What To Do To Congressmembers If They Go On Vacation – and If
We Start Now, We Might Stop them From Taking Vacation Before Passing A Public Option Health Care Bill.
Here is how we get our congressmembers to pay attention to us about single payer/public option health care, to try to prevent them from going on vacation or if they go on vacation. (And if they go on vacation before passing public option health care, it tells me the president is either a wuss or has a great, still unseen trick up his sleeve.) We email, phone, and visit saying "Unless and until you give me public option health care legislation, I will withhold all my contributions from you, I will urge all my friends to withhold contributions, and I will blog this and advertize it and email it all over the blogosphere and all over my neighborhood and all over my church groups and among my work colleagues.
"According to FEC reports, individuals account for 45 to 50 percent of contributions raised by House Democrats and 60 to 70 percent of contributions raised by House Republicans. Both Republicans and Democrats running for the Senate tend to raise 65 to 70 percent of their contributions from individuals.
"So that’s all money you won’t get for television and radio advertising and shows, and blogging, which are the name of the game in modern American politics. In warfare, if you control the air you control the battlefield. In politics, if you control the airwaves, you control the tenor and the focus of the campaign. You control the message. It takes lots and lots of money. Most of which comes from individuals.
"In 1996, Senator Barbara Boxer told a Cato Institute writer that "Today, a senate candidate in California can expect to have to raise up to $10,000 per day, including Saturday and Sunday, 365 days a year, for six full years." That was 13 years ago. So we know it’s more now.
"So can we have your vote in favor of public option health care now?"
I’m the co-founder of Buyblue.org. Our motto was "Vote With Your Wallet." Now is the time.