MyDD :: Call Your Senator

by liberaldemocrat08 on Sun Jan 29, 2006 at 02:03:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]

This is an exercise in futility. We all know a filibuster will never hold. What is the point? A moral victory? The point is to win the senate back so that this doesn't happen again.

Re: Call the young turks (none / 0)

Someone needs to call the Young Turks @
323-866-8201

Tell them the "clairol" plan of calling two friends and they call two friends etc.

That's a geometric progression and after just 10 layers their will be 1023 calls and emails. That's from one person starting the chain by calling two people.

If 100 people start a chain that goes 10 layers that's 100,000 people. If it goes 20 layers that's is over a million for each person who starts a chain. The numbers will convince people to call.

by mpower1952 on Sun Jan 29, 2006 at 02:14:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Update (3.00 / 1)

According to Sen. Kennedy you should target:

Senators Pryor, Lincoln, Cantwell, Murray, Baucus, Harkin, Levin, Bayh, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Lieberman. In addition, he said to keep the pressure on Republican Senators Snowe, Collins, Chaffee, and Stevens.

In case you haven't noticed, voice mail boxes are by and large full:

Fax numbers

AR: Lincoln(D) (202) 228-1371
AR: Pryor(D) (202) 228-0908
CA: Boxer(D) (202) 226-6701
CA: Feinstein(D) (202) 228-3954
CO: Salazar(D) (202) 228-5036
CT: Dodd(D) (202) 224-1083
CT: Lieberman(D) (202) 224-9750
DE: Biden(D) (202) 224-0139
DE: Carper(D) (202) 228-2190
FL: Nelson(D) (202) 228-2183
HI: Akaka(D) (202) 224-2126
HI: Inouye(D) (202) 224-6747
IA: Harkin(D) (202) 224-9369
IL: Durbin(D) (202) 228-0400
IL: Obama(D) (202) 228-4260
IN: Bayh(D) No FAX listed
LA: Landrieu(D) (202) 224-9735
MA: Kennedy(D) (202) 224-2417
MA: Kerry(D) (202) 224-8525
MD: Mikulski(D) (202) 224-8858
MD: Sarbanes(D) (202) 224-1651
MI: Levin(D) (202) 224-1388
MI: Stabenow(D) (202) 228-0325
MN: Dayton(D) (202) 228-2186
MT: Baucus(D) (202) 224-0515
ND: Conrad(D) (202) 224-7776
ND: Dorgan(D) (202) 224-1193
NE: Nelson(D) (202) 228-0012
NJ: Corzine(D) (202) 228-2197
NJ: Lautenberg(D) (202) 224-9707
NM: Bingaman(D) (202) 224-2852
NV: Reid(D) (202) 224-7327
NY: Clinton(D) (202) 228-0282
NY: Schumer(D) (202) 228-3027
OR: Wyden(D) (202) 228-2717
RI: Reed(D) (202) 224-4680
SD: Johnson(D) (202) 228-0368
VT: Leahy(D) (202) 224-3595
VT: Jeffords(I) No FAX listed
WA: Cantwell(D) (202) 228-0514
WA: Murray(D) (202) 224-0238
WI: Feingold(D) (202) 224-2725
WI: Kohl(D) (202) 224-9787
WV: Rockefeller(D) (202) 224-7665
WV: Byrd(D) (202) 228-0002

by aiko on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 05:09:24 PM EST

by mleflo2 on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 05:09:30 PM EST

Why are the House Dems calling for an up or down vote for Judge Alito? Martin Frost today and Ford yesterday broke ranks and supported an up or down vote. They should stay out of it and let this be a Senate leadership thing. Only the Dems in the House that has nothing to say or they support the filibuster should talk or else let it be a Senate leadership fight with Hillary and Durbin on the left and Reid on the right.

I Guess (none / 0)

Ford felt he should comment being he's a Senate candidate in Tennessee. Idiot.

"The collapse of confidence in the Republican leadership is not enough to elect Democratic leadership." -Dean

by gatordemocrat on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 05:26:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

by bruh21 on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 06:40:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I don't get that- I mean why comment on things of which one is not voting. Didn't the Gov of PA feel the need to do the same thing?

by mleflo2 on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 07:55:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yes, but he is not in the Senate right now so he should stay out of it. This is only for the Senators right now. Martin Frost isn't running for the Senate and he is commenting on it and he has no business doing it. Ford is wrong.

by ilovelieberman on Sun Jan 29, 2006 at 02:30:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]

So, only people who agree with you should speak up, and people who don't should keep their mouth shut? Interesting logic.

