Honda is still showing up on the Leaning list. If he is opposed as noted on the update chart, he needs to be moved to Opposed and would make it 33.

Any word on where Sandy Levin and Gary Peters stand?

Am glad to see Mike Thompson leaning “no”. He’s a Blue Dog but an old friend from past political campaigns.

We’re making progress! It’s very exciting to see this moving in our direction – it’s not often we can say that.

I’m making calls between business meetings – and they are hearing the pressure but we need to keep it up!

Just got off the phone with Schakowsky’s office. Woman, who answered, sorry didn’t get her name, was terrific. She said Schakowsky hadn’t made up her mind yet. I didn’t put that in your whip tool, because I trust your sources more than someone who just answers the phone for the Congresswoman. It was obvious, however, that the office has been hearing from other FDLers. I identified that I was not a constituent, or even an Illinois resident, right off the bat, they were still interested in my opinion.

She appeared to understand the problems with 3 billion for Cash for Clunkers in return for 150 billion??? for IMF and even more for Afghanistan.

Hi Jane, I just called Representative Hodes (D-NH 2nd District) Aaron, who answered, didn’t know the Representative’s stand on the bill. But he took my information down.

Also, there’s no listing for Rep. Hodes on the whip sheet. I don’t know if that might be why there aren’t more calls to him.

Oh, and yes, he is my representative, we met during the campaign.

what does the asterisk * after a name mean?

I’m adding Paul Hodes too. We supported him as a Blue America candidate, and I know many of our readers gave him money for his campaign based on the fact that he opposed the war.

Hodes is running for Senate (I sent him money for that last week) so he has a wider constituency than he has as a Rep. Unfortunately he may well vote for the damned war to help him in his run for Senate in this State. My Rep. Carol Shea Porter is sticking to her position I am glad to note.

Great work Ms Hamsher.

I just called Hodes office and, after some conversation, said that he will lose my vote for Senate if he votes to send money for murdering innocents. I am not happy with these Blue America wafflers.

Per Huffpo
“The White House is playing hardball with Democrats who intend to vote against the supplemental war spending bill, threatening freshmen who oppose it that they won’t get help with reelection and will be cut off from the White House, Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) said Friday.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..14870.html

I know he’s a cypher, but where is “Doc” Hastings (R-The Other Washington)?

I’m confused as to the number 39 needed here (Shades of Alfred Hitchcock!)?

Why only 39?

Just called my rep’s office . Rick Larsen , Washington state. He voted yes “because he supports our troops”. With Dems like that who needs Repugs?
I’m afraid I let a That Bastard slip out before I could control myself.
Apologized to his staffer for the slip and asked her to thank Larsen for spending 100 billion US tax dollars on IMF and another 4 billion on Cash for Clunkers when he could have voted no and cleaned the bill up to really be about “our troops”.
Wish we had a Donna Edwards to run against him.

And now the Wite house-probably old Rahm-is putting extreme pressure on freshman dems-saying they’ll never hear from them again, pull campaign money etc. if they vote no.

Damn shame they won’t do that for the healthcare plan. Funny how on that they want to be all bi partisan.

I am sorry but I don’t understand exactly what it is you are trying to do. Stop money for the troops needs in Afghanistan? in Iraq?-You do know that we are leaving Iraq don’t you? Maybe not quite quick enough for you, but speaking as an old soldier you can not just pick up and leave. What about the tons of equipment? What about all the war toys? I think that leaving NLT the end of 2011 is a good timetable. Even the Generals on board with this.
But Afghanistan? We have a very legit bitch with the Taliban and alQaeda. Besides Paqkistan is the real problem and it is more than a little bit our fault that the Taliban and alQaeda have found a home in Pakistan. I agree with Gen Powell and his Pottery Barn Rule. We broke it so we have to fix it. If you just pick up and leave a war without winning(or losing for that matter)then you just encourage the shit out of the bad guys. This actually happened after our escape from Vietnam. The whole world watched as we landed Helos on a roof to take people out. Portions of the world decided that we were nothing more than a “Paper Tiger” and went after Americans all over the place. Sure there were a couple that made the news, but there were at least five hundred-that I am aware of-times when we beat the terrorists to the punch and were waiting for them between the years of 1981 to 1998. North Korea, according to some in the KCIA(Korean Central Intelligence Agency) that I know quite well, would not have acted out the way they did if we had not cut and run from our ally South Vietnam. Some countries, like N. Korea, decided that at the first sign of trouble we would ignore our treaties and cut and run. I will say this, I was in Vietnam in 1970(for 12 mo) and 71,72.74 for up to 90 days at a time. After 1970 I did some reading about Vietnam and decided that we had fucked up by ever getting involved. The French lost, we should have stayed out. Dominos for gods sake.
I guess that my point is this, IMPO by pushing this vote the only thing you are really doing is giving the rethugs ammo for the next 2 years and into the election. They will use this vote to say that it proves that the dems hate the troops. I don’t suppose that any of you ever gamed that possible end out did you? Did you even think about the possible outcomes of a no vote? What exactly will a no vote do? Other than give the rethugs a massive issue for 2010? The MSM of course will eat up all the rethug ravings about how the dems hate the troops and by not giving them money you are leaving them out there to die. Seriously, that is what the rethugs will say, that is what the MSM will repeat. What is your response to that?

