NEW GOAL: So it is 8:30am on the east coast and this post is still on the rec list. That's awesome because it means we can keep the pressure on all the way up to the vote. The vote has been moved from 9am to 10am eastern, so we have time to hit a new goal: 2300 calls. As of this posting we are at 2023 calls. Yesterday, we hit them hard.Today, let's amp it back up. -C
FINAL UPDATE 5: What an incredible job everyone has done today. With only minutes left before the Nevada offices close, we've made over 1900 calls in 8 hours. The vote is tomorrow morning (unless they postpone again), so we should soon find out if all of our pressure forced DiFi to change her vote on Telecom Immunity.
I'm not holding my breath, but I am willing to bet $15 she does. If she doesn't change her vote, then I'm going to contribute $15 bucks to DFA. If she changes her vote... I hope you will contribute to DFA instead.
Either way, thanks everyone for making this action a huge success.
-Charles
Find out what this is all about after the jump...
UPDATED 4: Check out these two awesome comments from our callers
Jerry M wrote:
I called the Reno office and got a cheerful staffer who said he'd had 242 calls, all of them against amnesty for the phone companies. He understood Senator Feinstein was also getting a lot of calls. Said he would be calling Senator Reid before closing the office to let him know the count. Said he'd not had a single call in favor.
Michael R wrote:
Spoke with a staff member in the Reno office, he indicated he has gotten other calls on the issue - he said Reid will address the issue directly with Senator Feinstein now and at the beginning of the next session.
UPDATED 3: Senator Reid's DC office will close very soon. But you can keep calling the local Nevada numbers for a few more hours. Here are those numbers:
Carson City Phone: 775-882-7343
Las Vegas Phone: 702-388-5020
Reno Phone: 775-686-5750
Please report your call and let us know how it went:
http://www.DemocracyforAmerica.com/...
Hey Kossacks,
The vote on FISA tomorrow is crucial. There's an action you can take RIGHT NOW to hold Sen. Feinstein accountable. Already over 1800 members have called Senator Reid. Here are a few of the comments from members reporting their calls:
Jin E wrote:
Many must be calling; the phones were busy! When I got through, the aide wanted to rush me, but she listened. I noted Feinstein's votes on Southwick & Mukasey & the fact that she doesn't represent our values, I noted the upcoming FISA vote & urged that Reid replace Feinstein with someone who respects the will of the people. The aide was chirpy & made no "closure" comment except the noncommital "Thank you for your call, ma'am. I'll pass it on to the senator."
Robert P wrote:
I had to send an email because the line was tied up and the voice mailbox was full. I said Feinstein wasn't do her job as a Democrat and was simply doing whatever the Bush administration wanted. I asked Sen. Reid to put Feinstein somewhere where she couldn't do so much harm.
Vicki W wrote:
3 calls to DC office - lines were busy and the mail box is full. Called the Reno office and spoke to a staff member requesting he act to remove Sen. Feinstein and appoint someone who will actually vote as a Democrat. Staff said they would pass along the message.
So, now that you have seen some of the response, I bet you are wondering just what exactly was the action. Here's an email California DFA member Chris Finnie sent to DFA's national membership about an hour ago.
When you're done reading; make the call... then please report it:
Thanks,
Charles
Dear Fellow DFA Member,
My name is Chris Finnie and I've been a California DFA member since the Dean campaign. I need your help on an urgent Senate vote.
In California, we have a law -- commonly called the three-strikes law. And, like all laws, I think it ought to apply to everybody -- including my Senator, Diane Feinstein.
Too many times Senator Feinstein has failed to represent the people of California. Now she has announced that this Thursday she will support President Bush for the third time in two months. And it all comes down to Senator Feinstein's role on the Judiciary Committee.
Strike One: A Bush nominee for the federal bench, Leslie Southwick has a long history of rulings in lower courts that violate equality laws. Feinstein cast a deciding vote to give him a lifetime seat.
Strike Two: Michael Mukasey, nominated for Attorney General, refused to say he would oppose torture. But Feinstein voted to send his confirmation to the Senate floor anyway.
Now she's poised for her third bad vote in a row, on a rework of the FISA Act -- the law that's supposed to protect us all against illegal wiretapping.
When the Bush administration didn't want to follow this law, they asked major telephone companies like AT&T and Verizon to help. Several phone companies broke the law to help Dick Cheney read our emails and listen to our phone calls.
They knew it was illegal. But they didn't expect to get caught.
Now that they did, the Bush administration is trying to protect AT&T and others from lawsuits by granting retroactive immunity for breaking the law. The Senate Judiciary Committee can kill this bill if all ten Democrats vote against it.
Strike Three: Senator Feinstein is the only Democrat who says she'll vote for it.
Please call Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid right now and demand he remove Senator Feinstein from the committee and replace her with a Democrat who will stand up to President Bush's abuse of power.
Senator Harry Reid
202-224-3542
Please report your call and let us know how it went:
http://www.DemocracyforAmerica.com/...
Our elected officials are supposed to represent the will of their constituents when they vote. In a state the size of California, almost nobody could represent everybody all the time. But too often, Diane Feinstein votes against the people of California.
One of our Senators is a true representitive. In 2004, there were questions about the fairness of the presidential vote in Ohio. A lot of DFA members asked our other Senator, Barbara Boxer, to oppose accepting the results in the Senate. She told her staff if enough Californians asked her to, she would. Well, enough of us did and Senator Boxer protested that vote on the floor of the Senate.
But, before the Iraq invasion, many people contacted Senator Feinstein and asked her to vote against authorization. I did. And I got an email back saying, as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Feinstein felt she had access to information I didn't. So, despite communications from "tens of thousands of Californians" asking her to vote against it, she was going to ignore us. It was more polite than that. But it was still a blatant refusal to represent Californians and we all know how it turned out.
The first vote on retroactive immunity for phone companies is Thursday. Please take action today. Senator Feinstein won't vote with Democrats against the Bush administration's abuse of power. Ask Senator Reid to replace her with someone who will.
Senator Harry Reid
202-224-3542
Please report your call and let us know how it went:
http://www.DemocracyforAmerica.com/...
Thank you,
-Chris
Chris Finnie
California DFA Member