Posted on 03/15/2010 5:09:23 PM PDT by kristinn
From: Thornell, Doug
[mailto:Doug.Thornell@mail.house.gov]
Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 5:25 PM
To: Thornell, Doug
Subject: Tea Party Etiquette
TO: Freshman and Sophomore House Democrats
FROM: Office of the Assistant to the Speaker
DATE: March 15, 2010
RE: Tea Party Etiquette
As many of you have read, tomorrow, Tuesday, March 16, 2010, tens of thousands of conservative and Tea Party activists will be on the Hill as part of what they are dubbing a “Surge Against Obamacare.” Rick Scott, a multimillionaire investor and former hospital executive, is helping to lead the grassroots effort along with a number of other groups on the right like Dick Armey’s FreedomWorks. While many of you have met with outspoken activists in your districts in the past, we wanted to remind you of some of the best practices to review with your DC staff:
1. Be prepared. Activists are expected to begin arriving around 9am and they have been given instructions to wait in your office until they can have a meeting. Please have an orderly process and enough staff and interns to welcome what could be a very large number of visitors throughout the day:
· Have staff and/or Member time set-aside to visit with attendees in small groups;
· Ask for extra chairs or seating to be brought to your office or the hall in case there are seniors or disabled visitors that need to be accommodated;
· Consider having some light snacks, H2O, and coffee available;
· Ask visitors to leave all signs and banners outside the office.
2. Prioritize listening to your constituents:
· Have multiple guest books/comment sheets available for all visitors to sign-in and leave comments — we recommend you have one for residents of your district, one for residents of your state (but not your district), and one for out-of-state visitors. Have a Capitol Directory and map available to direct visitors to their Member of Congress and written instructions on how to get over to the Senate side of the Hill.
· There is limited rationale for your Member to meet with out-of-district constituents, especially if you already had other business or meetings previously scheduled with constituents who had planned to visit with you tomorrow on other topics. It is up to individual offices to decide if staff would like to take these meetings.
3. Listen and communicate in small groups:
· As we learned in August, small groups are typically the best venue for exchanges on this complicated topic.
· Many of the conservative activists are not opposing the actual provisions in the bill, but are instead reacting to a caricature of the reform bill presented by right-wing media outlets. In fact, many conservative and GOP ideas and concerns are addressed in the legislation: ü Reduces the deficit;
ü Cracks down on Medicare waste, fraud, and abuse;
ü Provides historic tax credit for small businesses and individuals to purchase health insurance;
ü Allows consumers to shop for health insurance across state lines via multi-state compacts;
ü Inaugurates medical malpractice reforms, (an area where the GOP failed to take any action when in charge of Congress for 12 years).
· Also, don’t assume common myths about this bill have been debunked. Be prepared to explain that there are no death panels, that Medicare is in fact strengthened, and that reform is not a government take-over, but it is an attempt to crack down on the abusive practices of health insurance companies by providing oversight and increasing competition.
· Finally, work to establish common-ground with visitors by ensuring they are aware and supportive of the important changes that will take place immediately: ü Offer tax credits to small businesses to purchase coverage;
ü Prohibit pre-existing condition exclusions for children in all new plans;
ü Provide immediate access to insurance for uninsured Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition through a temporary high-risk pool;
ü Prohibit dropping people from coverage when they get sick in all individual plans;
ü Eliminate lifetime limits and restrictive annual limits on benefits in all plans;
ü Require premium rebates to enrollees from insurers with high administrative expenditures and require public disclosure of the percent of premiums applied to overhead costs;
ü Ensure consumers have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal new insurance plan decisions;
ü Require plans to cover an enrollee’s dependent children until age 26;
ü Require new plans to cover preventive services and immunizations without cost-sharing;
ü Relief on the Donut Hole.
If you have any questions, please let us know.
No need for outhouses, Washington is just one big cesspool. Feel free to relieve yourself anywhere. If it becomes uninhabitable, so be it.
NO more calls, please.
We have a WINNER.
(And the uncanny resemblance of the ears to Obama...outstanding!)
Cheers!
I work in downtown Baltimore and see that all the time.
This bill effectively idles every teenager in the country. McDonalds, etal, are not prepared in any manner to pay a penalty for each two part timers who do not have insurance through them. Even if the teenager is still on the parents insurance till they are 27, the company who HIRES them will be penalized. Because the company does not offer to them the insurance. Great minds live in DC.
