Declaring that “this is our battle of Trenton,” Tea Party activists are gearing up for a last stand against the health-care reform effort they see as putting the country on a glide-path to socialism.
With the House set to vote on reform as early as this week, Tea Party Patriot leaders yesterday sent out a lengthy email to volunteers — forwarded to TPMmuckraker — announcing “It’s Make or Break Time with Health Care,” and laying out a frenetic schedule of direct lobbying activities for the next few days, including phone calls and in-person visits to members of both houses of Congress.
The email, said by Tea Partiers to have been long in the works, also announces that on Thursday the Tea Partiers will join Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), who has revealed her own plans to rally supporters on the steps of the Capitol, then march through the halls of Congress in a show of strength.
Bachmann’s plan has generated a frenzy of excitement on internal Tea Party email lists. In one email obtained by TPMmuckraker, a Tea Partier wrote:
Michelle Bachman … Sarah Palin … these women are writing a
completely new chapter in the history of women in American politics.
What Michelle is doing is absolutely heroic.This may be the most exciting time in American history in 50 years.
You can feel the electricity in the air.
When another Tea Partier responded that he preferred Bachmann to Palin, a third wrote:
i LOVE THEM BOTH.
THEY HAVE MORE KAHONIES (spell) then 99% of the senators in Congress.
Separately, one Ohio activist wrote to recruit other Tea Partiers to the Bachmann event:
This is our battle of Trenton. When George Washington and his troops surprised the British by crossing the icy Delaware river on Christmas night to get the first victory of the Revolutionary War. It was the turning point of the war. This Thursday we must march in the cold of winter to Washington DC, to surprise our representatives, and take back our country from those intent on destroying it.
Wavering members of Congress can brace themselves for an interesting week.
Here’s the formal TPP announcement in its entirety:
It’s Make or Break Time with Health Care Dear Fellow Tea Party Patriots,Thank you for your generous monetary donations last week! If you were unable to get through on Paypal and would like to mail a check you may do so to:
Tea Party Patriots Inc
1025 Rose Creek Drive
Suite 620-322
Woodstock, GA 30189If you are not able to make a monetary donation, know we still appreciate your phone calls, emails, faxes, organization, and participation in the many Tea Party Patriots protests and events. We are all doing as much as we can and everyone’s combined effort is greatly appreciated!!
This week is make or break week with the government takeover of health care in the House of Representatives. It is our understanding that Speaker Pelosi is working to bring the bill to the floor of the House on Friday or Saturday of this week. She would not be setting that as a deadline if she were not fairly confident that she can line up the votes.
Additionally, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is working to line up 60 votes so that the bill may be brought to the Senate Floor. The Senate cannot bring a bill to the floor as easily as the House. In the Senate, the bill must have unanimous consent to be brought to a vote (which this one will not) or there will have to be a motion to proceed. When the motion to proceed is announced, objections will occur. After this Senator Reid will file a cloture motion, which will attempt to stop debate and actually allow vote on his original motion to proceed. For the cloture motion to win, there must be 60 votes.
As you saw last week in our emails, Tea Party Patriots has been working on an Operation House Call program. We had an incredible number of members step up to the plate and they are going to be in DC this week. Then Friday afternoon, we received word that Congressman Michele Bachman would be making an announcement on Friday about another House Call program on Thursday. Many of the original TPP Operation House Call Members are going to stay through Thursday.With all of this in mind, here is this week’s Passion to Action Weekly To Do List. Keep pulling from your reserves. Right now, we have to make sure Congress knows that we do not want the government to takeover our health care!
Passion to Action Weekly To Do List
TPP Square Flag Logo The phone calls, emails, faxes, and protests have been working. While it is hard work, please keep up the effort.
Monday:* TPP Members will be traveling to DC.
* Watch for an email announcement about a new Tea Party Patriots project to come late Monday. This project is going to be powerful and important so be sure to check back for it.
* Read below about our efforts this week. If you cannot go to DC but you are able to go to your local Congressional District Office on Thursday at 12:00 noon eastern time (especially if you are in or near one of the targeted Congressman’s districts), plan and list a protest outside of their office for Thursday at 12:00 noon eastern time. To enter the protest on http://teapartypatriots.org, login, then click My Account from the top right hand corner, then selects Add Event on the right hand sidebar.
* Begin planning for the encore showing of Not Evil Just Wrong, which will be on Saturday, November 21. We will have a planning packet for you shortly.
* If you have not written a letter to the targeted Senators and Congressmen, take the time to do so today. It does take time to do this, especially when it is a letter you are writing from your heart rather than copying and pasting text. These individual letters truly make a difference and we encourage you to write one and fax it to us at 678-302-5377. We will hand deliver it for you.Tuesday:
* Tea Party Patriots members will begin Operation House Call circulating throughout the Senate Office Buildings beginning at 1:30. They will deliver the faxes you have sent to the targeted Senators. Additionally, they will tell staff members why they are opposed to government takeover of our health care.
* We need you to back up their efforts by calling all the targeted Senators today. We especially need the phone lines to begin lighting up at 1:30 eastern time and continuing until 6:00. The targeted Senators phone numbers (including local phone numbers) are listed below.
* If you did not originally plan to attend but have decided you want to make the trip, please email Diana Reimer (philatppatriots@gmail.com) and Debbie Dooley (debbie0040@yahoo.com) so they can get the details to you.
Wednesday:* Tea Party Patriots members will continue Operation House Call circulating throughout the House Office Buildings beginning at 10:30 am. They will deliver the faxes you have sent to the targeted House members. Additionally, they will tell staff members why they are opposed to government takeover of our health care.
* We need you to back up their efforts by calling all the targeted Representatives today. We especially need the phone lines to begin lighting up at 10:30 eastern time and continuing until 6:00. The targeted Representative phone numbers (including local phone numbers) are listed below.Top Stories From TPM
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