Help Congress Write the Health Care Bill

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Permalink Reply by Susan Acito on July 3, 2009 at 11:40am

It's time to start calling our own Representatives. Although they are Republican, they need to hear that many of their constituents support a single-payer system or a government-insured health plan. Though we tend to think that they don't care what WE say, they need to hear enough opposing voices. We can't only talk to the people who agree with us.
Call or e-mail them often, and get your friends to do the same!
Phone calls and e-mails and faxes do count! Contact information can be found by Googling them, but here are those for 1st District in Tennessee.
Phil Roe http://www.roe.house.gov/
Bob Corker http://corker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInforma...
Lamar Alexander http://alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Permalink Reply by Mike Lawson on December 22, 2009 at 3:00pm

I realize this is an old post, but I would like to point out the futility of calling Republican Senate and Congress members in TN, and even calling the "blue dogs" as well to support health care and public option issues. Alexander's office was matter of fact, rude, and hung up on me without as much as a "good-bye" or "thank you for calling" when the woman learned I supported the public option. Corker's office said thanks for the call but the senator is not supporting "a government takeover of health care."

Marsha Blackburn's office, while quasi-polite on the phone, took my message of support for the public option and then sent me a letter thanking me for supporting her stand "against the government takeover of healthcare by President Obama."

They are not listening. They are only telling the press about the calls from Republicans against the reform efforts, and are clearly marking down callers for it as callers against it. I asked Ms. Blackburn's office to send me the correct form letter to at least acknowledge I was NOT standing with her, but they declined. I don't think they had one. That said, they did fly a flag over the capitol building in my daughter's honor (for my fee payment) and were nice about that, but as for listening to my comments or support for issues of reform, it fell on deaf ears. They can't hear enough people are supporting it if their staffers are not telling them, and frankly, they don't care anyway. They are like the people in the Senate and Congress who never bothered to read the bill because they would not vote for it anyway.

I appreciate your intent, but I found it to be a colossal waste of time, and a degrading, miserable experience when calling on so-called "conservative" representatives. Even Lincoln Davis, whom I wrote to ask about extending the COBRA subsidy, his people didn't listen. They emailed me a form letter from him that told me he voted against the health care bill, which had NOTHING to do with my email. But since he voted against the stimulus package, which contained the COBRA subsidy provision to begin with, I guess I should have expected this Republican-like behavior from Lincoln Davis, too. Personally, I want Lincoln Davis to either come clean and switch parties, or face a strong primary opponent. The former is more likely than the latter. To save his own skin in this part of the state, he'd probably rather switch than stand with his own party if it means he might lose the next election.