In a way this is a post-mortem on the Tea Party movement concerning the House legislation, although in a peripheral way. If we lose the Senate where the chances are much greater to stop the bill then the information below is just the beginning of a post-mortem. For now, I choose not to go there unless events occur which dictate that I do so. I could say a great deal more, but will reserve additional information until such a point as it becomes critical or pertinent to winning the fight. For now, let’s assume the issue with Tea Party movement is limited to just the information below, although in truth the rabbit hole goes much deeper. This is not to say that all Tea Parties suffer from the maladies both written and unwritten in the paragraphs which follow.

From the Politico via the Social Security Institute.

Like most Americans, members of the House are expected to report promptly — no excuses — when summoned by their bosses for the start of another workweek. One difference: For lawmakers, starting time doesn’t come until about 6:30 Tuesday evening.

After taking control of the House in 2006 — and again when President Barack Obama was elected president in 2008 — Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) boasted that lawmakers would work four or five days a week to bring change to America.

But midway through Obama’s first year in office, Hoyer’s House has settled into a more leisurely routine. Members usually arrive for the first vote of the week as the sun sets on Tuesdays, and they’re usually headed back home before it goes down again on Thursdays.

Since the House returned for its fall session on Sept. 8, it has stuck around to vote on a Friday just once: to approve a 5.8 percent increase in Congress’s own budget.

A Democratic leadership aide vehemently defended the schedule, saying members shouldn’t be kept in Washington for four or five days when work can be completed in fewer.

And with health care reform, climate change legislation and a slew of appropriations bills lined up in the Senate, House Democrats know that a longer workweek in their chamber might do little more than add to the backlog.

Asked about the abbreviated workweeks, Hoyer said Tuesday: “I think you understand why we’re doing it.” He pointed to the appropriations bills stalled in the Senate, but he didn’t cast blame at senators for moving so slowly. “It takes a long time to do it,” he said.

Still wondering what you can do to keep up the pressure on the Senate? Dr. Larry Hunter of the Social Security Institute counsels:

The good news is that Members of Congress are generally at home at least four days a week (Friday through Monday) where constituents can get their hands on them. This secret hidden in the open from constituents is vital for grass-roots organizations opposing ObamaCare to understand. THEY DON’T NEED TO WAIT FOR CONGRESSIONAL RECESSES TO HAVE CONTACT WITH THEIR CONGRESSMEN AND SENATORS. All they’ve got to do is be persistent four days out of seven, insisting that Members of Congress make themselves available to constituents at least one day every week, two when major bills such as healthcare legislation are under consideration. There is no reason Members of Congress cannot hold at least one major meeting with constituents every week when something major is under legislative consideration.

Grass-roots groups have been somewhat uncertain what to do next to combat ObamaCare after the successful August recess demonstrations and town halls and the September 12 Two-Million-Citizen March on Washington. Activists should take note: It is time to track down your Members of Congress at home—they are there at least four days a week—and insist that they hear your voices when you say, “No Public Option,” “No Insurance Mandates,” “No Tax Increases,” “No Medicare Cuts,” “No New Entitlements,” “No jamming ANY health bill down our throats under Reconciliation.” If they say they don’t have time to meet with you, they are dodging you. Track them down; give them no place to hide; insist they do their job at home if they are not going to do it in Washington.

During the August recess and on 9/12 millions of grassroots across the nation pressured lawmakers to the point where one insider reported to me that staffers were ringing their hands in fear. They believed their bosses were going to lose their jobs and therefore, by extension, would they. Shortly after 9/12 the atmosphere was dismissive of the Tea Parties. We have an objective metric and that metric stated the obvious – we lost our momentum and therefore our ability to control the debate. In one Google group for one of the Tea Parties I mentioned this over and over until the blowback convinced me I was wasting my time. Thankfully, Rep. Michelle Bachmann made the point during a Fox News interview, which prompted my response to the group:

…As you listen to her, please recall the numerous times the strategy memo was mentioned and the need for sustained pressure in a cohesive and coordinated way as opposed to local ad hoc pressure. Listen for the key phrases which are direct indicators that it was the lack of coordinated sustained pressure that has put us in this reactive mode as opposed to being proactive during the last two months…

…If we pull this off this week – and even if we don’t – there is still that final vote. If ever doubters wanted a smoking gun that the grass-roots vacation since August has put us behind the eight ball and greased the skids for ObamaCare, here it is – right out of the mouth of a Michelle Bachmann herself. Rep. Bachmann is polite but very telling in her delivery of that message. She also realizes that she must help recreate the pressure with the help of the grassroots, but it will be up to us to keep it going.

After this week – its sustained pressure time – unrelenting. As Ms. Bachmann says – “since the members of congress have been back here for two months they kind of have forgot that message” which she refers to in the previous sentence as the messages that came out in August at the Town Halls and Tea Parties. We cannot let them forget again. After the campaign this week, if we go back to business as usual, then so will the Congress. I hope this motivates us to do the right thing. This is not the first source inside the Halls of Congress to have stated this, but it is the first time I have seen it stated publicly. This is one concerned
politician’s way to telling us what needs to be done. This is somebody that knows what it is going to take. I applaud her.

Another contact with inside connections just emailed me:

This can still be stopped if the grassroots does it right. It is our game to lose.

Ours to lose.

When is comes to a winning strategy to pressure Senators to act a certain way it helps to think of it like pain. If you have pain for only half an hour you won’t be thinking about six hours later. If the pain is unrelenting, you are going to pay it a great deal of attention and possibly make an appointment with your doctor. In short, you will probably do something about it instead of ignore it.

The news from Senate insiders (Senators and their staff) concerning the 9/12 movement is now one of disappointment and a feeling of helplessness about three weeks after 9/12. I am not talking about the effect of 9/12, but rather the lack of effect just a few short weeks after 9/12.

The general feeling in the Senate was dismissive of the movement. This is real intelligence and very solid.

We saw what happened in the House. Now it’s the Senate’s turn. If you are part of a Tea Party, I hope the above information convinces you the current approach just is not working. We must re-create the tension of the August recess.

Local media is your friend – they are dying for some actual news – something that will draw viewers and is controversial. In each town in your state, challenge your Senator to a town hall through media outlets. You don’t have to wait for a recess to pressure your Senator. Look at the strategy memo from above and see if you Senator is listed. Call them, fax them, challenge them to hold town halls and, if you happen upon some intelligence on where they will be when in town – show up.

In other news and opinion:

Because Paul Krugman cares so much about the Republican Party

Health care takeover roll call vote — and what GOP Rep. Joseph Cao got from Obama; Plus: Organizing for America hustles more money

How To Divide a Party, In Three Easy Steps!.

Which would tie in well with how to divide a grassroots movement. Here is an historical perspective which is used only as an example of how not to run a war – and this is war. That is all I will say for now: The Southern Revolution And Confederate Leadership: A Recipe For Failure.. Bookmark this page and read the post. I may be referencing it heavily in the future

$25 billion “stimulus” program produces 0 jobs

ObamaCare: Dithering while the economy burns

Democrats Sold Their Party’s Reproductive Soul

McClintock, R-CA: Healthcare mandates “brazenly unconstitutional”