HELP! Expose the "Alito 8" Democratic Senators Who Are Blocking Filibuster

[samhsarah]

I just got this email from Democrats.com. Sorry if it's a dupe, but this is important anyway, so maybe someone will catch it that didn't the first time around.

Expose the "Alito 8" Democratic Senators Who Are Blocking a Filibuster

FILIBUSTER ALITO NOW

Harry Reid met with progressive lobbyists on Tuesday and told them he has nearly 44 votes against Alito, but there are 8 Democratic Senators who will not support a filibuster.

Only 41 votes are needed for a filibuster. If Reid has nearly 44 votes against Alito, every one of those Senators should support a filibuster or their vote against Alito is meaningless.

So call the Democrats who are leading this battle and demand a united Democratic filibuster:
Harry Reid (NV)
Dick Durbin (IL)
Chuch Schumer (NY)
Debbie Stabenow (MI)
Pat Leahy (VT)

Use these toll free numbers to call the Capitol: 888-355-3588 or 888-818-6641. If you can't get through, look up the Senator's District Office number in your phone book or here:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt?command=congdir

Reid would not name the "Alito 8" who are blocking a Democratic filibuster - so we need to identify them and tell them not to betray the Democrats who funded them and voted for them.

The most likely suspects are the "Red State" Democrats:
Tom Carper (DE)
Kent Conrad (ND)
Byron Dorgan (ND)
Tim Johnson (SD)
Mary Landrieu (LA)
Blanche Lincoln (AR)
Mark Pryor (AR)

Also call these "Blue State" and pro-choice Republicans:
Lincoln Chafee (RI)
Susan Collins (ME)
Lisa Murkowsky (AK)
Bob Smith (OR)
Olympia Snowe (ME)
Ted Stevens (AK)

For extra credit, call all the 2008 Presidential candidates who are sitting Senators - Evan Bayh, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Russ Feingold, and John Kerry - and tell them to either LEAD THE FILIBUSTER or FORGET ABOUT YOUR SUPPORT.

You can also send that message to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (202-224-2447) and the Democratic National Committee (202-863-8000).

The same message is posted with more details on Bob Fertik's blog at : http://www.democrats.com/alito-8

PLEASE KEEP KICKED!!!!!! WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!!!!!!!!:kick:

[radio4progressives]

1. K&R & BK'd Thanks for posting this

:kicked:

[samhsarah]

5. Sure thing.

;)

[sweetm2475]

2. K&R. Thanks!

:kick:

[fooj]

3. I called Landrieu and gave her a piece of my mind.

Peace.

[samhsarah]

4. Good for you, fooj!

:headbang: :yourock:

[fooj]

6. I told her to take a good look at NO...

she 'aint getting no mo from the rat bastards.

[samhsarah]

8. lol.

you really rawk!:rofl: :woohoo: :applause: :bounce:

[stevedeshazer]

7. Bob Smith of Oregon?

Come on. I appreciate the message you're trying to send, but jeez.

[baby_bear]

10. What do you mean, Steve?

Is Smith a lost cause on this?

b_b

(just to the north of you)

[grasswire]

16. it's Gordon Smith

I believe that's what Steve meant to have you correct.

[TriMetFan]

21. Bob Smith? I think you meant Gordon Smith (R) of OR.

And here is his # 1-202-224-3753. Wyden (D) #1-202-224-5244 I just happen to have both my Senators on speed dail. I call at least once a month and let them know if they are doing a good or bad job.

[kerrygoddess]

9. Direct Phone Numbers

AKAKA -D- [phone]
BAUCUS -D- (202 224-2651
BAYH -D- [phone]
BIDEN -D- [phone]
BINGAMAN -D- [phone]
BOND -D- [phone]
BOXER -D- (202 224-3553
BYRD -D- [phone]
CANTWELL -D- [phone]
CARPER -D- [phone]
CHAFEE -R- [phone]
CLINTON -D- [phone]
COLLINS -R- [phone]
CONRAD -D- [phone]
DAYTON -D- [phone]
DODD -D- [phone]
DORGAN -D- [phone]
DURBIN -D- [phone]
FEINGOLD -D- [phone]
FEINSTEIN -D- [phone]
HARKIN -D- [phone]
JEFFORDS -I- [phone]
JOHNSON -D- [phone]
KENNEDY -D- [phone]
KERRY -D- [phone]
KOHL -D- [phone]
LANDRIEU -D- [phone]
LAUTENBERG -D- [phone]
LEAHY -D- [phone]
LEVIN -D- [phone]
LIEBERMAN -D- [phone]
LINCOLN -D- [phone]
MENENDEZ -D- [phone]
MIKULSKI -D- [phone]
MURRAY -D- [phone]
NELSON (FL) -D- [phone]
NELSON (NE) -D- [phone]
OBAMA -D- [phone]
PRYOR -D- [phone]
REED -D- [phone]
REID -D- [phone]
ROCKEFELLER -D- [phone]
SALAZAR -D- [phone]
SARBANES -D- [phone]
SCHUMER -D- [phone]
SNOWE -R- [phone]
SPECTER -R- [phone]
STABENOW -D- [phone]
WYDEN -D- [phone]

[samhsarah]

11. thanks!

