: HousesofProgress @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 18:50:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

The City and the Village (4.00 / 2)

Thanks for distingushing between the city -- hundreds of thousands of people, and the village -- perhaps 4-5,000 very wealthy elite lobbyists, staffers, lawyers and media pontificators.

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by: howardpark @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 19:13:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Calls (4.00 / 6)

Donnelly (IN-02): very nice, only required name; asked if I wanted to leave my mailing address and I said "No thank you" and it was no problem; agreed to pass my message along.

Schraeder (OR-05): very nice, doesn't know his position other than that he wants a strong public option; asked what city in OR I was from; I said I was from NJ but that his vote was critical right now and would affect everyone in the country; asked if she would pass my message along and she said yes.

Costa (CA-20): nice enough; said he hasn't taken a position yet; did not ask where I was from but agreed to pass my message along.

Cardoza (CA-18): very nice; said he hasn't taken a position yet on which public option and that his problems with the bills in general are about other nuts and bolts; asked for my mailing address and agreed to pass my message along; he said he was writing it down and was happy to have a very specific message to pass along.

Davis (TN-04): very nice; did not want an address; ended the call quickly by saying he'd be sure to pass that message on.

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by: joanneleon @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 17:04:04 PM UTC

called (4.00 / 7)

Kurt Schrader (OR-05) and got a nice staff person.   I shared that I used to live in Oregon, and how I know the good people of Oregon would want to be represented by his support of robust public option that's tied to Medicare plus 5% rates.

She said he supports a "strong public option."

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by: joe angelelli @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 17:32:03 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Many staffers contend (4.00 / 4)

that the final bill determines support and seem flustered when told congressional support determines what the final bill is.  

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by: wobbly @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 18:51:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Carney (PA-10) is a solid yes?! (4.00 / 1)

that's really big.

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by: DTOzone @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 17:10:55 PM UTC

Medicare +5 with a three-year opt out being floated (4.00 / 1)

Chris,

I'm now hearing that Medicare +5 with a three-year opt out being floated as a compromise in the House. All states would initially be in the system under Medicare +5 rates, then would be allowed to opt out after a three-year period.

The whip count this morning didn't go as hoped. Rather than firm up the "leaning yes" votes, a lot of lawmakers declared themselves "undecided" when push came to shove.

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by: venice4change @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 18:26:00 PM UTC

Don't like it very much... (0.00 / 0)

....without consignment the medicare+5 option might end up being very crappy for patients 'cos no doctor will accept medicare+5% rates and there won't be anyone forcing them to....

That's a big disappointment on the whip count....

REID: Voting against us was never part of our arrangement!
SPECTER: I am altering the deal! Pray I don't alter it any further!
REID: This deal keeps getting worse all the time!

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by: lord_mike @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 18:42:40 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I heard (0.00 / 0)

another potential compromise was a trigger, not for the public option, but for the rates.

If the "level playing field" negotiated rates do not lower costs to a certain level, it will trigger Medicare +5.

and yeah, on the whip count, I heard Pelosi got somewhere between 185 and 200 votes

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by: DTOzone @ Sat Oct 24, 2009 at 02:55:36 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Call other Reps from undecided's state (4.00 / 2)

One other suggestion:

If you live in a state (but outside the district) of one of these undecideds, call your own Rep and ask that they lobby the undecided colleague from the state's delegation. State caucus pressures/issues do matter and Reps do tend to help/work with each other.

Self-refuting Christine O'Donnell is proof monkeys are still evolving into humans

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by: Steve in Sacto @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 18:41:47 PM UTC

That's a good idea! (0.00 / 0)

I'd do it, but it looks like all my state's Reps have decided. The two Dems are now on record supporting the Medicare+5 public option, and the one CReep will just vote against whatever the final bill is.

Yes, Virginia, there are progressives in Nevada.

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by: Andrew Davey @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 19:22:56 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I called the 2 CA reps today (4.00 / 2)

neither officially in my district, but one is very close. Both offices told me that they would "pass the message along".  

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by: Oaktown Girl @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 18:47:31 PM UTC

Boswell still needs calls. (4.00 / 1)

When I called Wednesday, the lady I talked with didn't know his position.  Today, he's lean yes and won't commit further.

He sends out email to constituent subscribers.  The latest, sent late afternoon yesterday, I think sheds some clues on why he's leaning yes.  (All emphasis mine.)

Today, I was proud to stand with my colleagues from the Quality Care Coalition, especially my fellow Members from Iowa, Reps. Bruce Braley and Dave Loebsack, to announce a major breakthrough on the issue of Medicare payment reform.

Iowa's hospitals and clinics are at their breaking point.  They provide some of the highest quality of care in the nation, yet are reimbursed for their services to Medicare patients at the lowest rates in the country. I, along with my colleagues on the Quality Care Coalition, have negotiated a compromise to include final language in a health care bill that will address this inequity once-and-for-all.

Specifically, the compromise includes language that would direct two studies to take place before the bill is fully implemented. The first would study the disparities in provider reimbursements across the nation and seek to fix those for high quality, low reimbursement states like Iowa. The second study would pave the way for paying our providers for the quality of care they give, not the number of services they conduct.  Medicare would switch to a quality-based system unless Congress specifically cast a vote to disallow that change.

It is imperative that we continue to work together to ensure that the final bill includes the study on the Medicare reimbursement formula, as well as the study to pay doctors for performance rather than our current fee-for-service model.

Health care reform must move us forward. It is time to take a hard look at where we are now and ask ourselves how we can truly help our doctors to continue to provide excellent care to Americans, while bending the cost curve and expanding coverage.  

I hope that my colleagues will keep sharp eye on the structure of reform and how it will impact the public option in a final health care bill.  It must be robust in that it covers all people.  But it must also be fair.

Sincerely,

Leonard L. Boswell
Member of Congress

Interesting definition of robust.  I think he's confusing that with universal.  More calls are needed.

Health insurance is not health care.
If you don't fight, you can't win.
Never give up. Never Surrender.
Watch out for flying kabuki.

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by: Gabriel D @ Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 20:47:22 PM UTC