Blue Texan’s regularly scheduled post is ready for perusal: “Peggy Noonan: Catering to the Base Hurts the Country, Except When Republicans are in Charge”

I called Ellison’s office and they said he is Opposed.
Opposed is also how he’s listed in the Whip Tool Thing.
Maybe his entry should be updated?

As far as I know, folks want them to vote no because there is no plan for Afghanistan, no exit strategy and the big possibility of being bogged down there for the next 10 years like we are in Iraq. The IMF supplemental is a huge problem also but that may have been removed. We cannot “win” in Afghanistan-no one ever has- Britain, Russia. We are also killing alot of civilians-not exactly winning hearts and minds and the people there want us out. We are broke and perpetually funding war after war and the next black hole is Pakistan. We’ve got AMERICANS livng in tents and eating out of garbage cans here in our own country.

The rethugs will only run over te dems on this during the next election cycle IF THE DEMS LOSE WHAT LITTLE SPINE THEY HAVE and let them. The majority of Americns want our troops home-from Iraq for sure and don’t want to send 100K of our troops in to the hellhole of Afghanistan.

My personal thanks to Maine Owl and Gerald Weinand at Turn Maine Blue who responded to the call and have been pushing this at TMB

http://www.turnmaineblue.com/s…..entId=9040

Supplemental. As of the morning of Friday June 12, the offices of both Maine Representatives are reporting our members will vote NO to the conference report of HR 2346. Don’t stop calling. A lot can happen with Rahm on the case. Please continue to register your views. And THANK YOU to all who have called so far.

Maine Owl

http://www.turnmaineblue.com/d…..pplemental

Toll free Capitol Hill numbers to call, in case you need them (per katymine).

1 (800) 828 – 0498
1 (800) 459 – 1887
1 (800) 614 – 2803
1 (866) 340 – 9281
1 (866) 338 – 1015
1 (877) 851 – 6437

on the whip thing, why are some members listed as NO and some as OPPOSED? is this the same or is there some difference?
thanks.

Wow, you’ve got a definite “opposed” from Jay Inslee (WA-01)? Super. I didn’t get an answer yesterday. But, like I said, he’s about as progressive as we get. And he’s for cash for clunkers, so he’s making a trade-off.

FunnyWheelieDiva

I just called Rangel’s office, and they say he is still “undecided”.

Bravo to you for what you wrote! I agree totally and you are right on the money. This effort and the people involved in it is so naive as to defy credulity.

There is definitely a plan for Afghanistan – try actually listening to what Barack Obama says. What a noble soul you are – to hell with the women of Afghanistan. Have at them Taliban – kill to your hearts content, welcome Al Qaeda back with open arms to plan more 9-11’s.

I am telling you – you need to listen. There are millions and millions of Democrats that do not agree with you on this.

I just tried calling Zoe Lofgren and they STILL won’t tell me her position on the supplemental. Does anyone know if she’s said anything?

scroll pups…
the vortex of independent thought has reappeared

BREAKING – Jane upstairs!
Leadership Threatens Freshmen Who Won’t Vote For Supplemental

and you are extremely naive. We’ve been there for years already and the Taliban has gotten more powerful. So you feel it’s ok for our troops to be killed trying to win an unwinable war against extremists?

I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. Let me know exactly when the plan calls for us to leave and under what circumstances? When we beat the Taliban? After 100,000 innocents have been killed like in Iraq? When we catch bin Laden? After we spend 50 billion dollars? When our allies come in to help out? When NATO jumps in with money and more troops? When will it be time exactly?

to hell with the women of Afghanistan. Have at them Taliban – kill to your hearts content I take offense at that, being a woman. So you think we’re over there to protect women? I doubt that. In fact, ome to think about it why ARE we there? To put down Al Queda since they were responsible for 9/11? The Taliban wasn’t responsible for 9/11, Al Queda was but they’ve more or less left Afghanistan.

Why are we there??? I forget. Oh wait-I remember-so our Military Industrial Complex can keep grinding along.

