US House Votes 240-179 To Discipline Rep. Joe Wilson...A Lesson Well Taught

MSNBC----

US House votes to rebuke Rep. Wilson

(Following his foolishly famous "You Lie!" statement Rep. Joe Wilson has come under fire.)

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(Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., says it's “time to move forward" after Democrats introduce resolution of disproval against him for yelling "you lie" at President Obama. Apparently Congress didn't think so. "Jackass")

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

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Bitterly divided over an accusatory outburst — "You lie" — lawmakers voted Tuesday to admonish one of their own for his jarring interruption of President Barack Obama.

The Resolution of Disapproval against Republican Rep. Joe Wilson added to the already-toxic atmosphere of partisanship in the House. Democrats said Wilson's behavior during Obama's speech to Congress last week was an egregious display of disrespect that could not be ignored. Republicans accused the majority party of hypocrisy and wasting the taxpayers' time.

"At issue," declared House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, "is whether we are able to proceed with a degree of civility and decorum that our rules and our democracy contemplate and require."

Wilson, speaking after Democrat Hoyer, refused to back down. "I think it is clear to the American people that there are far more important issues facing this nation than what we're addressing right now." He said Obama had "graciously accepted my apology and the issue is over."

The Office of the House Historian said the resolution, which passed 240-179, marks the first time in the 220-year history of the House that a member has been admonished for speaking out while the president was giving an address. A resolution of disapproval is less severe than other disciplinary action available to the House, including censure or expulsion.

The resolution said Wilson's conduct was a "breach of decorum and degraded the proceedings of the joint session, to the discredit of the House."

Wilson's "You lie" outburst came as Obama, during a joint session speech on health care legislation, said that illegal immigrants would not be eligible for federal subsidies to purchase health insurance.

The shout drew gasps from other members, and Wilson, at the urging of Republican leaders, called White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel to apologize. But he has resisted later suggestions that he go to the House floor to express further remorse.

"I think that Mr. Wilson could have resolved this himself" by speaking directly to his House colleagues, Hoyer said.

House Republican leader John Boehner dismissed the resolution as a "witchhunt" and a distraction from the health care debate. "My goodness, we could be doing this every day of the week," he said.

The leader of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, initially said it was time to move on to health care and other substantive issues. Republicans agreed. But other Democratic leaders, including third-ranked James Clyburn of South Carolina, pushed for a House vote.

Clyburn, in an interview last week, said Wilson's behavior was "indicative of the combativeness he displays all the time when it comes to politics."

A leading member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Clyburn perceived it as a snub that Wilson held a town hall meeting on health care this summer at a school in Clyburn's South Carolina district — where Clyburn's children attended — without telling Clyburn.

There also have been suggestions that recent harsh criticism of Obama has been at least partly motivated by race. Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat and current head of the Congressional Black Caucus, said that "today is about the civility and decorum of the House." But she added that we "can't sweep race under the rug — racism is still a factor and must be addressed."

A House Rules Committee summary of guidelines for members states that while it is permissible to challenge the president on matters of policy during debate, personal attacks are off limits. House rules note that a member could refer to a presidential message as a "disgrace to the nation" but it would be impermissible to call the president a "liar," a "hypocrite" or say he was "giving aid and comfort to the enemy."

Financial bonanza

Treatment of Wilson's shout was complicated by the fact that it occurred not during floor debate but during a televised presidential address to Congress.

In 2007 Republicans unsuccessfully introduced a censure resolution against Rep. Pete Stark, a Democrat, for saying during debate that U.S. troops were being sent to Iraq "to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement." Stark later apologized to his colleagues.

The dispute, by capturing the attention of Republican and Democratic loyalists, has been a financial bonanza for both Wilson and his expected challenger in next year's election, Rob Miller. Each has raised some $1.5 million in contributions since the speech last week.



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Sources: MSNBC, Politico, Google Maps

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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Sources: Politico, MSNBC, Google Maps

Kanye West Is Dissed By Pres. Obama..."He's A Jackass"

MSNBC----


(Audio of Pres. Obama calling Kanye West a "Jackass". From TMZ)



(Kanye West appeared on "The Jay Leno Show" to apologize for upstaging Taylor Swift.)

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(Music fans are criticizing singer Kanye West after he interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. TODAY’s Natalie Morales reports.)

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Pres. Obama: Kanye West a "Jackass" for outburst


In what were supposed to be off-the-record comments, President Barack Obama called musician Kanye West a "jackass" because of the performer's outburst at a music awards ceremony.

The comments were mistakenly sent out via the online service Twitter by ABC News' Terry Moran, who had access to off-the-record comments Obama made while being interviewed Monday by CNBC.

"Pres. Obama just called Kanye West a "jackass" for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT'S presidential," Moran, a "Nightline" co-anchor, wrote Monday evening.

Moran quickly deleted the comment but it was still accessible online.

ABC News later issued a statement apologizing for reporting comments meant to be off the record.

Moran "prematurely tweeted ... before our editorial process had been completed. That was wrong. We apologize to the White House and CNBC and are taking steps to ensure that it will not happen again," the spokesperson said in a statement first issued to politico.com.

The White House has not responded to the incident.

West was widely criticized, and later apologized, for interrupting Taylor Swift after she won a best female video award at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday.

West took the microphone from Swift to proclaim that Beyonce was more deserving.


Sources: CNN, MSNBC, Politico, TMZ