This comes from Obama’s genius pollster Joel Benenson. He KNOWS the public like no other...yeah, right.
And above all, please remind those who have been in Congress forty or so years, that THEY are responsible for the mess health care is in today. Their idiotic tinkering, the fact they are lawyers and don’t want to lose their revenue stream in case they have to go back to private work suing all the doctors in their towns. If government got out of our way, we could fix things instead of make it worse. What are they planning to do when many physicians will retire early before they become de facto government employees???? Are they trained in the medical field, research for cancer??? Are they going to heal you first, cause they are the only industry that will be left standing when they put the rest under their idiotic control. Can’t wait to buy government grown food!!!
Now that sign should get some attention! WOW!
Originally Zelig and I were planning to be in DC for this rally, but we couldn't get out of work commitments.
If there is another rally this weekend - ie Saturday - PLEASE let me know ASAP. I think we might be able to drive down for an event like this on Saturday or possibly Sunday... thanks!
Kill the Bill ping!
Tennessee: Tea Party are planning a protest at the Millington TN office of Rep John Tanner tomorrow just before noon.
Defeat Obamacare call list: List now contains the new MAYBES culled from FR posts. Be sure to call KNOWN RINOS too.
KEEP THE CALLS UP! DC OFFICE LOCAL OFFICE
Code Red” - House Target List on Health Care
The National Republican Congressional Committee has published a target list on health care. In addition to continuing to contact the five Tennessee Democrat Congressmen, you can go http://www.votervoice.net/link/clickthrough/ext/94697.aspx to contact some of these targets. Much of the talk following Obama’s announcement has focused on how to defeat this second bill through reconciliation, but that is misleading because the first step to defeating Obamacare is not by concentrating on defeating the “fixer” bill but by defeating the Senate bill in the House when it goes to the floor for an up-or-down vote on Thursday, March 18th.
Rep. Lincoln Davis 202-225-6831 Columbia office: 931-490-8699
Rep. Jim Cooper 202-225-4311 Nashville office: 615-736-5295
Rep. Bart Gordon 202-225-4231 Murfreesboro office: 615-896-1986
John Tanner (202) 225-4714, Union City, (731) 885-7070, Jackson Phone: (731) 423-4848, Millington (901) 873-5690 TN (MAYBE)
Rep. Steve Cohen 202-225-3265 Memphis office: 901-544-4131
Harry Mitchell (202) 225-2190 (480) 946-2411 AZ 5th District
Gabrielle Giffords (202) 225-2542 (520) 881-3588 AZ 8th District
Ann Kirkpatrick (202) 225-2315 (928) 226-6914 AZ 1st District
Jerry McNerney (202) 225-1947 925-833-0643 CA 11th District
John Salazar 202-225-4761 970-245-7107 CO 3rd District
Jim Himes (202) 225-5541 (866) 453-0028 CT 4th District
Alan Grayson (202) 225-2176 (407) 841-1757 FL 8th District
Bill Foster (202) 225-2976 630-406-1114 IL 14th District
Baron Hill 202 225 5315 812 288 3999 IN 9th District
Mark Schauer (202) 225-6276 (517) 780-9075 MI 7th District
Gary Peters (202) 225-5802 (248) 273-4227 MI 9th District
Dina Titus (202) 225-3252 702-256-DINA (3462) NV 3rd District
Carol Shea-Porter (202) 225-5456 (603) 743-4813 NH 1st District
Tim Bishop (202) 225-3826 (631) 696-6500 NY 1st District
John Hall (202) 225-5441 (845) 225-3641 x49371 NY 19th District
Bill Owens (202) 225-4611 (315) 782-3150 NY 23rd District
James Matheson Toll-Free Number 1 (877) 677-9743 (202) 225-3011Mike Arcuri (202)225-3665 (315)793-8146 NY 24th District
Dan Maffei (202) 225-3701 (315) 423-5657 NY 25th District
Earl Pomeroy (202) 225-2611 (701) 224-0355 ND At-Large District
Steven Driehaus (202) 225-2216 (513) 684-2723 OH 1st District
Mary Jo Kilroy (202) 225-2015 (614) 294-2196 OH 15th District
Zach Space (202) 225-6265 (330) 364-4300 OH 18th District
Kathy Dahlkemper (202) 225-5406 (814) 456-2038 PA 3rd District
Patrick Murphy (202) 225-4276 (215) 826-1963 PA 8th District
Christopher Carney (202) 225-3731 (570) 585-9988 PA 10th District
Paul Kanjorski (202) 225-6511 (570) 825-2200 PA 11th District
John Spratt (202) 225-5501 (803)327-1114 SC 5th District
Tom Perriello (202) 225-4711 (276) 656-2291 VA 5th District
