Here's The Action Plan For The Public Option Tomorrow (today)

Sun Jul 12, 2009 at 08:32:04 PM PDT

Several reports have said that the House Tri-Committee bill will be released tomorrow. We'll look over that document to see if anything has changed from the House Tri-Committee discussion draft, and if it has, then we'll be working together to push Members of Congress on these three committees below to submit amendments to make the public option, national insurance exchange, and other elements stronger during the mark-ups of the bill in all the three committees. We'll also be watching like hawks and working to get committee staffers to pull bad amendments offered by their bosses during the mark-ups.

Committee On Education and Labor
Committee On Energy and Commerce
Committee on Ways and Means

See these three committees above? They'll each be doing a mark-up of the House Tri-Committee bill, so we really do have to be on alert for the amendments they might offer on this.

slinkerwink's diary :: :: We have our work cut out for us, and we'll need your help in finding the committee staffer that staffs a Member of Congress on each of these three Committees, the Member's chief of staff, and the press secretary. So, tomorrow, we'll be making phone calls to these offices to get this information. I'm also working tonight with Jane Hamsher, nyceve, and one of their friends to create a widget so the data can be populated into this Google Documents spreadsheet which was created by Jane Hamsher over at FireDogLake. Once we get the widget up, I'll link back to it here in this diary.

Check out this Google Documents spreadsheet to get familiar with the names and the phone numbers you'll be calling tomorrow. Don't call these numbers until we have the widget set up so you can put in the information.

This is what the sample talking points will look like when you call. When you call, remember to be polite, and thank the staffer before you hang up.

Hi, I'm calling to find out who staffs during his mark-ups, and the name of the chief of staff and the press secretary as well. I appreciate this information, and thank you very much.

Say, for example, you're calling Xavier Becerra who's on the Ways and Means Committee, this is what your call should sound like:

Hi, I'm calling to find out who staffs Representative Becerra during his Energy and Commerce committee mark-ups, and the name of his chief of staff and the press secretary. I appreciate this information, and thank you very much.

You can go down the Google Documents spreadsheet, and use the widget to enter in the names of the staffer who staffs the Member during the committee mark-ups, the name of his or her chief of staff, and the press secretary.

I'll also be linking to the House Tri-Committee bill if it's released tomorrow.

Also, don't forget to thank the heroes in Congress who've stood up for the public option as a line in the sand at ActBlue.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/7/12/752817/-Heres-The-Action-Plan-For-The-Public-Option-Tomorrow