This morning while enjoying my cup of coffee and covering my son & his two friends, who had finally fallen asleep after the sleepover that included no sleep, the DSCC called and asked to speak with me.
Heh. Boy, was the caller surprised by what happened next...
I let him roll into his shpeal about how we need to help elect Democrats to the Senate in order to pass President Obama's agenda before I interrupted him and said that the DSCC (Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee) would not be getting a red cent from me until the current Senators that we have supported in the past get on board with the public option. If they could not support insurance reform when the majority of the country is desperate for it...they were not worthy of my support. I then told him that 'we' had raised about $350,000 for House Members who had pledged their support for the public option and the DSCC should take note of this.
I asked him on several occasions to be sure to pass along this message. He said that the phone calls are taped/monitored and are listened to. I said that I hope so because if they ever want to see money from me that they better prove to me that the Democrats for whom I donated before to their Committee were actually doing the right thing, otherwise no future donations would be made.
He was quite taken aback but in the end, I believe he was actually happy to have the conversation.
If we would all do this for any calls we get from the DSCC, the DCCC, the DNC, it would be another way to let all the Democratic Organizations know just how serious we are about this reform. Work for us...or find someone else to solicit money from. And if you do work for us, as some House Members are, then money will be forthcoming. Until the DSCC figures out how to get their Senators on the right side of the people, they can just go pound salt.
You know, just last week when I followed one of nyceve's links to the DSCC in order to comment about HCR, I searched the website over and over and could not find one single place to make a comment. I could register to vote. I could donate. I could sign up for emails. Beh. But I could find no place to express my opinion. I am happy to now have had the opportunity to do so.
UPDATE: Someone mentioned in the comments that you can email the DSCC through the 'contact us' area which I truly looked for. I went back to the site and looked again and found a 'contact us' buried in the link for 'About Us'. Sorry for the misinformation but I do think that my comments to the phone banker will have more of an effect then a general email to them through their website.
I hope with this diary being 'recommended' that it will cause everyone to have these conversations with any and all Democratic Organizations who solicit us for money. If money is the only thing some understand, then let's hit them in their almighty pockets! The EXCEPTION being of course donations to any organization rewarding our Congresscritters for PLEDGING TO SUPPORT THE PUBLIC OPTION!
UPDATE 2: I want to add one thing to this diary which is both a hope and a belief. I support President Obama and realize, from everything he has said both during the campaign and since becoming President, that he believes in getting things done using all points of view. We have given him time to do this. This past Friday he indicated that he is now aware that Republicans not only do not support him but are salivating over any loss that they can put in his column, no matter the cost to the American people. It is my belief that he will now pivot and seek the best health care reform bill that is possible using just the Democrats to accomplish this. The threshold for bipartisanship is long passed and he knows it. We'll see.