Seriously, you know the White House has 4 paragraphs sitting on the sidelines that they are just itching to throw in the State of the Union. Not that calling us obstructionists has ever been successful. Former Senator Daschle probably doesn't think so. Hopefully, someday we will achieve ideological purity as a party by doing stupid shit like this and only holding power in major Democratic bastions. Then all 30 Senators will vote to filibuster, once we get rid of the "traitors" like Tim Johnson, Ben Nelson, and Robert Byrd. What have those guys ever done for us besides holding onto states for Dems where Gore and Kerry were major drags on the ticket?

Re: I Guess (3.00 / 1)

Robert Byrd, Mary Landrieu, and Tim Johnson think the way Zell Miller thought, if a winning presidential candidate wins your state, no matter what political party you are in, you should throw away some of your morals and political stance and go with the party in power. Interesting the Republicans didn't throw away their morals when Clinton won their home state. Tim Hutchinson of Ark didn't throw away his values when Clinton won Ark, Fred Thompson, didn't give up his, or John Ashcroft didn't stop blocking judicial nom in committee when Clinton won MO. So, we need the shape up or ship out.

by mleflo2 on Sun Jan 29, 2006 at 07:13:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]

by ilovelieberman on Sun Jan 29, 2006 at 03:35:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

A) Just because they are your morals doesn't mean they are their morals. I disagree with you on some issues, I'm sure, but I don't think you less a Democrat because of it. Do you think that guys like Gene Taylor or Ben Nelson actually agree with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Shumer on everything but just vote everything on political calculations? Because you are wrong, if so. There's a heck of a lot of people in Southern MS that agree with Gene Taylor on a lot of issues but can't stand John Kerry. That doesn't mean he's a phony, it means he fits his district well.

B) Blue State Republican Lincoln Chafee absolutely votes against his party leadership often. So do Snowe and Collins. They are either "compromising their Republican morals", like what you think Johnson and Nelson do, or he actually believes in a woman's right to choose and a family's right to eat and not die of treatable diseases. You can't have it both ways. At least you can take comfort that there are Republicans who will throw away a Senate seat in RI with an ugly primary just to ideologically purify their party like you may be wont to do in NE or SD.

by ilovelieberman on Sun Jan 29, 2006 at 03:41:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Oh, also, Zell Miller is a douchebag. Voting your state, or ideology as it may be in different cases, is one thing. Criticizing your party's nominee for President at the other guy's convention is inexcusable. Zell Miller, you're past being on notice. You're dead to me.

Zell was such a great guy, too. Anyone in Georgia who gets over a 3.0 in High School gets a full-ride scholarship to a GA state university (the HOPE Scholarship). Also, he did some amazing things for the state with Peachcare, covering massive numbers of the poor. Too bad he turned crazier than the day is long.

If I missed on the details of Zell's programs, I apologize, by the way.

by howardpark on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 06:08:29 PM EST

Every so often I like to point out that there are 550,000 or so taxpaying citizens who live in the District of Columbia who don't have Senators. Also, it's not well known that the very first action of the Republicans, when they gained control of the House in January 1995, was to strip our Representative of her right to vote on the House floor.

by Crystal Patterson on Sun Jan 29, 2006 at 02:54:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

hear!hear! Nicely said. The situation in the District is unacceptable.

Write a letter to the editor..
http://political.moveon.org/lte/index.ht ml?lte_campaign_id=44

Kerry's petition , which will go in the congressional record -

A short clip about Alito -

https:/political.moveon.org/donate/alit o-QT.html

http://www.johnkerry.com/action/filibust er

It does NOT matter if your senator is a republican, or a democrat - the important thing is to oppose Alito now. This is a 40 year deal.

by turnerbroadcasting on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 06:13:43 PM EST

Russ Feingold is Huge (none / 0)

Russ Feingold is the very voice of the new Democratic party - Here is one (perhaps not so great) contact email:

campaign@russfeingold.org

Send him a mail, short and to the point.

by turnerbroadcasting on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 06:24:58 PM EST

I Did It! (none / 0)

It took me a while, but I contacted every Senator that was included on the list.

Boy do I feel good!

"The collapse of confidence in the Republican leadership is not enough to elect Democratic leadership." -Dean

by gatordemocrat on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 06:31:33 PM EST

Re: I Did It! (none / 0)

How did you manage since all the mailboxes are full?

by sunqueen212 on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 06:57:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

That's true (none / 0)

not quite sure. I filled out their comment forms, so I didn't directly e-mail them. Not sure if that made a difference.

If that didn't work out, I did call my parents and a few Democratic friends to call our senator here in Florida, Bill Nelson to support the fillibuster.

