Howdy y’all!
It’s another call your member of Congress post. This time about passing a clean continuing resolution to keep the government funded and open past Friday 17 November. Here’s how these posts work. There is a table of contents with internal links to sections of the post, so if you just want to find out how you can contact your representative, click that link. If you want the script for calling your representative, click that link. After each linked section there is a return link to the ToC.
Table of Contents:
The Long and Winding Road to ANOTHER Government Shutdown
We knew 45 days ago when the very short continuing resolution was passed that we’d be in this position. It’s not like any of us clairvoyant or anything. It’s just that Republicans are easy to predict. The government is scheduled to shutdown on Friday 17 November — Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks, GOP! — so it is time once again to call your representative and give them heck, but polite heck. No one listens to an obscenity laced tirade. It’s just gratuitous on your part and abusing the person who listens to it, who at the rep’s office is usually an intern. Remember that.
The Evil CoMpRoMiSe That Started It All
We all know the schtick by now: Kevin McCarthy enacted the cardinal sin of compromising with Democrats in the spring when they made the budget agreement that would:
- The debt ceiling would be suspended until 1 January 2025.
- Non-discretionary spending would be capped at current levels.
- Defense spending would be increased by 3%.
- The IRS would be given $80 billion dollars over ten years to hunt up billionaire tax cheats.
- Unspent #COVID19 relief money would be returned to the treasury.
- Stricter work requirements would be placed on people using healthcare and food programs.
- Student loan repayments would begin again.
- Any increases to spending would have to be offset by budget cuts.
- The energy permitting process would be made easier.
Everybody got something that they wanted. Everybody got something they didn’t want. No one was completely happy, but the government could function somewhat sanely until 2025. So, of course, MAGA Republicans were outraged. The ironic thing is that they didn’t trust that Keven McCarthy was lying when he signed the agreement and would go back on it. Jokes on them. Kevin McCarthy is a pervasive habitual liar that prefers lying to the truth.
The Devious Evil Genius Plan of the Freedumb Cockups to Usher in Fascism
The devious evil genius of Matt Gates and company otherwise known as the Freedumb Cockups spied a way to make it all work to their favor. They cooked up a three part plan:
- First, Gates would treat McCarthy like one of his trafficked teenaged dates and leave her stranded in the middle of no where by which I mean he would call for a motion to vacate. Ha ha! Take that Kevin McCarthy! Daddy is so proud! He’s so glad he bought you your House seat and paid off those sex trafficking charges.
- Second, they would prevent any Republican from becoming House Speaker until just before the government shutdown loomed! They never dreamed they would get Mangy Mike “Convention of the States” Johnson as Speaker. That was just bonus. Some times erratic bomb throwing does pay off.
- And third, they would waste valuable House time by bringing individual spending bills to the House floor that would do things like reduce White House appointees’ salary to $1.00. That’ll show ’em! Look who’s being cancelled now! How do you like that Jean-Pierre, Sec Mayorkas, Sec Austin, and VP Harris? That’ll pwn those libs and whip the MAGA base into a frenzy, right?
Giving Your Representative a Piece of Your Mind
The problem with calling your representative is that you want to give them a piece of your mind in the week that Republicans got one of the biggest electoral off-year spankings of all time. So, let’s get it off of our chests, shall we?
You wanna tell your representative to get off of their ass and do their job! Stop their grandstanding for their MAGA base. They’re never going to defund Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security. We’re not going to defund the IRS or give a huge tax-break to their billionaire donors. Did you see the results of Tuesday’s elections? Do you really think forcing abortion bans into a funding bill is going to work? WTAF? You have so many gerrymandered safe seats that you’ve gerrymandered yourselves out of touch with reality.
The Republican Party hasn’t got a majority of votes for president in over a decade. Gets a minority of votes in many states yet still gets a majority of the legislative seats. You’re not the majority. You know it. Grow up. Accept reality, Pass a clean continuing resolution.
Get it out of your system. Vent with a friend. Then call your representative and keep calling.
Call your Representative
The Script for Calling Your MoC
When you call your MoC, you should be prepared just in case someone actually answers or their voice mail isn’t “full.” Use a script. You want to be succinct and clear, and you don’t want to miss anything. Here’s a suggestion:
Hi, my name is [NAME] and I’m a constituent from [STATE and LOCALITY].
