I’ve written about this before and will continue to beat this drum, because with the looming arrival of President-elect Trump, his utterly unfit cabal of Advisers and Cabinet Secretaries already announced and the 115th Congress with the Republicans in majority in both Houses our nation is in trouble and The People will suffer the harms brought on by this super majority of the Republicans in our federal government.
From day one of the first term of President Obama, the Republicans freely announced to the public that their singular goal was to stymie any action the new President might want to take and to ensure that he was a 1 Term President.
They didn’t appear to care one whit about the Good of The People or the Nation, only that of their Party.
They went on a whirlwind tour of obstruction — preventing the Democrats and President Obama from passing the much stronger Stimulus Bill they wanted in the spring of 2009, to help the nation and The People recover from the ravages of the Great Recession brought with the Crash of September 2008, just weeks before the country elected Obama to lead us out of that nightmare.
Obstructing and demanding changes in the PPACA and forcing any discussion of a Public Option from consideration. The one act which might well have made a significant difference in the Cost to Consumers for premiums for their plan purchased via the Healthcare.gov Exchange.
They continued this obstruction for the entire Obama two terms.
Remember, in 2009-2011, the Democratic Party held 59 seats in the U.S. Senate (60 for the 3 short weeks between the time Senator Al Franken was finally seated in Aug, until the death of Ted Kennedy that same month).
59 is eight more than the 50% + 1 simple majority the Constitution provides for passing a Bill in the Senate. But that did not prevent the Republicans from obstructing that body from producing legislation which could have done the nation and the people GOOD.
The Republicans managed this by using the Filibuster and Senate Rule #22 (the Cloture Rule). A rule which allows a minority in the Senate to prevent action on something they oppose, and the Republicans opposed A LOT.
In just a few short weeks, on January 3, 2017, the United States will see the swearing in of the 115th Congress and this new Senate will have a short majority of 52 Republicans.
Remember, for most of President Obama’s two terms, the Senate had up to 59 Democratic Senators, and still could not overcome the obstruction of the much smaller minority of the Republicans.
If the Republicans could prevent GOOD for eight years? The Democrats can surely prevent HARM for the next four.If you agree?
Use these links to call your Democratic Party U.S. Senator BEFORE January 3rd and let them know you want them to use this tool to PROTECT us all from the ravages of the far-right wing Republican caucus coming into power in the Congress.
If you don’t have a Democratic Senator? Call the incoming Minority Leader of the Senate, Chuck Schumer of New York State. Be sure to tell his staffer you are calling him because you don’t have a Democratic Senator.
THIS is his D.C. Office number: (202) 224-6542
What do you say when you call?First up — BE NICE, don’t yell. The people you will speak with are as hurt as you are by the recent election. They will WANT to hear this message from you, I promise you.
These offices are only open on WEEKDAYS. You will only be able to leave a voice message if you call on weekends or evenings.
Here is your script:Hi, this is Angela Marx, I’m a constituent from Clark County, in Vancouver, precinct 426.
I’m calling to urgently request that once the new Congress opens on January 3rd, that our Democratic Senators protect us from the incoming Republican majority with the one tool that can SAVE the PPACA/Obamacare and stop them from Destroying Medicare and Social Security by privatizing them.
I want the Democratic Senators to start using the Filibuster AND Senate Rule #22, the Cloture Rule to obstruct every action of the Republicans which could take away our hard-won benefits, like Healthcare.
I am terrified of what will happen to us if the Democratic Senators don’t protect us.
The Republicans used Rule #22 to obstruct Democratic GOOD for eight years.
NOW we need the Democrats to use Rule #22 to prevent the Republicans from doing HARM for the next four years.
If you want to say more, you can add:
I know that from 2009-2011 the Democrats had 59 US Senators and the Republicans were still able to block them from doing GOOD.
There is no reason why, with a much smaller caucus of only 52 Republican Senators in the new Congress, the Democratic Senators cannot use Rule #22 to protect us from the HARM they want to cause.
