Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) now cries the blues, regretting his foolish outburst ("You Lie!") during Congress' Joint Session while the President of our United States delivered a very important speech on Health Care Insurance Reform.
Hopefully after Congress formally rebuked him, he's learned a powerful lesson from this stupid display of Partisan Politics.
Folks you may not personally like Barack Hussein Obama however since he is our nation's Legally Elected President (44th), you WILL most certainly respect him.
(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")
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.
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.
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.
(SC Rep. Joe Wilson's stupid, disruptive "You Lie!" outburst during Pres. Obama's recent Health Care Reform address to Congress last Wednesday night.)
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) says he’s done apologizing for his outburst during President Barack Obama’s prime-time speech Wednesday, but two House Democratic leaders are calling for a formal reprimand if Wilson continues to refuse to make a public statement of contrition on the House floor.
Wilson told reporters Thursday that at the request of GOP leaders he called White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday night to apologize for shouting “You lie!” after Obama said illegal immigrants would not get insurance coverage through health care reform. But Wilson said he planned no further statement and suggested his error was more one of protocol than a poor choice of words.
“My statement to Rahm Emanuel was a general apology to anyone and everyone about speaking out of turn. Period,” a nervous, but defiant Wilson told POLITICO.
Democrats said a House vote was delayed Thursday so Wilson could apologize on the House floor. GOP aides also said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) had asked Wilson to make such a statement. But none took place.
The debate over Wilson’s punishment seems likely to carry into next week, an outcome which will delight many Democrats by keeping a media spotlight on what they view as a pattern of offensive behavior by opponents of Obama’s health reform efforts, now symbolized by Wilson.
Although both Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said it was time to move past the episode, both Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) said they want Wilson to go to the well of the House and do penance for his breach of decorum.
“We invite the president of the United States to come and address a joint session of Congress, and a member of the House ... does something that in the 29 years I haven’t seen,” said Hoyer. “I think it’s something that needs to be dealt with.”
Clyburn, the dean of the South Carolina delegation, was even more forceful in his denunciation of Wilson’s comments. He said in an interview that he repeatedly asked Wilson to apologize during a conversation the two had Thursday morning, but Wilson refused.
Clyburn said he would support a resolution reprimanding Wilson, or another punishment called a “resolution of disapproval,” unless the South Carolina Republican took some further step to defuse the majority’s anger. “I said to him that the proper thing to do would be go to the well [of the House] to apologize to his colleagues,” Clyburn said.
Otherwise, he cautioned Wilson that “there are more than 218 votes on my side” for some kind of sanction against him. “He has no remorse whatsoever. So his words have very little meaning,” Clyburn complained on MSNBC.
Obama sought to rise above the fray Thursday, declaring that he had accepted the conservative congressman’s apology. “I’m a big believer that we all make mistakes. He apologized quickly and without equivocation, and I’m appreciative of that,” Obama said in response to questions at a Cabinet meeting.
At his daily briefing, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs seemed to downplay the idea of censure. “We take Congressman Wilson at his word that he apologizes for an outburst that he regrets,” Gibbs said, adding that Americans would rather see Obama and Congress focusing on health care “rather than debating the back and forth of the apology.”
Pelosi took the same approach. “I’m on to health care reform,” Pelosi told reporters at her weekly news conference. “I’m not going to discuss Joe Wilson,” she said. “I think his action spoke for itself. He has apologized. He will figure out what is appropriate for him to do.”
Earlier Thursday, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) had also called Wilson’s apology insufficient and said he should face a formal sanction. But Gibbs said the White House considered the matter closed. “I think the story largely goes away,” he said.
If it does, it will be despite the efforts of groups like MoveOn.org and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which were blasting e-mailing supporters yesterday in an effort to raise money and foment outrage over Wilson’s remarks.
“Stand against Joe Wilson’s unacceptable outburst,” the DCCC wrote in a message it urged backers to retweet on Twitter. “Calling the President of the United States a liar in front of the nation is a new low even for House Republicans.”
The DCCC said that Rob Miller, a Democrat and Iraq war veteran planning to challenge Wilson next fall, had scored more than $350,000 in online donations and pledges after the incumbent’s high-profile exclamation Wednesday.
