Enough of being distracted by this "spending freeze" brouhaha. There's one thing that can help millions of people, save thousands of lives a year, and save the Democrats in one fell swoop: passing health care reform.
Elise posted a great list of reasons (re-printed with her permission) for passing this bill from which to choose one or two when you're talking to your rep's office:
Don't be distracted by inside-Washington baseball about which house of Congress did what. That's process stuff and it doesn't matter. Doing the right thing does.
Call the capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 (This number can be used to connect to your Congressperson and your Senators.)
And remember - calls matter a lot more than emails, so I say pick-up that phone and take action. They represent you.
If you've called your rep - which is priority one, then call other reps as well and start blasting Dems with your feedback. Here's a great prioritized action list created by Terrapin Station84:
Priority 1: Call your Representative
You know who this is. Call them, please. Even if they are a blue dog. Even if they are a Republican. Do it. Just do it. Constituent calls make the most difference of all. It will only take you 3-4 minutes. You don’t need to rant or rave(unless you want to). Just call them and politely tell the staffer who picks up the phone to relay the message to your Representative that you are a constituent who wants them to pass the Senate bill. Feel free to give them any reasoning you want. Or none at all. You are their constituent. You are their boss. Tell them what you want them to do.
Priority 2: Call any from this group of rep.'s who have said they will not support the senate bill(or are trending toward not supporting it) because it is not "progressive enough"(b/c of abortion language, or public option, or excise tax, or etcetera). Let them know how you feel. Let them have it. Tell them Democrats will hold THEM responsible if HCR fails because they didn’t vote for it!
Baird, Brian (WA-3, 98582)
Berkley, Shelley (NV-1, 89102)
Blumenauer, Earl (OR-3, 97232) CPC
Degette, Diana (CO-1, 80203)
Ellison, Keith (MN-5, 55411) CPC
Lofgren, Zoe (CA-16, 95112)
Lowey, Nita (NY-18, 10605)
Inslee, Jay (WA-01, 18560)
Kucinich, Dennis (OH-10, 14400) CPC
Lynch, Stephen (MA-9, 02210)
Maffei, Dan (NY-25, 13261)
Massa, Eric (NY-29, 14760) CPC
Neal, Richard (MA-2, 01105)
Weiner, Anthony (NY-9, 11235)
Woolsey, Lynn (CA-6, 94903) CPC
Priority 3: Call any from this group of representatives who are perceived to be "on the fence". Offer compelling reasoning to these people as to why they should support the Senate Bill.
Andews, Robert (NJ-1, 08035)
Baldwin, Tammy (WI-2, 53703) CPC
Capps, Lois (CA-23, 93101)
Farr, Sam (CA-17, 95060) CPC
Frank, Barney (MA-4, 02458) CPC
Lewis, John (GA-5, 30303)
McDermott, Jim (WA-7, 98101) CPC
Pingree, Chellie (ME-1, 04101) CPC
Slaughter, Louise (NY-28, 14301) CPC
Tsongas, Nikki (MA-5, 01720)
Van Hollen, Chris (MD-8, 20850)
Waters, Maxine (CA-35, 90003) CPC
Priority 4: Call any from this group of rep.'s who are strictly "undecided." Tell them what you want. Make them offer you a position. Pester them. Do not let them sidestep you.
Abercrombie, Neil (HI-1, 96850) CPC
Bean, Melissa (IL-8, 60173)
Boccieri, John (OH-16, 44702)
Doyle, Mike (PA-14, 15235)
Edwards, Donna (M-4, 20910) CPC
Hinojosa, Ruben (TX-15, 78539)
Honda, Mike(CA-15, 95008) CPC
Bernice Johnson, Eddie (TX-30, 75201) CPC
Kind, Ron (WI-3, 54701)
Lee, Barbara (CA-9, 94546) CPC
Loebsack, David (IA-2, 52401)
Lujan, Ben (NM-3, 87505)
Markey, Edward (MA-7, 01702) CPC
Matsui, Doris (CA-5, 95814)
Michaud, Mike (ME-2, 04240) Blue Dog voted for hcr
Oberstar, James (MN-8, 55802)
Pomeroy, Earl (ND, 58103) Blue Dog voted for hcr
Rothman, Steve (NJ-9, 07306)
Ruppersberger. Dutch (MD-2, 21093)
Sarbanes, John (MD-3, 21401)
Schakowsky, Jan (IL-9, 60640) CPC
Schraeder, Kurt (OR-5, 97045)
Walz, Tim (MN-1, 55901)
Watt, Melvin (NC-12, 28208) CPC
Wu, David (OR-1, 97205)
Priority 5: Call any from this group of CPC members and find out whether or not they will support the senate bill.
