On Wednesday, Jane Hamsher and I spent the day on Capitol Hill. Most of the time, we were with John Conyers and his staff. We did the health care briefing I told you about on June 4th.
First, huge thanks to Chairman John Conyers and his staff. Joel Segal, Jonathan Godfrey, Michael Darner and his amazing chief of staff, Cynthia Martin. John Conyers surrounds himself with selfless public servants, and the mind reels about the possibilities for our nation, if all 435 we send to do our business, had people like the men and women who work hand-in-hand with John Conyers.
Now, a word about Jane Hamsher, who I call with great love, Jane of Arc. Trust me on this, our lives depend on intense collective action over the next sixty days or so. I must report based on everything I heard, that it's open season (as in their guns are loaded for a fight) on this historic legislation. When I innocently commented that we had an election and that we should not need to fight like this for healthcare reform, Jane said, "electing Barack Obama gave us the possibility, now we have to make them do it."
We are at a point in this struggle where the winner will be the team with the best and most finely calibrated political operatives. We'll need to know every day, who to call, where to assemble, what House or Senate committee to target, and which politicians to capture on videotape. (Keep reading more on this). We can't flail about, call the White House one day and torment Max Baucus the next. I believe we need a well crafted strategy, and Jane is the go to person for this.
And it's critical as we move into the final precious weeks, and as the healthcare legislation moves through the House and Senate, that we spend our time wisely and use our resources with great precision and focus. Jane is a scholar of government, and a student of the legislative process, and how things work in Washington DC. She is also a sixteen year breast cancer survivor, and frankly, she's not afraid to challenge anyone--especially wavering Democrats. She even calls some of them "weasely" Democrats.
And here's how she kicks ass.
Please take a few minutes to Tell The Truth About the Private Insurance Industry. Please let us know if you're able to come to Washington to meet with your member of Congress and tell her your horror story. If you can't, perhaps you can arrange a meeting while your Congressperson in in the district during the August recess. We'll ask you to videotape these meetings, which we'll post.
Now, here's what happened yesterday in Washington.
I brought your stories to Washington, to the Congressional staffers, who are instrumental making the wheels turn. These staffers are so critical to the outcome of legislation, that the American Cancer Society Action Network, is taking over every inch of advertising space in the Capitol South Metro station, the main Metro stop for commuting House staffers. It will be saturated with ads that highlight the personal and financial toll that cancer patients face due to gaps in the broken health care system.
So, make no mistake, these staffers are important, and these are the people who Jane and I addressed yesterday.
"My readers are dying!"
"I don't go to the doctor anymore unless I have a gunshot wound because I don't want my family to face financial ruin!"
"How do your members sleep at night?"
And here's Jane!
The sign outside 2237 Rayburn.
Inside, the Conyers office graciously provided a bountiful lunch for everyone. What a class operation. Yummy. Yummy. Yummy.
Here's me with Chairman Conyers (enjoying lunch), and Joel Segal.
Before I end, I want to thank Cedwyn and KStreetProjecter for helping me with this presentation, I really couldn't have done it without their wisdom, guidance and hard work. And a huge hug of gratitude to all those who emailed with heartfelt offers of office space, copying services, sleeping accomodations, whatever I needed. Also, this actually brings tears to my eyes, one Kossack even sent a $50.00 Paypal donation to cover some of my expenses, and he refused to take it back!
Together we are going to win this war, we are so much stronger than the very evil status quo.
Thank you, John Conyers, Joel, Jonathan, Cynthia, and Mike for allowing the American people to be heard.