Right to the point here. Joe Lieberman has been on many people minds lately and now is the time for the Senate Dems to show that they intend to be Leaders going forward. Unfortunately it seems that once again, we will need to push them into action.
I am trying very hard to follow Obama's example of forgive, but I cannot forget easily what Joe has done, and I do not feel that he deserves a committee chairmanship that many Senators wait a very long time for after his recent actions.
Please take a few minutes to call or write before the likely Nov. 18th meeting and vote.
Here the members of the Steering and Outreach committee. All Democratic Senators will have a vote, but many will likely take their cues from these committee members.
Debbie Stabenow, Michigan - Chair (202) 224-4822
Harry Reid, Nevada (202) 224-3542
John Kerry, Massachusetts (202) 224-2742
Daniel Inouye, Hawaii (202) 224-3934
Robert Byrd, West Virginia (202) 224-3954
Edward Kennedy, Massachusetts (202) 224-4543
Joe Biden, Delaware (202) 224-5042
Patrick Leahy, Vermont (202) 224-4242
Chris Dodd, Connecticut (202) 224-2823
Tom Harkin, Iowa (202) 224-3254
Max Baucus, Montana (202) 224-2651
Richard Durbin, Illinois (202) 224-2152
Kent Conrad, North Dakota (202) 224-2043
Carl Levin, Michigan (202) 224-6221
Herbert Kohl, Wisconsin (202) 224-5653
Barbara Boxer, California (202) 224-3553
Hillary Clinton, New York (202) 224-4451
Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico (202) 224-5521
Mark Pryor, Arkansas (202) 224-2353
Here is the full Senate contact page.
Please call or write to as many as you can, even the ones not from your state. The Senate Switchboard phone number is 202-224-3121.
Please remember to say "thank you" and "have a nice day" to the staffers. They did not cause the problem so do not take your anger out on them.
When I called, I said:
Please remove Joe from the Committee chairmanship for these reasons.
#1 Joe lied to you; he broke his word when he said he would support John McCain without attacking Obama. He relentlessly and viciously attacked Obama and his patriotism before, during, and after the Rethug convention.. How can you trust someone who lied and broke his word repeatedly to you and to his constituents?
#2 How do you think it looks to your supporters out here when Joe gave a $250,000 "Donation", or BRIBE as I call it, to the DSCC to keep his beloved chairmanship. Is that really the price of a major Senate committee chairmanship now? Really?
#3 What did Joe do with his chairmanship? NOTHING. Out of the myriad selection of Bush scandals, Joe just
couldn't be bothered.
#4 When Joe did nothing to investigate Bush, it sure looks suspicious when he is desperately trying to hang on to his chairmanship now...right when Obama will be coming into office. I am not saying the Obama Administration will not need oversight, but Joe does not appear to be the right type of person for the job and might instead attempt to derail the Obama Administration to stop the reforms that are so desperately needed.
#5 Committee Chairmanships are not in the named Senate leadership positions, but are inherently part of the leadership. What kind of "leadership" has Joe shown? What kind of "leadership" does it show now if you let him keep his cherished chairmanship? How many Senators go through their whole career without getting a plum position like that, only to do nothing with it?
#6 I would prefer if you remove him from the caucus altogether. I feel he will be nothing but a Republican mole. If you do keep him, please be aware that he WILL pass information to the Rethugs, so only feed him disinformation.
Here is something from our friends at Brave New Films to give you some inspiration. Here is the link if the embed doesn't work.