I’m calling today to tell [REPRESENTATIVE] that our government needs them to vote for a clean continuing resolution to keep the government funded. We also need to stick to the budget compromise worked out between Biden and McCarthy last spring. Compromise is the heart of democracy. We need a compromise to keep the government funded and open.
The election results from last Tuesday’s off-year elections demonstrate just how deeply unpopular MAGA Republican policies and practices are. You need to stand up to the Freedom Caucus and rely on your common sense American constituents to do the right thing. It takes courage to be a representative in a functioning democracy. You have to stand for your convictions, your belief in democracy, and stand up to attempts at minority rule. I expect [REPRESENTATIVE] to have that courage, and demand a clean continuing resolution.
Thank you for your time and attention.
IF LEAVING A VOICEMAIL: please leave your full street address to ensure your call is tallied.
Tips for Calling
When you call your representative’s office, please remember the following:
- Only contact YOUR MoC! They only listen to their constituents and dismiss requests from non-constituents. Ask for the aide working on the policy-related issues.
- Be polite! No matter whose office you’re calling. No matter what their positions are. No matter how inflamed you are about the issue — and you should be very passionate — be polite.
- Remember that the people you are talking to are people! So, be nice.
- Call during business hours of the area code their office is in. Typically, that is 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
- Have a script or notes to follow so you don’t forget anything.
- Call with friends, you know like a party.
Contacting Your MoC
Find out how to contact your MoC using these links!
- Common Cause will give you the names, party affiliation, direct phone number, website link, and social media platforms of all of your federal, state, and local elected officials.
- GovTrack gives you the names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and X-itter handles of your senators and representative. It is pretty straightforward and easy to use. Just plug-in your address. You can also track legislation.
- USA.gov is the official guide to information and services of the US government. This page explains clearly how to contact everyone from the President to your Representative to specific government agencies. Through it you can find the following information about your MoC’s:
- Their phone numbers: DC and state offices
- Their mailing addresses both in DC and their state offices
- Official website with their contact page including email, request a meeting, town hall schedules, and social media
- And, the committees they sit on
- 5 Calls: Sign-up for 5 Calls because they help you contact your member of Congress and keep you abreast of on going issues that are important to you! Now, that is a good deal.
- The Capital Hill Switch Board: (202) 224-3121.
Join Indivisible
Follow the link to Indivisible to find a group near you, their campaigns, events in your neighborhood, and download their handy-dandy booklet!
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Image Attribution
This image was generated using Poe’s StableDiffusionXL bot using the prompt, create a pop-art style poster of an angry person calling their legislator on a landline telephone
The Psy of Life 
Thanks for another great script for the calls. We will see how close they will come to the deadline before doing anything meaningful, or actually have a shutdown.
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Howdy Bob!
One of the unexpected outcomes of all of this is the self-destructive nature of gerrymandering for political parties. By creating incredibly safe districts where the biggest threats to incumbents is the primary, they’ve created a wing of the party that feels empowered to refuse to compromise with anyone, including members of their own party! And, they’ve created an environment where all members in only slightly safe districts fear being primaried from the right, so now they are promoting groupthink around deeply unpopular policies and practices.
Having gerrymandered a permanent majority in some states may be the thing that causes them to become a regional party at best and self-destruct at worst.
Huzzah!
Jack
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And, it always builds the urge of the other party to turn the tables if they get the chance, the odds of which are only increased by those same out of step policies.
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Howdy Bob!
I was reflecting on Schumer’s reluctance to completely do away with the filibuster. It always seemed to me that one of McConnell’s ideas was to get the Democrats to do it by abusing it so badly, so they could then use it against them. Now, he just uses any erosion of the filibuster as a reason to further abuse it when they are in the minority and to overturn it all together when they are in the majority.
But, clinging to that sense of normalcy and resisting doing unto the Republicans as they are doing to us, has some worth, I think.
Unfortunately, from what I understand Speaker Johnson and his cronies have their sites set quite a bit higher than just overturning the filibuster. They want a Convention of States to rewrite the Constitution, so they can create their Biblical Republic. That will be a true dystopia.
Huzzah!
Jack
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Yes, that is what they want. Of course, Trump would not bother himself with all that and just ignore the silly document.
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