So, I guess I did something both ways.

"The collapse of confidence in the Republican leadership is not enough to elect Democratic leadership." -Dean

by gatordemocrat on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 10:46:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]

by Linkmeister on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 06:36:25 PM EST

Just FYI, I called Sen. Akaka's local office yesterday (after an e-mail the day before). The guy who answered said he'd been receiving lots of calls. I called Sen. Inouye's local office and got the same response.

by pat0704 on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 06:51:29 PM EST

I wish I could say otherwise, but a filibuster on Alito at this point would be as disastrous for the Dems as Newt's government shutdown in 1995.

by bruh21 on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 06:59:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

if only we could put all these psychics to work on helping us win the lottery.

by ilovelieberman on Sun Jan 29, 2006 at 02:39:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]

By psychics do you mean people with brains that are able to think at least one move ahead? Because if you can't see how much Rove would love nothing more than to have the Senate deadlocked by the minority party while the President is giving the State of the Union, you are blind. What a perfect contrast; the President unveiling a "bold, new" (stupid) healthcare initiative while Democrats are shutting down Congress by fighting battles we've already lost.

There will be other Supreme Court nominees. Ginsberg and Scalia are going to die, and the court will be open for a dramatic shift in the balance of power. It would be nice if we could, at some point, put ourselves in a position to be able to vote someone crappy down. Or, crazily, even nominate one ourselves. Remember that? That was awesome. But you don't get to play government if you can't win elections, and you don't win elections if people think you're idiots.

by bruh21 on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 07:00:51 PM EST

Also- if anyone is interested- although I am not sure how effective it is- you can also try emails. Its better if you live your name and info so that they can know each person is an individual voter (this according a lobbist friend of mine)

by janeboatler on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 08:34:02 PM EST

Mary Landrieu's mailbox is full. I sent an email.

by siun on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 09:11:36 PM EST

Emailboxes and voicemailboxes are full but those fax machines still have paper - so get faxing. There are several online free fax services or use the 30 day free trial at www.efax.com (up to 50 pages) and let's flood those fax servers too!

Optimism is not the issue - we need to make it clear we are watching what all the senators do - and we will make our voting, donating, volunteering decisions based on how well they come through on this. Fax all the senators you can - I hit all the dems this afternoon and it didn't take long with efax and cut and paste.

enough is enough!

by karmapolice on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 09:24:55 PM EST

We should put McCain's number on there

by mpower1952 on Sat Jan 28, 2006 at 10:27:55 PM EST

If I understand correctly, the repugs need 60 votes for cloture, stopping debate. The dems can abstain from the vote and that will produce the same end. They won't have 60 votes for cloture.

Suggest to those against fillibuster to just abstain for a while or at least till after the SOTU. It will make Bush look bad.

McCain is defining Obama, and Obama is neither defining himself, nor McCain. This is awful.

Faxes are supposed to be effective and won't be full. Emails aren't as good as faxes.

Put a bold PLEASE FILIBUSTER ALITO at the top of it.

by jgarcia on Sun Jan 29, 2006 at 12:37:51 AM EST

by pennquaker08 on Sun Jan 29, 2006 at 01:48:12 AM EST

I feel that sometimes I may be a bit too quixotic for my own good.

A week and a half ago, I sent an e-mail to Arlen Specter's office expressing my deep concerns regarding Judge Alito, and hinted not so subtly that it would be in the best interest of not only the Pennsylvanians who sent him to Washington in the first place, but the nation as a whole, if he were to vote against Judge Alito. I of course realize that this was a lost cause from the start, but what can I say? Those windmills in my mind won't quit turning...

Anyhow, the next day I received a form e-mail back from Sen. Specter's office addressing none of the concerns brought up in my e-mail, but merely providing me with a detailed biography of Judge Alito, consummated with Sen. Specter's word of honor that he would receive a fair up-or-down vote or some such. It is truly displays like this that makes me long to move to Wisconsin--at least there I could attain some real advocacy from my elected senatorial advocate.

Considering this is likely Sen. Specter's last term in office, he really has nothing to lose by voting against Judge Alito, save for the temporary vitriol of his Republican colleagues. The only other consequence I can imagine would be losing the chair of the Judiciary Committee, though I doubt it would come to that. I have been admittedly impressed with Sen. Specter's past record of standing on his own two feet and actually--gasp--voting in the interests of his electorate (such as on abortion rights and Robert Bork), but this time, I must say that I am quite disappointed in him. I can only suspect that we can look forward to about as much integrity in Olympia Snowe as well.