Have you contacted these Senators to say "Thank you"?

[Sapphire Blue]

Akaka (D-HI)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Frist (R-TN) *****
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Wyden (D-OR)

Senators contact info: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Capitol Switchboard: 1-800-459-1887***

*** The toll-free number is provided courtesy of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization whose work for social justice, peace, and humanitarian service includes campaigns for a moral budget and a fair minimum wage (www.afsc.org/economic-justice/). AFSC welcomes groups to circulate and use the toll-free number in support of non-partisan budget goals and without linking the alert to a website soliciting donations or actions which may be used to support partisan lobbying or work.


***** If you choose to contact Frist, please consider telling him to work with Senator Kennedy on a bipartisan bill to raise the minimum wage, w/no strings, no 'poison pill', no blackmail. Please also consider sending this same message to all Senators voting "YEA" last night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~```

Email from the Coalition on Human Needs (http://chn.org)...

YOU STOPPED THE GUTTING OF THE ESTATE TAX!

YOUR CALLS MADE THE DIFFERENCE. THANK YOU!

Last night the Senate defeated a motion to proceed on H.R. 5970, the bill that sought to blackmail supporters of a minimum wage increase into voting to gut the estate tax. But the $750 billion cost to the exclusive benefit of multimillionaires was too high. Proponents needed 60 votes to move the bill forward. The vote was 42-56.

Majority Leader Frist is a committed supporter of repealing or gutting the estate tax but changed his vote to “no” in order to give him the right to bring the bill up again in September. All other Republicans voted in favor of the motion to proceed except Chafee (RI) and Voinovich (OH). All Democrats voted against the motion except Byrd (WV), Lincoln (AR), Nelson (FL) and Nelson (FL). Not voting were Baucus (D-MT) and Lieberman (D-CT).

This was a difficult vote for many Senators who, like the Coalition on Human Needs, strongly support an increase in the minimum wage. Our real satisfaction at stopping this cynical legislation is tempered by disappointment that poor workers must continue to wait for a much-deserved raise.

Thank your Senators who voted with us. You can find the roll call vote record here: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=2&vote=00229

This fight is not over. It is clear that some want the estate tax gone at almost any cost. Thanking the Senators who voted the right way is especially important because the pressure on them will likely intensify over the coming months.

Look for more details in our Human Needs Report coming soon.


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[LSK]

1. Frist made it clear that he supported the bill

But had to vote No for procedural reasons.

[Sapphire Blue]

3. Yes, he made that VERY clear, which is why it's important to tell him...

... to work with Senator Kennedy on a bipartisan bill to raise the minimum wage, w/no strings, no 'poison pill', no blackmail.

[pooja]

2. floriduh disapoints again....

[Not Me]

4. God, Everyday I see Nelson turning Leiberman

and I am getting tired of it.

[spartan61]

6. I just e-mailed Nelson and asked if he was trying to be the next

Zell Miller or Joe Lieberman.

[onethatcares]

7. you won't get a response to that one

all I ever get anymore are updates about his campaign.

[ellenfl]

10. yup . . . and i emailed nelson about the estate tax repeal

months ago. he supports it. one of my disappointments in him. he thinks it will ruin the small businessman/farmer. i can only assume he is ignorant about the matter. i wish we had a good dem to run against him.

ellen fl

[cali]

5. Nope.

I damn well expected my Senators (Leahy and Jeffords) and the others to do the obvious right thing here.

[bobbolink]

8. All t he more reason to THANK THEM!!

Soem of us aren't so lucky to even have Senators we can thank very often.

Also, did you stop to think that they also get HATE MAIL from the other side?? Don't you think maybe that should be neutralized with thank yous??

"You catch more flies with honey..."

[cali]

12. In my defense

I'm frequently in touch with both my Senators and Bernie, often to thank them, but I'm lucky as to how I'm represented, and if I were to thank them for every good vote, I'd be thanking them on practically every vote.

[bobbolink]

13. Didn't mean to put you on the defensive.... ^_^

Yes, you're fortunate, and I'm glad to know you don't take them for granted. We can be sure that all the "good guys" get tons of hate mail.

On the other hand, thanking them for every vote isn't so bad. :hi:

[bobbolink]

9. Yes, our "bread and butter" calls and notes are vitally important!

Case in point... once I called Rep. Carolyn Fitzpatrick's office to thank her for her strong statement on C-Span, and the office staff person I talked with was in tears, telling me that I was the ONLY call they had in support!

She whispered, "We're getting death threats!" Even though I'm not a constituent, she asked me to stay online while she had to take another ugly call, because she needed to know that there were supporters.

I was so upset, and told her that if I could, I would have flown to DC and held her hand. Then I proceeded to call friends and ask them to please call Fitzpatrick's office and thank them!!! It was very clear to me just how important those acknowledgements are to the staff!

We need to slap hands when appropriate, but not forget to send the hugs and kisses, too.

And, remember to thank the staff people -- without them, none of them would be functioning, especially people like Conyers, etc!!

[Sapphire Blue]

11. Sojourners/Call to Renewal statement on defeat of the "Trifecta" bill

Sojourners/Call to Renewal on Defeat of the "Trifecta" bill (Estate Tax and Extension of Tax Relief Act)
August 4, 2006

American inequality almost took a giant step forward with the Senate's effort to gut the estate tax. And it's unconscionable that House leaders pushed this effort at the expense of a straightforward vote to help working families by a long overdue raise in the minimum wage.

When a nation is at war, when deficits are rising at record rates, and when everyone knows that even more budget cuts are coming that will directly and negatively impact the nation's poorest families and children, you don't give more tax breaks to the super-rich. Those who want to retain the estate tax are willing to reform it to make sure that family farmers and small business people are not adversely affected. But this bill is a misguided ploy that highlights the failure of our political leadership.

We must continue the moral resistance to such unbalanced social policies and a lack of political integrity that allows a process like this to happen. In the name of social conscience, fiscal responsibility, equality of opportunity, protecting our communities, and the very idea of a "common good," it's time for the moral center of American public opinion to say "enough." We thank those senators who did just that by opposing this bill.

It is important that the minimum wage be increased. But the long-term damage this bill would do offsets the gains from a wage increase for poor Americans. This political manipulation is unjust. It disrespects those working hard and playing by the rules, as well as all of us looking for better political leadership.

http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=action.C4NA&item=C4NA_trifecta