We received the following statement from Congressman Emanuel Cleaver's (D-MO) office:
For many of the members of the CBC, like John Lewis and Emanuel Cleaver who worked in the civil rights movement, and for Mr. Frank who has struggled in the cause of equality, this is not the first time they have been spit on during turbulent times.
This afternoon, the Congressman was walking into the Capitol to vote, when one protester spat on him. The Congressman would like to thank the US Capitol Police officer who quickly escorted the others Members and him into the Capitol, and defused the tense situation with professionalism and care. After all the Members were safe, a full report was taken and the matter was handled by the US Capitol Police. The man who spat on the Congressman was arrested, but the Congressman has chosen not to press charges. He has left the matter with the Capitol Police.
This is not the first time the Congressman has been called the "n" word and certainly not the worst assault he has endured in his years fighting for equal rights for all Americans. That being said, he is disappointed that in the 21st century our national discourse has devolved to the point of name calling and spitting. He looks forward to taking a historic vote on health care reform legislation tomorrow, for the residents of the Fifth District of Missouri and for all Americans. He believes deeply that tomorrow's vote is, in fact, a vote for equality and to secure health care as a right for all. Our nation has a history of struggling each time we expand rights. Today's protests are no different, but the Congressman believes this is worth fighting for.
Our friends at Fired Up posted on this Twitter item by Renee Hulshof, spouse of former Congressman and unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate Kenny Hulshof (r):
My husband is convinced that the dems will get healthcare passed. This educated prediction from him is freaking me out.
[Note: according to Twitter - "This person has protected their tweets."]
Huh? Why, because millions of Americans might be able to get access to affordable health care and just might be able to do so even if the have a pre-existing condition?
Kenny Hulshoff (r) was elected to Congress in 1996 with 49.4% of the vote. He served until January 2009, not seeking re-election and instead deciding to lose to Jay Nixon in the 2008 gubernatorial race by only garnering 39.5% of the vote. Kenny Hulshof (r) served in Congress for twelve years.
While in Congress Kenny Hulshof and his spouse were eligible to participate in the federal health insurance program [pdf] for members. Among its provisions:
...Members meeting minimum enrollment period requirements who are also eligible for an immediate annuity may continue to participate in the health benefit program when they retire...
Okay, Kenny Hulshof has "retired", but we don't know if continues to participate. Do you think anyone will bother to ask him?
...enrollees are not subject to pre-existing condition exclusion...
If it's good enough for Congress it's too good for anyone else?
...At the time of retirement, members...receiving an immediate annuity have a one-time election to continue to participate...provided they have been enrolled for at least five years before retirement (or if less, must have been enrolled from the last day in the period in which the employee became eligible to enroll in the plan up to the date on which the employee became an annuitant) and are eligible for an immediate annuity. Like active workers, retirees may enroll as individuals or may elect family coverage for themselves, their spouse...
Now, we don't know if former Congressman Kenny Hulshof (r) and his spouse were ever enrolled in the federal health insurance program for Congress or if they are presently eligible as "retiree and spouse" for coverage, but in as far as the former, wasn't it nice to have that option? Too bad that option isn't available to everyone else. Apparently the prospect of this happening is enough to freak out Renee Hulshof.
President Obama participated in a lengthy give and take with House republicans at their obstructionism planning session "issues conference" in Baltimore, Maryland today. The republicans made the mistake of agreeing to broadcast the event. Absolutely brilliant miscalculation on their part.
It's nice to actually have a President who can think. Then again, the environmental contrast was stark.
"...But if you were to listen to the debate and, frankly, how some of you went after this bill, you'd think that this thing was some Bolshevik plot. No, I mean, that's how you guys -- (applause) -- that's how you guys presented it...."
For a second there I forgot Marsha Blackburn was an idiot, then she wouldn't stop editorializing. :( #cspanObama/GOP q & a about 1 hour ago from UberTwitter
"That was awesome," Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (D., Mo.) said to one of her companions afterward. A spokesman for Ms. Emerson said he didn't know what such a remark would have been about and couldn't confirm it...
..."That was awesome," Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R., Mo.) said to one of her companions afterward. A spokesman for Ms. Emerson said he didn't know what such a remark would have been about and couldn't confirm it...
...Publicly and privately, Republicans have been upbeat about the midterm outlook, saying voter unrest demonstrated at meetings this summer coupled with strong candidate recruitment have them highly optimistic about capturing 40 or more Democratic seats and resuming command of the House. They are talking confidently about knocking off such old bulls as Representatives David R. Obey of Wisconsin and Ike Skelton of Missouri, the chairmen of the Appropriations and Armed Services Committees...
Let's take a look at a little bit of Missouri election history:
Official Election Returns
State of Missouri General Election - 2008 General Election
Tuesday, November 04, 2008 As announced by the Board of State Canvassers
on Tuesday, December 02, 2008
U.S. Representative - District 4 - Summary
Precincts Reporting 419 of 419
Parnell, Jeff REP 103,446 34.1%
Skelton, Ike DEM 200,009 65.9%
Tommy Sowers, announced Democratic Party candidate for the seat in the 8th Congressional District, spoke at the Truman Day rally in Poplar Bluff on Saturday, September 19th.