Alan Mollohan (202) 225-4172 (304) 623-4422 WVA 1st District
Nick Rahall (202) 225-3452 (304) 252-5000 WVA 3rd District
Steve Kagen (202) 225-5665 (920) 437-1954 WI 8th District
Bart Stupak (202) 225 4735 MI (MAYBE)
Brian Baird (202) 225-3536, Vancouver, (360) 695-6292. Olympia, (360) 352-9768, (MAYBE)
senator mark begich (202) 224-3004 toll free. (877) 501 - 6275 just became a MAYBE
Jason Altmire 202-225-2565, Aliquippa, 724-378-0928,
Natrona Heights, 724-226-1304 (MAYBE)
On the Bubble (Major developments from the “yes” and “no” columns in the House)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2467046/posts
Congressional Dems on Twitter
http://www.arrghpaine.com/congressional-dems-on-twitter
And here are toll-free numbers we can use to call any Senators or Reps.
At the first number below you must wait through a tape recording urging you to tell your Rep or Senator to vote “yes” for the health care bill. Just hang on and when the recording is over, you will get the Capitol operator. Just ask for your Rep or Senator’s office. Then you will either talk to an aid or have the chance to leave a message for him/her to vote NO on the health care bill.
When you use the second number and the Capitol operator comes on, just ask for your Rep or Senator’s office. Every time I use this number I get the Rep or Senator’s answer machine, so it may be set up that way all the time...to go to their answer machine. Either way you can leave a message to vote NO on the health care bill!
We need to use these toll free numbers that have been set up for the health care/ BO supporters and illegals to use! After all they are FREE!
1-800-828-0498 , 1-866-220-0044, 1-866-338-1015, 877-851-6437, 877-210-5351
I have been here a helluva lot longer than you. The point of my comment was that the politicians in Washington are not listening and don't give a damn if a million people show up. It isn't going to change their votes. Why do you find that so offensive? It's the truth! The only place our voice will count will be in November. I applaud the Tea Party and support their efforts. I don't believe they should be headed to Washington with great expectations, OK?
Maybe the Tea Party people should come to you for your sage advise. Oh well there are fighters, do’ers and people who get it done and then there are Internet whiners and the critics, who because of some personality defect think that the world should share their own melancholy view of things. Yea I know you have tons of witty insults and rock solid reasons why your right but don’t bother, you’re right, it’s over, go curl up in the fetal position with your binky.
Tell them you do not surrender your FReedom of Speech outside their offices.
Thankew, thankew, thankew. (Blushes.)
I wonder what would happen if a crowd that size were armed? Would Congress begin to listen?
Maybe it won’t make them change their minds, but sitting at home DEFINITELY will accomplish nothing.
But, it should be as unpleasant as possible for them to vote against the Constitution, and they should never get away without giving account to the people. They should have to face us, whether or not they change their vote. And I hope that many of them are shouted down in their own offices and completely frightened by this experience. They should be.
Maybe sometime, this example will give another treasonous snake pause before they choose Marxism for the citizens of the United States. Maybe another Congressman at some point will be reluctant to incur the anger of the citizens and will adjust his vote accordingly. If not, we need to turn up the heat.
And, we should ALWAYS have great expectations that our representatives will, you know, REPRESENT us. The reason we’re in the shape we’re in is because people DON’T go and confront these people. And even if they choose not to represent us, they need to understand our expectations.
You have your opinion of what will or will not happen. That’s fine, but don’t disparage people who are trying to make a difference.
I didn’t disparage them. For God sakes, I’m one of them!!
You know they can tell us they will put the amendments in after the President signs the darn thing all they want to but I bet you nothing will be changed.
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