Take Action: Save Reps’ Numbers In Your Phone

As the Republican Congress proposes legislation to oppress the poor and afflict the sick, your voice is needed. Do not stay on the sidelines. One small thing you can do is call your representatives. But how do you move from intending to do that to actually doing it? And not just doing it once in a fit of rage, but doing it consistently? Save their numbers in your phone. Are you with me? Here’s what you do:

1. Find your senators here and house member here
2. Click on their name to go to their website
3. On their website there will be a list of their office locations and phone numbers. It may be under a “Contact” tab or “Office Locations” or something like that.
4. Once you’ve found the list, save the phone number for their D.C. office and their local office in your area.
5. Now, when you read the news or when the thought occurs to you, you can call your representatives very easily. Call them in D.C. and at their local offices. You’ll often get to talk to real live staffers. Make their jobs hard.

If someone knows an easier way to find contact information please let me know! But this is pretty easy.

Do not assume that your voice doesn’t matter. The situation is fluid and there is a group of Republican senators that is very nervous about repealing Obamacare without having a real replacement ready. Now is the time to lean on those senators, and on all of our representatives. You may want to save the phone numbers of key congressional leaders in addition to your own representatives.

What should your message to them be? Here in Pennsylvania, I have one Republican senator, so he is the key leverage point. I am not asking Senator Toomey to invest in Obamacare as such. I understand the politics of this. As a Republican, he will feel required to vote for at least a symbolic repeal of the law. That’s ok. My message to him is three-fold:

1. My family and many others in our community depend on Obamacare. For some, this is a matter of life and death.
2. Repealing the law without replacing it is unacceptable.
3. Any replacement must absolutely prioritize the sick and the poor.

Let’s stand together and care for each other, especially when our leaders won’t.