We’ve shown them what resistance looks like. Now let’s show them what war looks like.

This afternoon, at about 2:20, our members of Congress voted 217 to 213 to repeal Obamacare and replace it with something that would take health care from over 24 million Americans, cut Medicaid by $840 billion, severely scale back protections for people with preexisting conditions, and any number of other horrible things. And, then, these same people -the people who essentially voted to end the lives of our most vulnerable citizens – had the audacity to smile for cameras on the White House lawn alongside Donald Trump, as Mike Pence said that, after years of work, they’d finally taken a step toward giving “the American people the kind of health care they deserve.”

Yes, all of you Americans who don’t make enough for private insurance, and don’t have good jobs with benefits, you’re about to get what, in the eyes of the administration “you deserve.”

Pence didn’t, of course, mention that, under the new law, insurers could now choose to consider rape, postpartum depression and Cesarean sections preexisting conditions, allowing them to either charge more, or deny coverage altogether. He also didn’t mention the fact that this legislation, if passed by the Senate, would fund billions of dollars in new tax cuts for America’s super-wealthy. But I suppose none of that really matters to those who put the likes of Donald Trump and Paul Ryan into office. No, all they seem to care about is “getting the government out of health care,” regardless of how many lives might be lost. [Yes, the “death panel” Sarah Palin warned us of all those years ago, is actually a real thing after all.]

So, the question is, “How do we, the people who can actually see what’s going on, respond?”

Well, I’m of the opinion that we need to make the House Republicans who voted for this feel as much pain as we’re able to inflict, and we need to make it happen immediately. We not only need to build a movement to drive them from office, but, perhaps just as importantly, we need to demonstrate to the Republicans in the Senate that there will be very real consequences if they choose to pass this inhuman monstrosity of a bill into law. And we need to do so right away, as I’m sure the administration is working like hell to get this through the Senate before the American people realize what’s happening.

As others have said online today, we cannot allow this temporary advance in the Trump agenda be seen as a victory. I know they’re celebrating on the White House lawn, and acting as though Trumpcare is now the law of the land, but it’s not. They want for us to think that it’s a foregone conclusion, but that’s not the case. And we can’t allow them to take their victory lap. We can’t allow them to gain any more momentum. We need to strike back immediately, and strike back hard.

And, I know it’s going to hurt, but we’re going to have to dig deep and break out the checkbooks before we take to the streets.

Here’s how we do it.

Right now, there are three House seats are in play. One is in Montana, where people will vote on May 25, and the other two are in Georgia and South Carolina, where special elections will take place on June 20. All three will be difficult races to be sure, given how red the states in question are, but I don’t imagine it’ll exactly help the Republican candidates vying for those seats that their party just voted to rob over 24 million Americans of their health care. And, there’s also the fact that, just recently, the Democratic candidate in a special House election in Kansas lost by a mere 7 points in a district where Trump beat Clinton by 27 points. Things seem to be turning, even in the reddest of states, and we’ve got a chance to demonstrate that in Montana, Georgia and South Carolina.

So, if you have access to a credit card, now’s the time to pull it out and make a contribution or two to the following Democratic candidates.

Rob Quist [Montana]
Archie Parnell [South Carolina]
Jon Ossoff [Georgia]

You can donate financially to any of the three above through their campaign sites or ActBlue. And, if you’re looking to get involved in other ways, you can do that through either SwingLeft or Flippable, both of which are absolutely awesome. [As I used to live in the district, I just joined Team GA-06 on SwingLeft. You don’t have to know an area to get involved, though.]

And, closer to home, we’ve got some serious housekeeping to do… Here are our members of Congress who voted against us, their constituents, today, choosing instead to look out for the financial interests of their wealthy donors.

Remember these names, and tell your friends.

According to SwingLeft, David Trott is the most vulnerable of them, having just won the district last time by 48,411 votes (12.8%). And the fact that he made his fortune foreclosing on the homes of Michiganders certainly doesn’t make him the strongest of candidates… He’s up for reelection in 2018, and we can take that seat. [Join Team MI-11 here to find our more about how we unseat Trott.] Let’s not only fill the coffers of whomever runs against him, but let’s be at every town hall he’s at, telling the stories of those effected by Trumpcare. And, in the meantime, let’s visit his offices in person, and take to Twitter and let him know that we won’t forget… Here’s one to share right now, if you like.

Here's Congressman Dave Trott pledging he'd #VoteNoAHCA a few weeks ago. Wonder what's changed since then? #MI11 #Michigan pic.twitter.com/i53U8D8hBa

— Indivisible MI11 (@IndivisibleMich) May 4, 2017

If you thought that town hall was ugly, just wait.

For what it’s worth, I think today’s vote is going to motivate a lot of people, the same way a lot of people were motivated in 1994 to vote against those Democrats who voted in support of Clinton’s tax hikes. The Republicans, in ’94, never let the American people forget who it was that was responsible for raising their taxes, and, as a result, the Democrats lost control of both the House and the Senate in the ’94 election. And the same thing could well be true here. The Republicans may get what they want, but it may cost them dearly… And it’s our job to make sure that’s what happens. We need to hang this vote around their necks, and make them face the consequences.

I know the impetus may be to start fighting for single payer health care, and I think that should definitely be our long term goal. For now, though, I just want harness the wrath we’re all feeling, and give the Republicans in the Senate a little taste of what might be coming their way if they allow this to move forward.

So, with that in mind, I just gave the campaigns of Quist, Ossoff and Parnell $10 each, and now I’m researching where I might be able to invest a few dollars in Michigan to make a difference in 2018.

Everyone in elected office needs to know, “If you vote against the health of the people you represent, your career will immediately end.”

If they want to shorten our lives here in the real world, we need to end their lives in the political realm.

So, what are your ideas as to how we do that? Other than giving money to their opponents and going flooding their offices, how do we take the fight to those Republicans who voted against the health and well-being of American citizens today?

Oh, and ActBlue just set up a new fund for the Democrats that will end up running against the Republicans that voted for Trumpcare. The fund just launched this afternoon, and it’s already got almost $400,000 in it, which ActBlue says will be divided among the Democratic challengers facing off against Republicans who voted yes this afternoon… And I just put $20 in that as well.

We’ve shown them what resistance looks like. Let’s show them what all out war looks like.

Oh, and here, thanks to Talking Points Memo, are some of our first targets, caught mid party in the White House rose garden. The numbers appearing alongside each Representative are the number of people in their districts that will lose insurance, should this bill become law…. And, yes, that Michigan’s one Fred Upton in the second photo.