House Repubs call cops on Dems

[CatWoman]

House Committee Approves $50 Billion Pension Bill
Measure Passes After Police Called to Break Up Democratic Protests

By Mary Dalrymle
Associated Press
Friday, July 18, 2003; 12:44 PM


A House committee on Friday approved a $50 billion pension bill that would allow Americans to put more tax-deferred income into personal retirement accounts, but only after the Republican chairman summoned police in the midst of a Democratic boycott and protests over the way the measure was being handled.

Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, R-Calif., summoned police because he thought the lone Democrat to remain in the room, Rep. Pete Stark of California, was speaking out of line, other Republicans on the panel said. He asked police to remove Democrats from the adjacent room, but later rescinded that request, the Republicans said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11104-2003Jul18.html?nav=hptop_tb

[otohara]

1. McKinnon Up

says Dem threatened him w/ physical harm...go dems - McKinnon such an ass

[SeattleDem]

5. but police were called BEFORE that happened

from what I can tell on CSPAN.

The GOP guy who was allegedly threatened said that's why they called the police, but the Dems are stating that the phone logs demonstrate that the police were called FIRST, simply because the Dems were in the library reviewing the marked up bill they received at midnite last nite.

If someone threatened a GOP member, it sounds like it was because the police had been called, an unheard of precedent in the US House.

[otohara]

2. McInnis

I meant

[bunk76]

14. Scott McInnis..

repuke Colo.,makes the chimp look like a rhodes scholar. :evilgrin:

[msanger]

3. Republicans in Congress in solitarity with the President

They are lying about the timing of the calls to the police. They stand with the president in lying.

[acmavm]

6. Sanford (?) Levin of Michigan and another Dem Rep. just called them

on their lie. And what do they do? They lie again. But the Dems said that this action is on the record.

Where the hell are the presidential contenders. Playing with themselves while the country is being hijacked again?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

8. Give them a second for chrissakes........It just happened!!!!!!

:eyes:

[Elidor]

4. Rangel was on

Said the police were called and arrived before the confrontation began. This is some heavy-handed shit. He also said that the time the call went out was on the record, and suggested the republicans cut the bullshit or he'd nail their balls to the wall with the facts.

[BurtWorm]

7. I just read somewhere that they were called to break up a "protest"

by Democrats, which is bad enough. Now someone is saying the Dems were not even protesting but were looking over the bill they just passed by unanimous voice vote?

[Elidor]

9. Some repube from Colorado

I think his name was McInnis? - said a dem had threatened him with physical harm. But this happened AFTER the police had arrived. The repugnicans are trying to build this confrontation into a smokescreen to cover their fascist tactics to muscle this legislation through without giving the dems a chance to read it.

:nuke: My outrage meter is off the scale.

[berry]

13. Stark is over 70 years old and McInnis is a big guy

Dems pointed out the absurdity of this GOP defense and diversion.

The best Dem point--Steny Hoyer holds up Jefferson's rules and reads p 123 on the protection of the weaker party. Then says this isn't an isolated case of the majority party's abuse of power. He then also cited DeLay's calling of police/Homelnd Sec on the TX Dems.

Several others used the words "tyranny" and "police state"--they are really, really angry. And rightly so. Isn't this how the Patriot Act also went through? This pension bill was only put out at midnight, and the Dems did not want to vote without even reading it. God, I hate the Repukes. Only 2, that I heard, broke ranks sufficiently to try to sound conciliatory--Nancy Johnson R-CT (whom I despise for other reasons) said that both sides were wrong (thus trying to put some of the blame on the Dems--but at least admitting that calling the police was wrong) and McCrery (sp?) R-LA also stipulated that the chair had made a mistake, but then said the chair had reversed his order--arguing that anyone can make a mistake. The rest of the Repukes were vicious in their characterization of what Mr. Stark had said (and as he was the only Dem in the room, it was his word against theirs--there was a transcript too. Stark was VERY angry at the way the Dems were being railroaded on this, and said so.

Good for the House Dems!!! They need to stand up on principle on this. This is how the GOP win always, by trampling on the opposition, and by intimidation. I hope this gets widely reported. It might seem like a small incident/misunderstanding, but it is at the heart of why we need to vote out the Repukes--not just from the WH, but from the Congress. They are thugs.

[kentuck]

10. Just like the Repubs in Texas....

Did they call the Homeland Security also???

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

11. Diversionary tactics, Cee-Dub...............

eom

[tom_paine]

12. How long until a modern "Caning of Sumner"?

You could take bets on the over under.

To periphrase one of John Brown's sons, "When my father heard the news of the caning of Sumner, he went insane."

The Potawotamie Massacre happened not long after.

The Emperor and his Cronies have brought tensions, hatred and rage in this Former Republic to a fever pitch.

God help them and all of us when the lid blows off.