Democratic analysts said the controversy provoked by Wilson had drowned out the GOP’s substantive criticism of Obama’s health plan and focused attention on the party’s obstructionist tactics.
“The White House has handled it beautifully,” said Democratic consultant Steve McMahon.
“Obama accepted the apology, but Joe Wilson’s behavior is a metaphor for the Republican Congress and many of those who participate in town hall meetings who are loud, ill-informed and not particularly persuasive to most people.”
Republicans spent much of their day either defending Wilson or refusing to comment on the controversy, although a number of GOP members complained privately that the episode had distracted from their substantive attacks on Obama’s health reform proposal.“This is not something we wanted to spend the day talking about,” said a GOP lawmaker close to Boehner.
Wilson, for his part, continued to press the issue that prompted his outburst — his view that Democratic legislation would give health care benefits to illegal aliens. There are provisions in the Democratic legislation that would deny federal insurance subsidies to illegal aliens, but Republicans say that the bills would not bar illegal immigrants from participation in new health insurance exchanges and that there are inadequate safeguards to keep aliens from signing up.
“The Congressional Research Service has indicated that indeed the bills that are before Congress would include illegal aliens. I think this is wrong,” Wilson said. “People who have come to our country and violated laws, we should not be providing full health care services [to them].”
While not defending Wilson’s tactics, Boehner and other Republicans yesterday echoed Wilson’s assertion that illegal immigrants would get new coverage under Democratic plans.
Boehner said it was “pretty clear” that illegal aliens could buy insurance through exchanges set up under one House bill. And conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh spoke for many conservatives who cheered Wilson’s confrontational approach and derided fellow Republicans for abandoning him.
“One of the things that’s really irritated me all morning and last night was listening to Republicans, even after Wilson had apologized — and I wish he had not. ... members of his own party were all over television denigrating him,” Limbaugh said on his program Thursday.
“We are in the midst of an administration that is trying to tear down the institutions and traditions that have made this country great. He is lying, President Obama is, from the moment he opens his mouth until he ends the speech. I was shouting, ‘You’re lying,’ throughout the speech at the television,” Limbaugh said. “Joe Wilson simply articulated what millions of Americans were saying.”
WASHINGTON — Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee may have trouble keeping the promise she made at Michael Jackson's public memorial for a House resolution that "forever" honors the late pop star.
Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat, took the stage Tuesday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and hoisted a framed copy of the resolution, embossed with a gold seal. The measure will be debated on the House floor, she said.
For that framed, embossed resolution to be completely legit, it must first get past some opposition.
Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican who called Jackson a "pervert, child molester, pedophile" in a video he posted on YouTube this week, vowed Tuesday to do "whatever I have to do" to oppose honoring Jackson.
Without mentioning King by name, Jackson Lee noted at the memorial that Michael Jackson was acquitted of child molestation charges. She blasted critics who "don't understand the hearts of entertainers" and "don't know how they heal the world on behalf of America."
"We understand the Constitution. We understand laws and we know people are innocent until proven otherwise. That is what the Constitution stands for," Jackson Lee said, clutching the framed resolution in front of her shiny white suit.
Her legislation, House Resolution 600, lists several charitable acts by Michael Jackson over his long career and proclaims him as an American legend, musical icon and world humanitarian. He is, Jackson Lee said, "someone who will be honored forever and forever and forever and forever and forever."
In the House, non-controversial resolutions honoring a person who has died or carried out a noteworthy accomplishment normally move quickly from committee to the House floor and then pass on a voice vote. The Michael Jackson resolution, introduced June 26, is awaiting action in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, of which Jackson Lee is a member and King is not.
An opponent could ask for a recorded vote, which then requires a two-thirds majority for passage. So far, Jackson Lee's resolution has just one co-sponsor, Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif.
Jackson Lee hosted a 2004 meeting in her Capitol Hill office that brought Michael Jackson together with ambassadors to the U.S. from African countries. At the time, Jackson was considering a tour to raise money to fight AIDS. However, he was also facing child molestation charges and was unable to leave the country without court permission.
Even so, Jackson was greeted by screams, applause and flashing cameras.
Jackson also visited Iraq veterans at Walter Reed Hospital while in Washington.
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