Ed Pastor (AZ-4, Phoenix)
George Miller (CA-7, Richmond)
Henry Waxman (CA-30, Los Angeles)
Xavier Becerra (CA-17, Montery)
Judy Chu (CA-32, El Monte)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34, Los Angeles)
Laura Richardson (CA-37, Long Beach)
Linda Sanchez (CA-39, Lakewood)
Bob Filner (CA-51, San Diego)
Jared Polis (CO-02, Boulder)
Rosa DeLauro (CT-3, New Haven)
Corrine Brown (FL-3, Jacksonville)
Alan Grayson (FL-8, Orlando)
Robert Wexler (FL-19, Boca Raton)
Alcee Hastings (FL-23, Fort Lauderdale)
Hank Johnson (GA-4, Lithonia)
Mazie Hirono (HI-2, Honolulu)
Bobby Rush (IL-1, Chicago)
Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL-2, Chicago Heights)
Phil Hare (IL-17, Rock Island)
André Carson (IN-7, Indianapolis)
Dave Loebsack (IA-2, Cedar Rapids)
John Olver (MA-1, Amherst)
Jim McGovern (MA-3, Worcester)
John Conyers (MI-14, Detroit)
Bennie Thompson (MS-2, Bolton)
William Lacy Clay, Jr. (MO-1, St. Louis)
Emanuel Cleaver (MO-5, Kansas City)
Frank Pallone (NJ-06)
Donald Payne (NJ-10, Newark)
Ben R. Luján (NM-3, Santa Fe)
Charles Rangel (NY-15, Harlem)
Jose Serrano (NY-16, Bronx)
Maurice Hinchey (NY-22, Saugerties)
Marcy Kaptur (OH-9, Toledo)
Marcia Fudge (OH-11, Warrensville Heights)
Peter DeFazio (OR-4, Eugene)
Bob Brady (PA-1, Philadelphia)
Chaka Fattah (PA-2, Philadelphia)
Peter Welch (VT-At Large)
Gwen Moore (WI-4, Milwaukee)
Clyburn, James (SC-6, Columbia)
Priority 6: Call any from this group of Blue Dogs who voted for the House HCR bill and find whether or not they will support the Senate Bill.
Arcuri, Mike (NY-24)
Baca, Joe (CA-43)
Berry, Marion (AR-01)
Bishop, Sanford (GA-02)
Boswell, Leonard (IA-03)
Cardoza, Dennis (CA-18)
Carney, Christopher (PA-10)
Cooper, Jim (TN-05)
Costa, Jim (CA-20)
Cuellar, Henry (TX-28)
Donnelly, Joe (IN-02)
Ellsworth, Brad (IN-08)
Giffords, Gabrielle (AZ-08)
Harman, Jane (CA-36)
Moore, Dennis (KS-03)
Murphy, Patrick (PA-08)
Salazar, John (CO-03)
Sanchez, Loretta (CA-47)
Schiff, Adam (CA-29)
Scott, David (GA-13)
Wilson, Charles (OH-06)
Also call representatives from this list of Representatives from neither CPC or Blue Dog Caucus and find out where they stand on passing the damned bill.
Adler, John (N.J.)
Boucher, Rick (Va.)
Davis, Artur (Ala.)
Edwards, Chet (Tex.)
Griffith, Parker (Ala.)
Kissell, Larry (N.C.)
Kosmas, Suzanne (Fla.)
McIntyre, Mike (N.C.)
McMahon, Mike (N.Y.)
Skelton, Ike (Mo.)
Teague, Harry (N.M.)
Joseph Cao (R) from Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District. Republican who voted for hcr
Priority 7: Call any from this group of Blue Dogs and chew them out for not supporting any hcr bill.
Altmire, Jason (Penn.)
Barrow, John (Ga.)
Boren, Dan (Okla.)
Boyd, Allen (Fla.)
Bright, Bobby (Ala.)
Chandler, Ben (Ky.)
Childers, Travis (Miss.)
Davis, Lincoln (Tenn.)
Gordon, Bart (Tenn.)
Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie (S.D.)
Holden, Tim (Penn.)
Kratovil, Frank (Md.)
Markey, Betsy (Colo.)
Marshall, Jim (Ga.)
Matheson, Jim (Utah)
Melancon, Charlie (La.)
Minnick, Walt (Idaho)
Murphy, Scott (N.Y.)
Nye, Glenn (Va.)
Peterson, Collin (Minn.)
Ross, Mike (Ark.)
Shuler, Heath (N.C.)
Tanner, John (Tenn.)
Taylor, Gene (Miss.)
Priority 8: Call your Senators and push for them to work with the House.
Priority 9: Call any from this group of representatives who are definitively on our side and thank them. Positive reinforcement can go a long way.
Courtney, Joe
Dingell
Higgins, Brian
Maloney NY CPC
Meek FL
Moran VA CPC
Nadler NY CPC
Price NC-4
Watson CPC