[canichelouis]

12. Fax #'s

U.S. Senate FAX Numbers

State Name FAX Number
AR Lincoln(D) [phone]
AR Pryor(D) [phone]
CA Boxer(D) [phone]
CA Feinstein(D) [phone]
CO Salazar(D) [phone]
CT Dodd(D) [phone]
CT Lieberman(D) [phone]
DE Biden(D) [phone]
DE Carper(D) [phone]
FL Nelson(D) [phone]
HI Akaka(D) [phone]
HI Inouye(D) [phone]
IA Harkin(D) [phone]
IL Durbin(D) [phone]
IL Obama(D) [phone]
IN Bayh(D) No FAX listed
LA Landrieu(D) [phone]
MA Kennedy(D) [phone]
MA Kerry(D) [phone]
MD Mikulski(D) [phone]
MD Sarbanes(D) [phone]
MI Levin(D) [phone]
MI Stabenow(D) [phone]
MN Dayton(D) [phone]
MT Baucus(D) [phone]
ND Conrad(D) [phone]
ND Dorgan(D) [phone]
NE Nelson(D) [phone]
NJ Corzine(D) [phone]
NJ Lautenberg(D) [phone]
NM Bingaman(D) [phone]
NV Reid(D) [phone]
NY Clinton(D) [phone]
NY Schumer(D) [phone]
OR Wyden(D) [phone]
RI Reed(D) [phone]
SD Johnson(D) [phone]
VT Leahy(D) [phone]
VT Jeffords(I) No FAX listed
WA Cantwell(D) [phone]
WA Murray(D) [phone]
WI Feingold(D) [phone]
WI Kohl(D) [phone]
WV Rockefeller(D) [phone]
WV Byrd(D) [phone]

[samhsarah]

13. Here's the free fax from SaveTheCourt link:

http://www.savethecourt.org/siteapps/advocacy/index.aspx?c=mwK0JbNTJrF&b=1361653&action=5308&template=logged_in%2faction_unavailable.ascx

[pat_k]

14. Check Up on the "Silly Six" who backed out on January 6th, 2005

On January 6th, 2005, it was rumored that the following Senators intended to join Senator Barbara Boxer in Voting Yea on the objection to the counting of Ohio's Electoral Vote.

Rather than actually doing something and voting to reject Ohio's Electoral Vote, they opted to blow some hot air “in support of the objection," and then oppose it with a Nay vote.

• Senator Hillary Clinton
• Senator Chris Dodd
• Senator Dick Durbin
• Senator Frank Lautenberg
• Senator Debbie Stabenow
• Senator Ron Wyden

You may want to give each these folks a call to confirm that they don't intend to oppose Alito (i.e., support confirmation by obstructing the Filibuster; vote no on the floor in an empty gesture of "opposition") the same way they supported the objection to counting Ohio's Electoral Vote (oppose it with a Nay vote; blow some hot air in an empty gesture of "support").

[McCamy Taylor]

15. How many of the 8 are up for re-election this fall?

And how many can the administration threaten with base closures etc if they vote for filibuster?

[pat_k]

20. Senators facing campaigns

Class I Senators
(term ends 2007)
------------------
Akaka, Daniel K.- (D - HI)
Bingaman, Jeff- (D - NM)
Byrd, Robert C.- (D - WV)
Cantwell, Maria- (D - WA)
Carper, Thomas R.- (D - DE)
Clinton, Hillary Rodham- (D - NY)
Conrad, Kent- (D - ND)
Dayton, Mark- (D - MN)
Feinstein, Dianne- (D - CA)
Kennedy, Edward M.- (D - MA)
Kohl, Herb- (D - WI)
Lieberman, Joseph I.- (D - CT)
Menendez, Robert- (D - NJ)
Nelson, Bill- (D - FL)
Nelson, E. Benjamin- (D - NE)
Stabenow, Debbie- (D - MI)

Chafee, Lincoln- (R - RI)
Jeffords, James M.- (I - VT)
Snowe, Olympia J.- (R - ME)

The Hill had an article that provided a bit of info on challenger positions on Alito.

