A Discharge Petition in the U. S. House of Representatives, if co-signed by 218 members, requires that the bill to which it pertains, in this case, the Middle Class tax cut extension, passed by the Senate earlier this session, be brought to the House floor for an up or down vote.
Joan McCarter broke this story for our site yesterday. I immediately started wondering where the Discharge Petition would find the twenty Republican co-signors needed to bring the tax cut bill to the House floor.
My own Congressman is a Lame Duck Republican. Given how desperately he strived to appear moderate during the General Election campaign. I thought he might be persuaded to support this. My Congressman is one of 40 Republican members of the 112th Congress who, through retirement, defeat, etc, will not return for the 113th. Last night I posted about my Congressman, Robert Dold, and another defeated Illinois Republican, Dan Manzullo, whom I also thought might be reachable.
My diary had a list of all 40 Lame Duck Republicans and some of the comments convinced me that there might be room for a bit more grassroots action involving the target list, to wit, ontheleftcoast said this:
That list + Internet + Motivated Kossacks == (16+ / 0-)
Possibility of Boner having a really, really bad day.
We should flesh it out with phone numbers, e-mail addresses, etc. Then head to a site like "thatsmycongress.com/house" which ranks members by how liberal/conservative they vote. The ones that are to the right of Atilla the Hun probably are non-starters, but there could be some purple votes that could be pushed to do the right thing for their states.
To me progress is not so much a goal as it is a process and I believe it will not follow a straight course. Remember, the drops of water that form the river may not take the shortest path but they will still reach the ocean.
I am going to continue to data mine what I can find out about whether potential co-signors of a Discharge Petition might be found among these 40 Republicans, or from others in the returning majority. But, in the meantime, anyone who happens to be in one of these Congressional Districts can write to their Congressman directly on their House websites.
For now, that is the call to action. Check the list, If you are in one of the listed districts, write. I have done this in the case of my own Lame Duck Congressman. You can see what wrote out in the tall grass, along with the List of 40 Lame Duck Republicans, as revised (on going project) and a bit more discussion.
Dear Congressman Dold,
I write to encourage you to join the Discharge Petition that Minority Leader Pelosi has said that she may file in order to force a House vote on the Senate bill preserving Middle Class tax cuts that expire at the end of next month. It will become necessary for the Discharge Petition if the Speaker refuses to himself bring it up, according to his announced intentions.
During the campaign, you eschewed the image of Tea Party ideologue and spoke broadly about moderation. Now that your political career will be continuing elsewhere, I wouldn't think you would aspire to a legacy of remaining fully on board with the craziest spectacle in modern political history -- Republicans who refuse to cut taxes for 98% of Americans when Democrats offer them the chance to do so on a silver platter. Tax policy is either economically good or economically bad. Your party says it's always good to reduce taxes, but now won't do it. Tax policy shouldn't be made to do back flips in the service of political expediency.
Don't be crazy. Vote common sense, your conscience and your core Republican belief that lower taxes for anyone, anywhere, anytime, are better than higher taxes. Make the better angels of Grover Norquist's soul joyful by voting for one of the larger tax cuts in American history. If Minority Leader Pelosi must file the Discharge Petition, join in. Please.
LIST OF LAME DUCK REPUBLICANS IN THE 112TH CONGRESS
Note that this list has been updated based upon corrections suggested in comments to my previous Discharge Petition diary. Further corrections are welcome.
Retired Republicans
1.Arizona's 6th congressional district: Jeff Flake: To run for the U.S. Senate.[31]
2.California's 2nd congressional district: Wally Herger[32]
3.California's 24th congressional district: Elton Gallegly[33]
4.California's 26th congressional district: David Dreier[34]
5.California's 41st congressional district: Jerry Lewis[35]
6.Florida's 14th congressional district: Connie Mack IV: To run for the U.S. Senate.[36]
7.Illinois's 15th congressional district: Tim Johnson[37]
8.Indiana's 5th congressional district: Dan Burton[38]
9.Indiana's 6th congressional district: Mike Pence: To run for Governor of Indiana.[39]
10.Missouri's 2nd congressional district: Todd Akin: To run for the U.S. Senate.[40]
for renomination due to fraudulent signatures.[41]
11.Montana's At-large congressional district: Denny Rehberg: To run for the U.S. Senate.[42]
12.New York's 9th congressional district: Bob Turner: To run for the U.S. Senate.[43]
13.North Carolina's 9th congressional district: Sue Myrick[44]
14.North Dakota's At-large congressional district: Rick Berg: To run for the U.S. Senate.[45]
15.Ohio's 7th congressional district: Steve Austria[46]
16.Ohio's 14th congressional district: Steve LaTourette[47]
17.Pennsylvania's 19th congressional district: Todd Russell Platts[48]
18.Texas's 14th congressional district: Ron Paul: To run for U.S. President.[49]
Primary and Redistricting Losers
19.Arizona's 6th congressional district: Ben Quayle: lost a redistricting race and lost August 28, 2012 to fellow incumbent David Schweikert
20.Florida's 3rd congressional district: Cliff Stearns: redistricted from the August 14, 2012 to challenger Ted Yoho
21.Florida's 7th congressional district: Sandy Adams: lost a redistricting race and lost August 14, 2012 to fellow incumbent John Mica
22.Illinois's 16th congressional district: Don Manzullo: lost a redistricting race March 20, 2012 to fellow incumbent Adam Kinzinger
23.Ohio's 2nd congressional district: Jean Schmidt: lost March 6, 2012 to challenger Brad Wenstrup
24.Oklahoma's 1st congressional district: John A. Sullivan: lost June 26, 2012 to challenger Jim Bridenstine.
General Election Loses to Democrats
25.California's 7th congressional district: Dan Lungren lost to Ami Bera
26.California's 36th congressional district: Mary Bono Mack lost to Raul Ruiz
27.California's 52nd congressional district: Brian Bilbray lost to Scott Peters
28.Florida's 18th congressional district: Allen West lost to Patrick Murphy
29.Florida's 26th congressional district: David Rivera lost to Joe Garcia
30.Illinois's 8th congressional district: Joe Walsh lost to Tammy Duckworth
31.Illinois's 10th congressional district: Robert Dold lost to Brad Schneider
32.Illinois's 11th congressional district: Judy Biggert lost to Bill Foster
33.Illinois's 17th congressional district: Bobby Schilling lost to Cheri Bustos
34.Maryland's 6th congressional district: Roscoe Bartlett lost to John K. Delaney
35.Minnesota's 8th congressional district: Chip Cravaack lost to Rick Nolan
36.New Hampshire's 1st congressional district: Frank Guinta lost to Carol Shea-Porter
37.New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district: Charles Bass lost to Ann Kuster
38.New York's 18th congressional district: Nan Hayworth lost to Sean Patrick Maloney
39.New York's 25th congressional district: Ann Marie Buerkle lost to Dan Maffei
40.Texas's 23rd congressional district: Quico Canseco lost to Pete Gallego
If you live in one of these districts, write to your lame duck. Even if it is someone as odious and intractable as Allen West, write anyway. It's easy to compose a recommendation to a Republican that they should support a tax cut. Use my text if you want or make it your own or start from scratch. It's fun and anyone can play. After all, you are talking to a Republican, so, using the rules of the game they way Republicans do, you don't even have to believe anything you say to them, including bunk like tax cuts are always good.
If you don't live in any of these districts, pick somebody out and write to them, just at random, if you want. It couldn't hurt. Write to Congressman Dold or Congressman Manzullo. If I find some more likely souls among the outgoing House Republicans for joining a Discharge Petition, I will post again.