It's a reference to the discharge petition introduced by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) last week to extend the Bush-era tax levels for the middle class but allow rates to rise for the wealthy. The petition will need 218 signatures to get to the House floor for a vote, and Democrats will be unable to achieve that majority without help from a few dozen Republicans.
The call goes on to charge that the targeted lawmaker is "holding the middle class hostage to get more reckless, budget-busting tax cuts for millionaires."
It directs the listener to go to GOPHostageTakers.com, a site launched by the DCCC last week that includes a petition for visitors to sign to "to tell Speaker Boehner
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When launched last Wednesday, the site set a goal of 250,000 signatures on the petition; the DCCC says it has already received more than 400,000 signatures, and the site now lists a goal of 500,000.
The robocalls, which are only going to the districts of 35 of the 40 "hostage-takers," are a slight escalation of an effort launched last week by the DCCC to hammer Republicans on the tax issue, at a time when negotiations surrounding the fiscal cliff are heating up on Capitol Hill.
The committee also sent press releases to reporters in the districts of the 40 targeted Republicans highlighting the discharge petition. The effort is an indication Democrats believe the issue of tax cuts for the middle class will be a potent one going into the upcoming election cycle.
The targeted lawmakers are as follows:
CA-10 Jeff Denham
CA-25 Buck McKeon
CA-31 Gary Miller
CO-06 Mike Coffman
FL-02 Steve Southerland
FL-10 Dan Webster
FL-13 Bill Young
FL-27 Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
IA-03 Tom Latham
IA-04 Steve King
KS-02 Lynn Jenkins
KS-03 Kevin Yoder
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LA-04 John Fleming
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MI-01 Dan Benishek
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NE-02 Lee Terry
NJ-02 Frank LoBiondo
NJ-03 Jon Runyan
NJ-05 Scott Garrett
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NV-03 Joe Heck
NY-19 Chris Gibson
NY-22 Richard Hanna
NY-23 Tom Reed
OH-06 Bill Johnson
OH-07 Bob Gibbs
OH-16 Jim Renacci
OK-04 Tom Cole
OR-02 Greg Walden
PA-07 Pat Meehan
PA-08 Mike Fitzpatrick
SD-AL Kristi Noem
VA-02 Scott Rigell
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VA-10 Frank Wolf
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WA-03 Jaime Herrera Beutler
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WI-07 Sean Duffy
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WV-01 David McKinley
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