Please.

@16
The American people, through their elected representatives, have a right to end a military intervention by defunding it. If that vote happens, the president, Dem or Repub, should withdraw the troops. The appropriations vote doesn’t endanger the troops.

@26
The women of Afghanistan are definitely at risk, in no small thanks to 30 years of US policy, beginning with Zbigniew Brzezinski’s support for violent, political Islam.

There’s no quick fix. The antidote is an international “full court press” – diplomatic, political, economic, social, forensic, police, and military; not the unilateral military vigilantism of the US, particularly now that Obama has embraced Rumsfeld’s vision of an “agile” “small footprint” force based on drones and commandos, and embodied in his recent appointment of Stanley McChrystal, whose expertise is torture and death squads.

The American people, through their elected representatives, have a right to end a military intervention by defunding it. If that vote happens, the president, Dem or Repub, should withdraw the troops. The appropriations vote doesn’t endanger the troops

Amen! The only money I want appropriated is to get our folks the hell out.

Beccerra is still undecided. But his phone is being hammered.
Keep it up, CA District 31!

Scarecrow not letting up, upstairs!
Did Democrats Lie to Us About Only Needing 51 Votes for Health Care Reform?

No, I am not naive. I just don’t agree with you and have a different perspective which many Liberals share. All war is not wrong. Al Qaeda and the Taliban are our enemy. What about that don’t you understand???? They want to kill you. They kill innocent people!!!! For all the wrong reasons. We kill people accidently trying to kill the bad guys. They kill for psychotic religious insanity. And if you are a woman you should be ashamed of your wanton disregard for the women of Afghanistan. We have been there for years with a small force due to the debacle that was Iraq. We didn’t pay attention. You don’t always have to have a clear cut plan to leave – why? Because you can’t predict the future. We need to stabilize things while we put pressure on Pakistan and do what Obama is doing on the diplomatic front.

Well done all around, thank you.

What branch of the military were you in?

I was never in the military.

“This increase is necessary to stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, which has not received the strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently requires.”

Barack Obama

“The Taliban is resurgent in Afghanistan, and al Qaeda supports the insurgency and threatens America from its safe haven along the Pakistani border.“

Barack Obama

“All 17,000 troops will go to the southern region of the country where Afghanistan borders Pakistan, with the goal mainly being to stop the flow of foreign fighters. The troops will also train Afghan army units. The military operations will set up a string of bases and smaller combat outposts, allowing the troops to move around and engage in counter terrorism against foreign fighters and counterinsurgency operations against the Taliban and other local enemies. The goal is to have enough troops to “seize and hold” territory and maintain basic security, which hasn’t been possible under current troop levels. The Taliban continues to maintain at least half a dozen safe areas inside Afghanistan, which are prime targets for the U.S. military.”

Barack Obama

That sure sounds like a plan to me.

And yes – I am a liberal Democrat. An yes I think the Iraq war was a criminal atrocity. And yes I think that Bush-Cheney and their neo con handlers have done incredible damage to this country and were responsible for uncountable death and suffering.

And no, supporting Barack Obama in Afghanistan is not at all inconsistent with the above and there are tens of millions of Democrats that think so.

elbows do not work when no honest discourse is possible
only oxygen deprivation will do the trick

starve the vortex
she is not worth your time

What newtonusr is saying is censor me and don’t exchange ideas with someone that doesn’t agree with you on every single issue. It is no wonder some in “MY” party have been accused of being elitist, intolerant and close-minded. You are just as much a kook-aid drinker as a Sarah Palin supporter. Blind. close minded and dismissive of any Liberal who dares challenge you on the issues.

How cowardly. I am ashamed of what the fringe extreme of the progressive movement has become.

I am ashamed of what the fringe extreme of the progressive movement has become.

Why? You’re not a part of it, and I doubt that you ever were. Also, you keep mentioning these “millions of Democrats” who agree with you. Well, guess what, the “fringe” that you falsely speak of is represented by millions of American citizens. That ain’t no “fringe”, and it ain’t “extreme” either. At what point in your political thinking did you decide that caring about the Constitution is “fringe”?

Kitt I am not going to play your Sean Hannity game. You know, the one where you can’t compete on the field of factual intellectual discourse — so you integrate a red herring into the dialogue.

Speaking of facts, according to a recent CNN poll 62% of all Democrats and Liberals are against releasing the photos.

And as to defining fringe extremists; a pool of so called progressives that consistently are willing to embarrass Barack Obama and are willing to contribute to the possibility of a weakened one-term President. I would call fringe extremists.

The Republicans are all voting against the bill themselves.