Some of you may have gotten a version of this email from Organizing For America, offering to help you sign up for a meeting at your local member of Congress’ office.  The problem is that the follow-up email is – according to Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein – causing people to believe that they have a confirmed meeting with their Representative or Senator:

…some constituents took the follow-up email to mean that they had a hard-and-fast scheduled meeting with their members of Congress, and around 100 such people showed up at Feinstein’s offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Feinstein spokesperson Gil Duran says. The visitors got upset when they learned they didn’t have a scheduled meeting, Duran says, adding that Feinstein’s office “expressed their concerns” to the White House.

Republican Members of Congress have reported similar problems. So, remember:

• Organizing for America does not have the authority to set up meetings with any Members of Congress.
• If you have signed up with them, Organizing for America will not make a courtesy notification of the office that you were planning to visit.
• You are not guaranteed that the office staff will have a free block of time or personnel available to answer your concerns, although they will certainly try to be accommodating to constituents.
• This program is exclusively run and operated by Organizing for America, which is affiliated with the Democratic National Committee and the current Presidential administration.  Individual Members of Congress and their staffs should not be assumed to be working with OfA to provide access to constituents.

I suggest that people wishing to lodge complaints or concerns regarding this practice contact the DNC at 202-863-8000.  Alternatively, I understand that flag@whitehouse.gov has been set up for fishy activities regarding health care; and this certainly qualifies…

(H/T: The Weekly Standard, @MelissaTweets)

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.