Trump is threatening them if they vote against the bill, if you’re their constituent (or know someone who lives in their states), call them and make sure these reps know they answer to the American people and not to Trump.
Vote will take place on Thursday, March 23 - tell them to vote no on AHCA aka Trumpcare.
Comment left on a FB post. Worth the share:
This is an FYI. A friend infiltrated a support DT meeting. They are serious and committed. Here are her notes.
A VIEW FROM THE INSIDE OF THE OTHER SIDE
Last night I attended a Pro-President “little d” meeting. My summary will be a bit long, however, I want to pass on what we learned, In the art of war it is always advised to know what your enemy is doing, that is why there are spies. Two of the groups I’m involved with have a committee that is subscribed to little d’s supporters newsletters, are members of various FB groups (with specially created profiles) and are on his mailing list for updates.
Last night 3 of us went to a group meeting. What we saw and heard was both scary and informative.
The meeting was led by 5 men and we counted approximately 70 people in the room including us. We counted 13 women.
They started the meeting with a pledge of allegiance to the flag. Then they jumped into discussions, the first being the Marches. It was a lot of WTF and why don’t they just shut up. They discussed the report that there were no arrests so that meant that the police and the media were lying. The leader(s) then gave them an “action item” to find anything to dispute the no arrests report and to put pressure on the police to arrest protestors. Several people in the group admitted to being at the March to try to interfere, but felt they were bullied by the Marchers and had to stop “for their own safety” (actual quote). They questioned why so many people “got away with it” (Marching). It seemed to be a hot point with them.
They moved on to reports from the teams. They have teams and committees with specific tasks, ie: daily phone calls and collect tallies of who makes phone calls to their Reps. It appears they call throughout the day, and each call is either a different issue or their personal favorite.
They have a team who monitor the public blogs and event postings of the Liberal groups (specifically mentioned Indivisible and MoveOn.) They laughed at the Indivisible Guide when one leader said “the Liberals will never get organized and carry any of this out, the snowflakes give up too easily, a little heat and they melt”. They talked about the “visit your representatives office event” that was planned for earlier in the day which was posted on MoveOn and all over FB. They also were at their reps offices, and a handful admitted to going to the Democratic representatives office in their own district to have their voice counted.
They have a team who spies on FB posts. When the man who was with us asked how to do it, he was told that if he was a member of Pantsuit Nation it’s almost an automatic in into most closed groups, and then once you are in one, you can get invited to others. Someone on their team joins all the public and open groups. Their report included reading a few actual posts, in a mimic whining voice, where the members were posting their concerns and frustrations and why bother. They actually cheered this. One leader applauded the report and said, “We don’t care if they like what we have to say, we don’t need them to agree with us. We just need them to give up, shut up and stay out of our way.”
They discussed some of the issues and the recent signed orders from the WH. Some of this discussion sounded intelligent, as if they had researched not only the issue, but how to present it to get the buy-in from the group. It felt to us like a persuasion/programming tactic.
They broke into their teams and anyone not on a team was asked to choose one to sit in on. We each went to a different team. Each team talked about their mission and their strategy. The phone team assigned times for each phone call and a number to text after you called. They practiced scripts. The Anti-Abortion team talked about how to plan protests at PP and other clinics, to find the names of Doctors who perform abortions and out them by protesting at their offices and clinics. The communications team discussed the content of their newsletter, the content they were borrowing from other newsletters and articles from Briebart that they wanted to circulate. We didn’t get the names of the other teams that we didn’t sit in on but there were 4 others.
We found out that this group used to be a young republican group and after the election and seeing the actions of the Liberals, they changed to a support little d group to stand up for him and against Liberals.
I don’t believe all groups are this scary, however, they appear to be organized. One of the members in one of my groups, changed her registration to Republican so she could see what they do from the inside. She gets phone calls from a phone bank, sometimes several times a week, about issues and actions she should take, she gets their weekly newsletter and she attended a local Rep meeting. Her report is similar only in that they are very organized, take daily actions and communicate often.
So knowing this, what do we do? Our recommendations:
1.) Don’t give up.
2.) If you Marched, email your local police to write a thank you for their part in keeping the peace.
3.) Get organized. Even if you are not with an organized local group, you can organize yourself. Set aside certain times for certain actions based on what you CAN do. We are all under time constraints and work/family/life commitments, however, find what time you CAN give. **We have found that being with an organized local group that you can see and touch helps us to stay focused and feeling our strength.
4.) Determine what actions you CAN take – when and how many phone calls, emails, visits, protests CAN you do. Focus on that.
5.) Limit your time reading all the comments on FB. Too many can become overwhelming and can end up feeling like you are carrying a larger burden.