If you need to find out what your Precinct is?Look at your Voter ID Card if you have one. Contact your Local Democratic County Party — Start here at the Democrats.org website for State Parties. Call your Local County Voting and Elections Department.
How to contact YOUR Democratic SenatorREMEMBER it’s crucial you call your own state Senator. As CONSTITUENTS your voices carry far more weight and in fact, most Senators will discount messaging from non-constituents.
Calling your Democratic Senator — These are the currently sitting Democratic U.S. Senators and the links to their offical Senate page with the Local Office phone numbers in your state (arranged alphabetically by State). I’ve listed incoming Senators and how to reach out to them, too.
States not listed have only Republican Senators
A state with only one listed Senator has a Republican in the 2nd seat
I have personally checked each page, sometimes you need to look for the names of the cities of the local offices on either a left or right hand vertical menu, or you might have to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page, but on each of these pages there IS either a link to a number of local offices or the phone numbers for their local offices at the page you arrive on.
If all else fails and you can’t find a local office or a link to one MOUSE OVER the page, a number of them have images which, when you mouse-over them, display the local office and contact number.
CaliforniaBarbara Boxer Local Offices
Kamala Harris will be replacing the retiring Barbara Boxer, please ask her to convey your message to her.
Diana Feinstein Local Offices
ColoradoMichael Bennett Local Offices
ConnecticutRichard Blumenthal Local Offices
Christopher Murphy local offices
DelawareTom Carper Local Offices
Chris Coons Local Offices
FloridaBill Nelson Local Offices
HawaiiMazie Hirono Local Offices
Brian Schatz Local Offices
IllinoisRichard (Dick) Durbin Local Offices
Tammy Duckworth will be replacing (R) Mark Kirk in January, but she is currently serving in the U.S. House. Please call her House Local Offices
IndianaJoe Donnelly Local Offices
MarylandBenjamin (Ben) Cardin Local Offices
Barbara Mikulski Local Offices
Newly elected Chris Van Hollen is replacing retiring Barbara Mikulski, please contact him at his U.S. House Local Offices
MassachusettsEdward Markey Local Offices
Elizabeth Warren Local Offices
MichiganGary Peters Local Offices
Debbie Stabenow Local Offices
MinnesotaAl Franken Local Offices
Amy Klobuchar Local Offices
MissouriClaire McCaskill Local Offices
MontanaJohn Tester Local Offices
NevadaHarry Reid Local Offices
Harry Reid will be replaced by Catherine Cortez Masto in January.
Please mention you want Senator Reid to convey this message to her.
New HampshireCurrent Governor Maggie Hassan will be replacing Kelly Ayotte in January, please contact her at the New Hampshire Governor’s office
Jeanne Shaheen Local Offices
New JerseyCory Booker Local Offices
Robert Menendez Local Offices
New MexicoMartin Heinrich Local Offices
Tom Udall Local Offices
New YorkKirsten Gillibrand Local Offices
Chuck Schumer Local Offices
INCOMING Minority Leader Call him if you have NO Democratic Senator
North DakotaHeidi Heitkamp Local Offices
OhioSherrod Brown Local Offices
OregonJeff Merkley Local Offices
Ron Wyden Local Offices
PennsylvaniaRobert (Bob) Casey Local Offices
Rhode IslandJack Reed Local Offices
Sheldon Whitehouse Local Offices
VirginiaTim Kaine Local Offices
Mark Warner Local Offices
VermontPatrick (Pat) Leahy Local Offices
Bernard (Bernie) Sanders Local Offices
WashingtonMaria Cantwell Local Offices
Patty Murray Local Offices
WisconsinTammy Baldwin Local Offices
West VirginiaJoe Manchin Local Offices
They must hear this message BEFORE the new Congress starts, so that they can be ready to go to mats for us the day it opens on January 3, 2017.The future looks bleak, there is no way to deny it.
But we have elected these people to represent us, and we’ve never needed their representation, and for them to carry our voice and our wishes into the Floor of the U.S. Senate, more.
Please, I beg of you, SHARE THIS MESSAGE EVERYWHERE.