Using Healthcare Reform as an Excuse to Behave Badly: The Violence Has Got To Stop

3/20/10  Members of the Tea Party call House Representatives derrogatory slurs and spit on Representative Emanuel Clever (D).  A brick was thrown through the window of the office of Representative Louise Slaughter (D).

3/21/10  The House of Representatives pass the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 219-212 and the Healthcare and Education Affordability Reform Reform Reconciliation Act 220-211.  Representative Russ Carnahan (D) had a coffin placed on his lawn.

3/23/10  President Obama signs Healthcare Reform into law.  Sarah Palin posts targets of Democrats she wants to replace in Congress with gunsights on Facebook.

3/24/10 Someone vandalizes a propane tank at the home of Representative Tom Perriello's (D) brother after a Tea Party activist posted his address online.

3/25/10 Representative Eric Cantor (R) confirms that someone fired a bullet through the window of his Virginia campaign office.  Representative Anthony Weiner (D) confirms that someone sent him a threatening letter in an envelop that also contained white powder. Representative Ginny  Brown-Waite (R) received a death threat by voice mail. Majority Whip James Cyburn (D) received a faxed picture of a noose at his home.   The Senate passes the reconciliation bill 56-43 and sends it back to the House.

LATE ADDITION:  Apparently, nobody actually fired a bullet directly at Eric Cantor's anything.

Senate Passes Bill 56 -43

The Senate voted today on the "fix-it" bill (also called the reconciliation bill, the add-on bill, or the corrections bill) 56-43.

The bill now goes back the the House for another vote before returning to the President for his signature.

It's Not A Moose Hunt!

Is there anyone that thinks that in this volatile climate this is even remotely appropriate?

Just Sarah Palin. Here is her “hit list” of politicians who need to be voted out of office.

First it's Emerson out encouraging the over-zealous protestors who spit on Congresspersons, and now it's Sarah Palin, with her violent gun-rhetoric.  But then, what do we expect from the party who still thinks it's ok to burn women at the stake?

hahaha George W. Bush is an asshole

Between the 0:10 and 0:14 mark, the magic happens...

Oh man, what a guy. Dubbaya (G-dub to his token black friends) will go down to Haiti for a photo op, but don't ask him to NOT notice how dirty and disgusting Haitian hands are! Come on, everyone! He is the son of a former President and rich oil tycoon! And Haitians are so gross, you don't even know! It's like they don't even shower or something, like they don't have an abundance of clean running water!

George W. Bush has the tact and class of a three year old.

President Signs Healthcare Reform into Law

Yes We Did! History Made As Healthcare Reform Passes

It's been a long road, and many of us weren't always sure of where we were along it.

Both the Senate version of the Healthcare Reform Bill and the Reconciliation Bill have passed tonight.

Healthcare Reform, flawed as many have acknowledged that this bill may be, is a reality.  This is a major step in the right direction for the American people.

So Are You Following All Of This?

I've been watching CSPAN for hours.

I even got to see Roy Blunt (R-Missouri 7th Congressional District) talk for his 60 seconds about why he is not supporting the bill.  Don't forget he's running for Senate.

This process is equal parts facinating and frustrating.  Get over to CSPAN and check it out.

And here is what CBS news says about what's in the bill.

Voting to begin in about 40 minutes.

Jo Ann Emerson Waves "Kill the Bill" Sign

Representative (and carpetbagging lobbyist) Jo Ann Emerson (Missouri 8th Congressional District) showed just how callous she is to the needs of her district today:

"As the House was voting on an unrelated bill, Republican Reps. Tom Latham of Iowa, Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri, Brett Guthrie of Kentucky and Gregg Harper of Mississippi stood on the south balcony off the House floor — an area known informally as "the beach" — holding pieces of paper that read "kill the bill" to a group of cheering protesters. "

Tommy Sowers, a veteran running for Congress in the 8th District, told Facebook fans today that 22% of the 8th District is uninsured.

Two of the top 5 industries contributing to Rep. Emerson?  Health Professionals and Insurance.

LATE ADDITION:  Show Me Progress has a statement from the Tommy Sowers campaign, here.

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Tea Partiers Practice Open Bigotry and Racism in DC

There comes a time in every group's existence when it has to answer the fundamental questions of "who are we?" and "what do we stand for?"  Until now, I've been pretty clear on what the teabaggers do not want.  They do not want anything proposed by President Obama, even when those proposals are in their own best interest.  This would be true of teabaggers who paid lower taxes this year (they don't even know anything about tax rates) and/or those who would have access to better healthcare.

But is this who they are?

Demonstrators outside the U.S. Capitol, angry over the proposed health-care reform bill, shouted "nigger" Saturday at U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia congressman and civil rights icon who was nearly beaten to death during an Alabama march in the 1960s.


The protesters also shouted obscenities at other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, lawmakers said.

(snip)

Protestors also used a slur as they confronted Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., an openly gay member of Congress. A writer for Huffington Post said the crowd called Frank a "faggot."

Screaming slurs wasn't enough, apparently.  Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver (D-MO) was spit on.

So this is who you are, teabaggers?  You can't articulate your arguments with any relative facts, so when push comes to shove you use the push and the shove?  If this weren't so sick I'd feel sorry for you, misguided and used as you have been by the GOP.