WASHINGTON — In the hours before the Senate voted on a $700 billion economic-support package Wednesday, the telephone rarely moved from Hanna Woodburn’s chin.
“Sen. Allard’s office. This is Hanna. Please hold,” she said, repeating the phrase to two more callers before picking up the first call again. “All right, I will put down your opposition.”
It’s a phrase Woodburn had already said multiple times, along with “OK, I will put you down,” and “I will pass that on.”
Hundreds of callers deluged the phones Wednesday in Republican Sen. Wayne Allard’s office and that of Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar. Most of the day, aides juggled three calls at a time.
E-mails nearly overwhelmed system
Voters wanted to be heard. They were angry. They were worried. They wanted to know who was going to give them a bailout for their maxed-out credit cards, second mortgages or student-loan debt.
Voters also sent e-mails, threatening to overwhelm the Senate’s system. Woodburn advised callers to send faxes to the Loveland lawmaker instead because e-mails weren’t always making it through.
In one day, 1,480 people called Allard’s offices, with the bulk received in Washington. Of the calls, 1,307 opposed passing the bailout package, and 173 supported it.
“OK, you’re in support of that bill?” Woodburn asked one caller. “I just want to make sure I heard you right.”
Salazar’s staff said his offices received between 800 and 1,000 calls, with the majority opposing government intervention in the markets.
“In the last few days, the proportion of people who are asking for Congress to take some sort of action has increased several times over,” said Salazar spokesman Matt Lee-Ashley.
Calls also came Wednesday to House offices. Most of those calling Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, a Fort Morgan Republican, agreed with her vote against the bailout Monday.
Callers are told bill is in flux
Democratic Rep. Mark Udall’s offices in Washington and Boulder fielded calls from 344 people supporting a fiscal fix, with 122 in favor only if changes were made to the bill the House voted down, and 501 opposing it entirely.
Senate staffers tried Wednesday to answer questions about the bill where they could but repeatedly told callers that it hadn’t yet been completed.
“I have heard that there is pork, but I can’t confirm that one way or another,” Woodburn told one caller.
A few feet away, Jake Ernst told someone else, “I’ll be more than happy to pass on that urgency.”
The phones beeped constantly, and when all four lines were busy, calls rolled into voice mail. Workers gulped water from bottles in between calls.
Staffers answering phones in both Allard’s and Salazar’s offices lacked a key piece of information that voters wanted: how the senators planned to vote on the bill. Neither senator had officially finalized his decision.
“He thinks long and hard about every vote,” Ernst told one caller. “He’s certainly not going to do something that would not be in the best interest of Colorado.”
Ernst listened a few seconds, then told the caller: “There are millions of Americans who have pensions and 401(k)s that would be affected also. If you have a business that uses credit, you could be affected also.”
In Salazar’s office, an aide told a caller that the Denver Democrat could support the bill if it contained certain provisions, including that taxpayers are protected, that there are measures to help middle-class families and that there will be oversight of those running the program.
Salazar’s office would not allow workers answering phones to have their names used in the story.
