Daily Yopp 1.12.17

For those who (understandably) are choosing to not obsessively follow the news these days but who ARE still making calls, rest assured that your efforts are having an impact. The outpouring of citizen concern has definitely been noticed by our people in Washington, so keep at it.

During my morning calls (I'm an early riser and always try to call first thing when the DC offices open), I was able to chat with my representative's office as well as BOTH senator's offices. All of them assured me that our calling is very helpful. They basically keep a tally of how many are calling, writing, and emailing on various issues, and the representative takes those counts with them as they go in to committees or general sessions. I asked them what to do when the phone lines are jammed, and they said that email is the second best as far as getting into the counts. Letters are always good, but not so good for timely communication, and those online petitions we love to sign only get counted once.

Okay...today's action. Call your MoCs (Members of Congress, aka senators and representative) about the importance of thorough vetting for all cabinet and other Congress-approved appointments. You don't need a fancy script to get counted. Just say something like, "I want Congress to thoroughly vet these nominees before approving them, and if the vetting has been inadequate, I would like the Congresswoman/man to vote NO."

For more background on this topic, here's a couple articles:

NY Magazine - Ethics Committee Struggles to Complete Vetting Before Vote

LA Times - Nominees Need Extreme Vetting, Not Rubber Stamps

Also, some bonus reading. Here's what Florida Senator Marco Rubio (GOP) is saying in the Tillerson hearings:

New Yorker - Marco Rubio Doesn't Let Rex Tillerson Off Easy

That last article gives me hope that our efforts are starting to wear away at the solidarity of the GOP block. Remember, it's 52 to 48, so we only need three wavering Senators to jump ship from time to time. McCain and Rubio are already showing signs of that.

Keep it up and SHARE THIS YOPP!