As many of you may have heard from the WAPO and the NYT the Obama administration appears to be ready to trade cuts in Medicare and Social Security as well as other spending cuts in exchange for increased tax revenue in the debt ceiling negotiation's. Now I don't want to get bogged down in arguments of "This is unconfirmed," and I don't want to get bogged down in "What did you expect" arguments. What I want is for everyone to call the WH, I just did.
I called (202)456-1414, which I guess is the wrong number because the guy who answered the phone told me the number I should call was (202)456-1111 because that is the WH comment line that is open from 9 to 5 or something. Don't forget to be polite to whomever you speak to, the gentleman I spoke to was quite polite if curt which he can be forgiven. In any case, I couldn't leave a comment on the official comment line, but if I did I would have said no. No we shouldn't trade SS cuts for tax increases and no we shouldn't trade Medicare cuts for tax increases. Any way, moving on, after you call the White House you should email the White House, this is the short email I sent:
I have in the past few hours read in the NYT and WAPO that your administration appears open to cuts in Social Security and Medicare in exchange for tax increases. I think this is a big mistake as a majority of our current deficit derives from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush tax cuts and decreased revenue due to high unemployment. Not only do I think it's bad policy, but I think it's bad politics as well. How can democrats campaign against republicans who would like to see the end of such social programs when they propose cuts to them as well?
By the way, this is the message you should receive when you have successfully emailed the White House:
Thank You!
Thank you for contacting the White House.
President Obama is committed to creating the most open and accessible Administration in history. That begins with taking comments and questions from you, the American people, through our website.
Our office receives thousands of messages from Americans each day. We do our best to reply to as many as we can, but please be aware that you may find more information and answers to your questions online. To follow news and learn more about President Obama's plans for winning the future, you can sign up for updates from the White House, read the White House Blog, or listen to White House podcasts.
For an easy-to-navigate source of information on Federal government services, please visit: www.USA.gov.
Thank you again for your message.
The Office of Presidential Correspondence
After you call and email the White House it's the congresscritters turn. First and foremost we should call and email Nancy Pelosi as I imagine she will be our most stalwart ally. Nancy's number is (202)225-0100 and her contact info can be found here. You can also reach her at (202)225-4965 and if you are in her district or in California (415)556-4862 as well as here. My personal opinion is we have the best chance of killing any such cuts to Medicare or Social Security in the house. House republicans will be much more adverse to any tax increases than their senate counterparts (not up for re-election) and the dems we have left in the house will be not eager to vote for cuts to our safety net.
After you call and email Nancy it's your specific Reps turn, mine is Shelley Berkley but you can find yours here.
Next on the slate is Harry Reid, my Senator and Majority Leader, you can call him at 202-224-3542 or 702-388-5020 and other contact info can be found here. Remember, be polite when you tell him no, no we shouldn't cut our obligations.
Next up, your Senator.
No need for a flame war, what are you doing?
I really don't want to hear any more about how so and so betrayed us, and I don't want to hear about how we shouldn't be so concerned when nothing has been put forth yet. I want to fucking hear what message you left to your Representative, Senator or President, because they sure as hell need some feed back, and we should just say no.
And please, rec this up an share it on facebook. Get this contact info to everyone you know so we can all say No.
Update a bit late:
202-456-2461.
Handwritten faxes have more impact.
Thanks Warren S.