Joe Wilson's Resolution..."Jackass" Number Two

Politico----

Wilson's Resolution

(Prior to being sanctioned Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) proposed an Amendment to Pres. Obama's Health Care Reform bill. Double "Jackass")



(Congressman Joe Wilson (SC) apologizes for foolishly heckling Pres. Obama last night. "Jackass")

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Short and sour... I can't imagine a resolution that uses fewer words -- 172 -- or represents the growing concerns of Dems not to go too far in scolding Joe Wilson.

RESOLUTION:

Raising a question of the privileges of the House.
Whereas on September 9, 2009, during the joint session of
Congress convened pursuant to House Concurrent Resolution
179, the President of the United States, speaking
at the invitation of the House and Senate, had his remarks
interrupted by the Representative from South
Carolina, Mr. Wilson; and

Whereas the conduct of the Representative from South Carolina
was a breach of decorum and degraded the proceedings
of the joint session, to the discredit of the
House: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives disapproves of the behavior of the Representative from South Carolina, Mr. Wilson, during the joint session of Congress held on September 9, 2009.




Joe Wilson even defiant in advance of House vote

A defiant Joe Wilson took to the House floor Tuesday afternoon and declined to apologize for shouting “You lie!” at President Obama during a joint session of Congress last week – just hours before the House was set to vote on a resolution of disapproval excoriating him for the remark.

In a one-minute speech, Wilson reiterated that over the August recess he had seen unrelenting opposition to Obama’s health care reform push from constituents.

“These were passionate events full of honest patriots,” Wilson said.

The vote to sanction Wilson, meanwhile, took on an increasingly racial tone, with Democrats saying that Wilson needed to be formally reprimanded for an action against the nation’s first black president that crossed the line. Debate should begin on the House floor around 2 p.m.

“I think there was a racial element,” said Rep. Steve Cohen, who is white but represents a heavily black Tennessee district. “I’d be sad if any Democrats voted no and I feel saddened for the Republicans that will vote no.”

"There is a fringe element that does feel racial hatred toward African-Americans," said Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), who also said he plans to vote in support of the resolution today.

While acknowledging that Wilson apologized to the president - an apology that Obama accepted - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters on Tuesday that the South Carolina Republican "also offended the good order of the House."

However, the majority leader did not think Wilson's comments were made with any racial connotations.

Hoyer deflected questions that the resolution isn't stronger, saying leaders wanted to rebuke Wilson, but not dramatically, given his immediate apology.

But Republican leaders Tuesday slammed their Democratic counterparts for bringing what they called a purely political vote to the floor while the health care bill lags behind.

House Minority Leader John Boehner said that Democrats were “piling on,” and taunted leaders for bringing a resolution to the floor taking aim at Wilson while they couldn’t bring a health care bill to the floor.

“While Democrats want to change the subject, Americans are concerned about the plan for a government takeover of health care,” Boehner said.

“It’s a disappointment to millions of Americans,” added House GOP Conference Chairman Mike Pence. “The American people want less politics, more jobs.”

GOP aides privately estimate that around 15 of their members will vote in favor of the Wilson resolution.

One GOP leadership aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that Wilson had not requested party leaders to whip members to rally against the resolution.

“Joe Wilson hasn’t asked for it to be whipped. It won’t be whipped,” this aide said.

While Republicans are rallying behind Wilson in advance of the resolution vote, Democratic leaders may be losing a little support from some of their own. On Monday night, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), told POLITICO that Democrats shouldn’t allow Wilson to become a “martyr” under this resolution.

And on Tuesday morning, Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.), said he was a firm no vote.

“I found his conduct offensive and disturbing. He apologized to the president and frankly, he should apologize to his colleagues and to the American people,” Hodes said in a statement. “But, the focus on his outburst has served as a distraction to the larger goal of providing affordable, portable, high quality health care to every family. We need to work together as Republicans and Democrats to craft a bill that seeks to lower costs, increase quality of care, and put families back in control of their health care. In my judgment, it’s time to move on and I do not support this resolution.”

Cohen, the Tennessee Democrat, expressed deep disappointment with Hodes, who is waging a campaign for Senate.

“Paul is my dear friend. I hope he makes it to the Senate. But he is making the wrong vote,” said Cohen.

In a closed door caucus meeting this afternoon, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, who has taken the lead in bringing the resolution to the floor, sought to stanch any bleeding for Democratic support, listing for members a series of reasons why they needed to get behind the resolution.

To bolster this formal resolution of disapproval, the House Rules put out a document listing precedents and rules about what lawmakers are allowed to say and aren’t allowed to say. For example, a lawmaker can say a president’s policies are a “disgrace to the country,” but they are not allowed to call the president a “hypocrite” or a “liar.”

Boehner would not say whether he was pushing for a party unity vote against the resolution today, saying, ”Our members are going to make their own decision.”

But Boehner said Wilson had already apologized to the White House for the incident and that any further action was not necessary.



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