Dem Senate challengers would reject Samuel Alito

. . .The Democrats seeking to challenge Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) are rejecting Alito.

Carl Frisch, a spokesman for Democratic candidate Paul Hackett, said that Alito is out of the mainstream and that his views on equality and corporate governance are unfit for the court.

A spokesperson for Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who is vying with Hackett to face DeWine, said Brown would vote against Alito if given the opportunity.

Two candidates looking to unseat Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.), Rhode Island Secretary of State Matt Brown and former state Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse, have released statements on their opposition to Alito’s confirmation.

Brown described Alito as a "right-wing ideologue" and spoke of the importance of standing up against the confirmation. Whitehouse called on Chafee “to stand by a promise he made in 2000 to oppose any Supreme Court nominee who would put a women’s right to choose at risk and to filibuster."
Chafee, whose reelection this year has been endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice America, has not announced how he will vote on Alito.

Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is vying for the seat of retiring Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.), said that Alito would move the court "in a direction that this country should not be going."

[pat_k]

17. Feinstein, Pryor, Byrd, Lieberman, Landrieu

Not my source of choice, but here are the folks the Washington Times names as having said "they see no grounds for a filibuster":

• Dianne Feinstein of California
• Mark Pryor of Arkansas
• Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia
• Joe Lieberman of Connecticut

Also from http://washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20060125-110931-7895r">the article:

Sen. Ken Salazar, Colorado Democrat, who campaigned on a pledge not to participate in filibusters of judicial nominees, has declined to rule out supporting an Alito filibuster.

Democratic Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware and Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey have speculated that Democrats won't filibuster the nomination. But the Democratic leadership in the Senate repeatedly has refused to say that a filibuster is no longer being considered.

And here's an AP tidbit from Sen. Mary Landrieu:

"Because we have such a full plate of pressing issues before Congress, a filibuster at this time would be, in my view, very counterproductive," said Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who wants the Senate to concentrate on Hurricane Katrina rebuilding programs. "We simply cannot afford to bring the Senate to a halt at a time when we need its action the most."

Sorry Madame Senator. Rebuilding New Orleans and other districts hit by Katrina is critical, but our constitutional democracy is under seige -- surely, you can spare few days to vote against cloture and demonstrate some strength? (Strength that will put you in a better position to fight for what your state needs.)

Anyway, Bush just unilaterally decided that Louisana can't have 30 billion -- 6 billion will be plenty, particularly with his restrictions (very few people who actually LIVED in NO are eligible for anything). Case closed. Stalinist "unitary executive" powers and all. Doesn't matter what Congress decides to allocate. Bush can just commandeer the cash to bomb Iran. It'll be AOK by Alito.

And, when Alito gets to the court, his first action will be to rubber stamp Delay's discriminatory redistricting scheme. Too bad -- that one will certainly put a dent in the Dems chances of winning back the house and Impeaching Bush. (And Gee, it would have been close. Had you blocked Alito, O'Connor would probably have tossed Delay's plan out. Oh Well.)

[samhsarah]

23. thanks for that info.

very helpful

[pat_k]

18. Also check on Baucus, Salazar, and Wyden

...a number of other senators who supported the Roberts nomination have already announced their opposition to Alito, including Sen. Max Baucus, Mont., Sen. Ken Salazar, Colo., and Sen. Ron Wyden, Ore.

Bauchus has been quoted as saying Alito is "just not right for Montana; he's just not right for America."
-- He sounds fairly solid, but should probably check to see if he's taken a position on supporting a Filibuster.

[pat_k]

19. Congress.org lists staffers . . .

. . .and it doesn't hurt to ask for a specific person (e.g., Judiciary Legislative Aide)

For example, the Congress.org entry for Salazar lists Felicia Escobar as his Judiciary LA.

[AzDar]

22. kick!

[Wordie]

24. K&R...and here are the toll-free numbers to the Capitol Switchboard.

Capitol switchboard numbers:

1-888 355 3588
1-888 818 6641
1-877 851 6437

Just tell the operator which Senator you wish to speak to and you will be connected.

And these are toll-free!

They are open 24 hours. If you don't have time to call during business hours, you can still leave messages after hours.

[RazzleDazzle]

25. This is probably the most hopeful post of suggestions I've seen

k&r

[Ksec]

26. Remember the grass roots effort to rid ourselves of this scum.

Take away their money to run. Take away all support. Support the person opposing them . I read an article in The Nation about this. Theyre targetting the Liebermans of the party/