6.) Find and cross post the good results that are happening, so we can all see the progress. It may be small steps like the postponement of a cabinet position approval/rejection, however, every step counts. If you have ever attempted to lose weight, you remember how some days feel like nothing is happening, and then little by little the results start to appear. Whatever goal you have reached in little steps, remember the little steps got the momentum started. Stay strong.
7.) Find support when you need it. It’s been shown that if you vent to someone who is also venting, you both stay in the same spot. If you can vent to someone who will HEAR you without judgement and without chiming in, you can both get through it faster and back to feeling stronger. If you both need to vent, take turns; 2 minutes each venting and really HEAR each other, then switch places. When the venting is done, take a positive action.
8.) Take a break. Do something positive for yourself every day (more a few times during the day if you need it) that doesn’t include thinking about politics – exercise, spas, reading a good book, writing a love letter. Find something that bring you joy and shifts your energy.
9.) Don’t give up. We are Stronger Together.
The opposition may believe that a snowflake is fragile when the heat is on, however, although the snowflakes may melt, enough heat can also cause a boil. Together, we can be an avalanche, and if we can focus our boiling angry energy we can be the heat that they fear. I refer to him as “little d”. He has not earned my respect of capitalization nor use of his full name. Plus, on social media I don’t want to add to the algorithm that counts how many people are talking about him.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to grant Dakota Access Pipeline its final easement to cross the Missouri River within “days not weeks,” according to the office of Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.
Hoeven said Acting Secretary of the Army Robert Speer has directed the corps to proceed with an easement for the completion of the 1,172-mile crude oil pipeline. An environmental impact statement, which opponents of the pipeline had argued in favor of, is not likely to take place, said Don Canton, a spokesman for the senator.
- CALL to speak out against DAPL:
1.) North Dakota Governor 600 East Boulevard Avenue, Bismarck, ND 58505-0100 | 701.328.2200: phone | 701.328.2205: fax | web contact form
2.) Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline owner ― Lee Hanse, executive vice president, 210-403-6455; Glenn Emery, vice president, 210-403-6762; Michael (Cliff) Waters, lead analyst, 713-989-2404.
3.) Army Corps of Engineers, which issued the permit allowing construction of the pipeline, even though it would cross under the Missouri River within a half-mile of the Sioux reservation boundary, at 202-761-5903.
- DONATE
- FAQ (How to Help, Send Supplies, Amazon Wish List, Legal Defense Fund)
Hey there!
Are you an American? Do you have a sec to stand up for the millions of poor people, disabled people, people with pre-existing conditions and freelancers who rely on the ACA to keep them, y’know, not-broke and not-dead? (Hi!)
Do you live in Alaska, Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee or West Virginia?
Congrats: you have a Republican Senator who has publicly expressed some concern about repealing the ACA without a replacement plan! If you haven’t already, this is your reminder to give their offices a call and help them make up their minds!
Alaska – Lisa Murkowski: (202)-224-6665
Arizona – John McCain: (202) 224-2235
Arizona – Jeff Flake: (202) 224-4521
Kentucky – Rand Paul: 202-224-4343
Louisiana – Bill Cassidy: (202) 224-5824
Maine – Susan Collins: (202) 224-2523
Nevada – Dean Heller: 202-224-6244
Ohio – Rob Portman: (202) 224-3353
Pennsylvania – Pat Toomey: (202) 224-4254
Tennessee – Bob Corker: (202) 224-3344
Tennessee – Lamar Alexander: (202) 224-4944
West Virginia – Shelley Moore Capito:
202-224-6472
Sample call script: “My name is [YOUR NAME]. I’m a constituent calling to thank [YOUR SENATOR’S NAME] for having the integrity and foresight to see how disastrous it would be to [YOUR STATE] and to the rest of America if Congress votes to repeal the ACA without first agreeing on a solid replacement plan. Not only would it jeopardize the health and economic security of millions of Americans, it would also place a tremendous financial strain on our hospitals and our entire healthcare system, costing potentially hundreds of thousands of jobs. As you know, in [YOUR STATE], we [SOMETHING PERSONAL ABOUT HEALTH CONCERNS SPECIFIC TO YOUR STATE; YOU MIGHT WANNA DO A 30-SECOND GOOGLE. IF NOTHING ELSE SURFACES, JUST SAY YOUR STATE BELIEVES IN SOME POSITIVE CHARACTER TRAIT THAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH KEEPING HEALTHCARE AFFORDABLE FOR AMERICANS, LIKE “LOOKING OUT FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR” OR SOMETHING.] As a voter, this is a vital issue to me, and I will be paying close attention to how [SENATOR’S NAME] votes.”
Call today if you haven’t already, and bug your local friends/family to call, too!
We only need to flip three senators, so it’s not impossible. Do this before this Friday, the 27th.
