This is it, folks! The upcoming reconciliation bill is likely the Democrats' last big shot at climate policy for a decade. There are two key policies on the table; it's time for everyone to rally around them.
Serious question: how should I and others address our GOP senators (Marco Rubio and Rick Scott in my case) about this? Obviously, calling and saying “eat shit, I vote against you, but also support CEPP and clean energy tax credits” is likely to get tallied under “things dems want and don’t matter for re-election”, but even a neutral message seems likely to get tallied similarities just by party affinity on the issue. I don’t want to outright lie and say “yeehaw, Trump 2024, go CEPP and tax credits!” but don’t want to make a futile gesture by speaking impulsively either.
So, should we put on our southern drawls, offer an economic motivation, etc? It would be great to here from staffers what works best.
As a former Dem Senate staffer, I don't think there is any way any Republicans will vote for this reconciliation bill, like Alan says it's about keeping all the Dems on board. I'm always in favor of calling to let your representatives know what you support, but there might be other things in the future worth calling more about (like future budgets).
So, is there a difference on the democratic side how you would have taken a constituent call where someone was clearly a republican raving about say immigration vs someone that sounds like they might be a democrat voicing some moderate or conservative position on an issue?
Not really, at least in my office. The folks who take calls are junior staffers or interns who need to be polite and listen to everyone. The only exception would be if someone was really belligerent or threatening. Whoever takes the call records who and why they called, and some notes are sent out to the whole office summarizing all the calls each day ( Ex. 20 people called supporting CEPP, 5 people called "concerned" about a migrant caravan). And it was definitely noted by the senior staff if there was a large number of calls for a certain issue. If there was a really major vote imminent, the Senator would ask for some calls to be patched through directly to his office (this happened around ACA repeal, Supreme Court nominations for instance). In that case, he would specifically request hearing from multiple viewpoints. I didn't work for a swing state Senator so on a lot of these issues, it was clear to everyone which side of the issues he would be on.
Umm, I think this about getting all 50 Democratic senators to agree to these terms. If you want to contact Republican senators, I would instead email Senator Joe Manchin to express support for a clean energy standard (CES) and clean energy tax credits. However, I don't know all the ins-and-outs of politics at this level.
I agree with your analysis. But the value of calling Representatives and Senators is sometimes overrated. No number of calls to Senator Toomey in Pennsylvania, for example, will convince him to vote for any reconciliation bill, and the same goes for any Republican Senator.
What would be useful now would be for those who have moderate Democrats in their districts to call them and ask them to stop trying to pull the rug out from under the two-track strategy (which I’ve personally had my doubts about from the start). If the bipartisan infrastructure bill (which carved out the large majority of pro-climate provisions in it) passes into law first, then the bargaining leverage for reconciliation is gone — and we can probably say goodbye to thr serious climate measures that you outline here. Senators Manchin and Sinema will declare victory — and they’ll have full leverage to water down the reconciliation bill as much as they want.
So call your moderate Democratic Representatives in House and ask them to hold firm. Democrats are good at shooting ourselves in the foot. Let’s try not to do it this time.
I think you are right. The acute value of calling your MOCs is dependent on where they currently stand on climate. There probably is a long term benefit from calling Republicans as a means of grinding them down but it won't matter in this crunch time legislative effort.
Based on what they've said about money for addressing the climate crisis, if a 50-mile-wide rock were found to be tumbling toward us from outer space, we’d have some "moderate" congressional Democrats agreeing we should do something about it, but only if it doesn’t cost too much.
Game on: I will encourage my contacts/friends/family to email their two Senators and Congressperson. bonus points for calling! And ask my organizations to rally around this: a clean energy standard (CES) and clean energy tax credits,
Serious question: how should I and others address our GOP senators (Marco Rubio and Rick Scott in my case) about this? Obviously, calling and saying “eat shit, I vote against you, but also support CEPP and clean energy tax credits” is likely to get tallied under “things dems want and don’t matter for re-election”, but even a neutral message seems likely to get tallied similarities just by party affinity on the issue. I don’t want to outright lie and say “yeehaw, Trump 2024, go CEPP and tax credits!” but don’t want to make a futile gesture by speaking impulsively either.
So, should we put on our southern drawls, offer an economic motivation, etc? It would be great to here from staffers what works best.
As a former Dem Senate staffer, I don't think there is any way any Republicans will vote for this reconciliation bill, like Alan says it's about keeping all the Dems on board. I'm always in favor of calling to let your representatives know what you support, but there might be other things in the future worth calling more about (like future budgets).
So, is there a difference on the democratic side how you would have taken a constituent call where someone was clearly a republican raving about say immigration vs someone that sounds like they might be a democrat voicing some moderate or conservative position on an issue?
Not really, at least in my office. The folks who take calls are junior staffers or interns who need to be polite and listen to everyone. The only exception would be if someone was really belligerent or threatening. Whoever takes the call records who and why they called, and some notes are sent out to the whole office summarizing all the calls each day ( Ex. 20 people called supporting CEPP, 5 people called "concerned" about a migrant caravan). And it was definitely noted by the senior staff if there was a large number of calls for a certain issue. If there was a really major vote imminent, the Senator would ask for some calls to be patched through directly to his office (this happened around ACA repeal, Supreme Court nominations for instance). In that case, he would specifically request hearing from multiple viewpoints. I didn't work for a swing state Senator so on a lot of these issues, it was clear to everyone which side of the issues he would be on.
Very helpful. Thanks
Thanks, that's helpful
Umm, I think this about getting all 50 Democratic senators to agree to these terms. If you want to contact Republican senators, I would instead email Senator Joe Manchin to express support for a clean energy standard (CES) and clean energy tax credits. However, I don't know all the ins-and-outs of politics at this level.
To be clear, I have no democratic senators and Joe Manchin doesn’t care what I think if I can’t vote for him
*tallied similarly
I agree with your analysis. But the value of calling Representatives and Senators is sometimes overrated. No number of calls to Senator Toomey in Pennsylvania, for example, will convince him to vote for any reconciliation bill, and the same goes for any Republican Senator.
What would be useful now would be for those who have moderate Democrats in their districts to call them and ask them to stop trying to pull the rug out from under the two-track strategy (which I’ve personally had my doubts about from the start). If the bipartisan infrastructure bill (which carved out the large majority of pro-climate provisions in it) passes into law first, then the bargaining leverage for reconciliation is gone — and we can probably say goodbye to thr serious climate measures that you outline here. Senators Manchin and Sinema will declare victory — and they’ll have full leverage to water down the reconciliation bill as much as they want.
So call your moderate Democratic Representatives in House and ask them to hold firm. Democrats are good at shooting ourselves in the foot. Let’s try not to do it this time.
I think you are right. The acute value of calling your MOCs is dependent on where they currently stand on climate. There probably is a long term benefit from calling Republicans as a means of grinding them down but it won't matter in this crunch time legislative effort.
Based on what they've said about money for addressing the climate crisis, if a 50-mile-wide rock were found to be tumbling toward us from outer space, we’d have some "moderate" congressional Democrats agreeing we should do something about it, but only if it doesn’t cost too much.
Game on: I will encourage my contacts/friends/family to email their two Senators and Congressperson. bonus points for calling! And ask my organizations to rally around this: a clean energy standard (CES) and clean energy tax credits,