This is frustrating on so many levels. Our whole government is bought and paid for by the corporate powers that be. In addition to the fine work FDL is doing now, we need a long-term campaign to root out all this corporate corruption.

I agree.

Is there way we could use party rules to throw corrupt people out of the party?

O Thank the Saucer People and the Primordial Cow for bloggers!I come to this hub for information and to vent. Im sure my venting is not always helpful and i apologise for that, but i am grateful. Watching the washington establishment going about their sleazy business under the blog X-ray has been an eye opener for everyone watching. Some of them(sleazy pols) seem to know that the jig is up, but they play dumb and go on with thier crooked “legislative process” as if no one was watching. I have hope that no matter what the outcome of this particular bill, the corrupt process has been exposed for what it is – the sale of the Govt. to corporate special interests.

This is why we need to get private money out of politics:

http://www.publicampaign.org

Jane- I just got an email poll from my Senator Pete Sessions and I’d like to forward it to you. Please advise on email address. Thanks.

hey Jane or Mods,

the if they won’t sign on to the letter being circulated in the Grijalva whip count effort linky goes to a TPM article on Pelosi – can’t seem to find the current Grijalva whip letter

Spot on. Unless/Until that happens this is the crap we get. It’s not like they can be expected to put their constituents or the will of the country ahead of their own wealth and power. Sick, just sick!

Oh, Jane, you are brilliant. Sure we have a lobbyist problem … but you are identifying a narrative that makes the current activities ILLEGAL. And this demonstrates how close to the line these activities run.

If they took one stand before. And now they run to the opposite side and money is involved they are shown to be bought and paid for. It’s following them close enough and making them state their position that shows that their vote is for sale.

Go Jane Go!

I don’t think that measure would leave us with much of a party.. or much of a political system, for that matter. At this point, I’m happy with possibly corrupt party members who support (or affirm their support for) the public option. Let’s decide on whether we can live with whatever give-away their proposing for big pharma as a next step.. one thing at a time…

Rules?

As they say around here, BWAHAHAHAHAHAAA!

Go down to your local political party meetings…rules don’t count; only physical presence of live human beings matters…activism…

Go down to your local political party meetings

Yes, show up. Get involved. Volunteer to do something – most local parties are desperate for people who want to be active.

Someone prominent needs to start pounding on the illegal immigrant question – take the approach of “Jesus told us to care for the poor and for our neighbors so it’s not christ-like to refuse to care for their medical needs with the exception of emergencies.”

Jane, I think you should review the language in that whip call page carefully. It says that on the left are 65 Democrats who have pledged to support a public option and need to be encouraged to pledge.

Thanks, Jane.
fyi, Senators Murray and Cantwell from WA are also getting PhRMA ads here.

FunnyWheelieDiva

On further reading, here’s my confusion:

The table on the left lists 65 Reps who signed the earlier letter. Of those, 16 have taken “the pledge”. They are

Grijalva
Filner
Frank
Clarke
Conyers
Woolsey
Waters
Edwards
Nadler
Ellison
Maloney
Wexler
Hare
Pingree
Cleaver
Holt

I don’t think we want to call them to encourage them to take the pledge, since they already did.

That 65 also includes the folks who “defected” by saying they wouldn’t insist on a public option anymore that didn’t include triggers. Seems to me they should now be in the column on the right. They are:

Capuano
McGovern
Pascrell
Farr

It looks like these tables came from August’s list. I suggest for now that anyone who is calling reps go by this list for now.

So, this is disappointing, but as always I think Jane is keeping a good laser focus on the path towards the solution (as narrow and twisty as it may be): call your representatives and keep the heat on.

Let them know we’re watching them, and that we’re vocal, and that we contribute (and may contribute to their primary/general opponents). That is the only power we have in the corporate-owned climate of DC, so we have to use our power wisely and forcefully.

Giving up — even after disappointing news like this — should not be an option.