I’m sorry to ask this of you–I know there’s a lot of these things going around right now–but I depend on the ACA for my healthcare and I’m pretty damn terrified.
PAUL RYAN: (202) 225-3031
1233 Longworth HOB Washington, DC 20515
Fax: (202) 225-3393
SCRIPT
(all you have to say is the first sentence, but you can continue with the rest of the script per paragraph as much as you want to):
“Hi, I’m [your name], a concerned citizen and I’m calling to strongly OPPOSE any effort by the GOP and Paul Ryan to dismantle parts of the Affordable Care Act or to completely repeal ACA.
Without ACA, [ I/my parent/child/sibling/relative/partner/spouse] will lose access to regular and lifesaving healthcare, along with 22 million Americans benefiting from ACA.
We also do not want to go back to getting denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition; to women paying more; to not being able to stay on parents’ insurance until the age of 26; and to have lifetime limits.
GOP and Paul Ryan also currently offer no better replacement for ACA; so they should direct their efforts to improving and expanding ACA so more Americans can afford to have healthcare, instead of dismantling or repealing ACA.”
Since @beesmygod has been posting a lot about bothering your local elected representative, I thought I should help a little as someone who understands government work. I live & work outside of the US, but I suspect this is applicable to many local & state/provincial governments.
ALWAYS REQUEST A CALLBACK
I answer a lot of dumb complaints in my particular field. After a while, it gets easy to start tuning complaints out and assuming that people are just mad for no good reason. Callbacks force me to engage. They force me to look into a problem before I call someone back - to actually investigate instead of assuming. It’s harder to tune someone out when you’re holding me accountable.
a really really great post from a professional who knows how it works
here is the great post i was looking for!!
Reposted from something I saw on Facebook
“I just called the House Oversight Committee (202-225-5074) to support the call for a bipartisan review of Trump’s financials and apparent conflicts of interest. It took me two minutes, and the woman on the phone said that they are absolutely tallying calls - the more they get, the more likely the Committee is to demand ALL of Trump’s financial information.
She said that there’s not much time left, as they are out of the office next week for Thanksgiving. And after that, they’re going to make a decision.
NOW is your chance to use what’s left of democracy to send a strong message and demand change. Please, do this ASAFP. If you get a “mailbox is full” message, call back in a minute or so - that seems to be the default when lines are busy.
That number again is (202-225-5074). Website here:
“Likes” feel nice in the short term. “Shares” get the word out. ACTUALLY CALLING ACTUALLY DOES SOMETHING.”
I’m calling again tomorrow. Seriously, guys, hound Chaffetz’s ass on this.
YES. Call if you can!
Don’t know what to say? Here are a bunch of different scripts you can pick and choose from.
A white supremacist like Steve Bannon should be unacceptable as chief strategist in the White House, whether you supported Trump or not. President-elects have had to back down on appointments before, for comparatively minor reasons. Let’s not assume this is a done deal.
Social media activism can help raise awareness, but concrete action is important. My friend offers these steps you can take to prevent this appointment:
1) If you live in the US, call your Senators and Representatives and tell them this is unacceptable. Note that the Senate must approve Cabinet appointments: http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact. [See script at end of post. Also, I know this isn’t a Cabinet post but it’s still important to register your objection.]
2) Paul Ryan is feigning ignorance again. Call his office at (202) 225-3031 and let him know that this is not ok. Same with Majority Leader McConnell, (202) 224-2541.
3) Call out the media when they report the Bannon appointment as a straight news story or refer to him as a “Breitbart executive” or a “provocateur,” but don’t call him what he is: a white supremacist, anti-Semite, and misogynist. Don’t let them normalize.
4) Where protests are ongoing, make this a focus, with signs, chants, etc. Speak out on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms.
5) Reach out to any groups you know that might join this effort, from religious groups to community organizations.
6) Contact other people of influence—college presidents, high-profile coaches and anyone else who has a public megaphone—and ask them to speak out against Bannon’s appointment.
7) Sign and share this petition from the Southern Poverty Law Center: https://www.splcenter.org/stephen-bannon-has-no-business-white-house
*If you are unsure of what to say when you call your reps, here is a script that worked for someone else:
“Hi! My name is redacted and I am a constituent of Rep. Smith’s. I’m calling to see if and when he’ll be condemning the appointment of Steve Bannon to the White House.”
Them: The Congressman isn’t in yet today and I’m not sure anyone has had a chance to ask him.
“When you do, please also remind the Congressman that he has Jewish constituents in his district, including me, and we are highly concerned about having a white nationalist in the White House.”
Them: Hold please.
Them: Yes, just checked again, and we are not sure his response.
“OK. Well, I’d like a call back, [gives info] and I hope the Congressman is looking carefully at what this man has said and what he believes.”
BOOST THIS