...[applause] Good evening everyone. Thank you for that excellent introduction. And it's an honor to be standing before you tonight. Especially on a night celebrating Harry S Truman. Some of my first memories were sitting on my grandfather's lap in the newspaper editorial office looking at pictures of him and Harry S Truman. And when I think of what it means to be a public servant I think of him. I think of a guy that's from the area. I think of a guy that served his country and always put the people first. So it's an honor to be with, with you here tonight on this night.
You may have heard that I'm running for Congress. You may have seen it in the newspaper or heard it on the radio. But tonight I've got a very simple thing to do, a mission, for a military man. I need to tell you who I am and I need, need to tell you why I'm running....
...There are also those who claim that our reform effort[s] will would insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false [voice: "Liar!"], the reforms, [the reforms] I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally [voice: "Lie!"]...
jessicapodhola I can not believe in my lifetime I saw a member of cong yell at the president during a joint session wtf does he think this is a town hall?? 35 minutes ago from web
SharkFu RT @jenlabarberaRT @theuptake CNN's Dana Bash reports: shout of "you lie" [ ... ] came from Rep. Joe Wilson (SC) #hometrainingfail 15 minutes ago from web
They must have had the same people attending their town halls in South Carolina.
Update II:
Senator Claire McCaskill:
clairecmc Biggest disappointmnt of evening, the total lack of respect shown by one member for the President.Never acceptable to behave like a jerk. 1 minute ago from UberTwitter
Senator McCaskill would know, having been on the receiving end of boorish behavior during the previous month (see above).
Update III:
Statement on President Obama's speech by Senator Claire McCaskill:
"After hosting town halls throughout Missouri, I think the President did a good job correcting all the misinformation that has been spread. Now with the stakes made clear, it's time to work on reasonable health insurance reform that will bring down the cost of health care, improve the way care is provided, and do it in a way that doesn't saddle our grandchildren with our debt.
"He did a great job of explaining that the price of doing nothing is much too steep and those who are blocking health care reform are engaged in very risky behavior."
Update IV:
Democratic candidate Rob Miller is challenging Rep. Joe "I like to yell at the President during his speech" Wilson (r). As WillyK pointed out in the comments below, there's an ActBlue page where you can throw some coin to help out a good Democrat challenging a boorish republican.
...After four months of work on an extremely important issue that affects just about every person in America, Blunt has only been able to come up with...."a five-page briefing document..."
But, but, but we had such high hopes. Roy Blunt (r-lobbyists) via Twitter:
Are those "five pages" double spaced, with wide margins? Just asking. That's what usually happens when you play video games instead of doing your homework.
White House Releases State by State Numbers; American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to Save or Create 3.5 Million Jobs
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The White House today released state-specific details on the local impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is a nationwide effort to create jobs, jumpstart growth and transform our economy to compete in the 21st century. The compromise package of $789 billion will create or save 3.5 million jobs over the next two years. Jobs created will be in a range of industries from clean energy to health care, with over 90% in the private sector...
And here's what that means for Missouri:
...The table [pdf] below outlines the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act compromise package on employment by state. The estimates are derived from an analysis of the overall employment impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act conducted by Christina Romer, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, and Jared Bernstein, Chief Economist for the Vice President, and detailed estimates of the working age population, employment, and industrial composition of each state...
...Missouri 69,000...
[emphasis added]
And here's what this means for Missouri by congressional district:
Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D), who had a hand in organizing the United Autoworkers Rally, spoke throughout the Sunday afternoon event, at times acting as a master of ceremonies, at other times using the pulpit to contribute his insights and educate those in attendance.
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver:...These are some difficult times. In times like these you always discover who your friends are. At times like these you find out who is in fact for you and who is neutral and neutrality is opposition.
And the good news about this coming together of working men and working women, the coming together of people who created the middle class for the United States of America, is that we have a leader, thank God, [applause] we have a leader [applause] in the state of Missouri who does not back away from, in fact he comes in to close proximity to, and sides with the working men and women of the State of Missouri. And there are states that cannot have such a rally with a governor. There are states where men and women must gather without the strong support of the top of their state government, but not Missouri...
Here's a simple economic fact of American life: if working families aren't doing well, then the economy is seriously in the tank for almost everyone.
Here's a simple political fact of American life: if working families aren't doing well, your political party is seriously in the tank to almost everyone.
The republican party doesn't know this and doesn't care. You don't stand around doing nothing and watch hundreds of thousands of good paying jobs go down the tubes. Union jobs. With health insurance.
...This is really beyond destructive. These people are willing to take down the entire economy so they can bust the unions and prop up a completely discredited ideology with the bodies of middle class Americans who are losing everything...
About half of Americans (53%) can correctly identify the Democrats as the party that has a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. In February 2007, shortly after the Democrats gained control of the House after a dozen years of GOP rule, many more people (76%) knew the Democrats held the majority....
[emphasis added]
That means that 47% can't correctly identify the party in control of Congress.
as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate
Vote Summary
Question: On Cloture on the Motion to Proceed (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to H.R. 6304 )
Vote Number: 158 Vote Date: June 25, 2008, 06:25 PM
Required For Majority: 3/5 Vote Result: Cloture on the Motion to Proceed Agreed to
Measure Number: H.R. 6304 (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 )
Measure Title: A bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to establish a procedure for authorizing certain acquisitions of foreign intelligence, and for other purposes.
Vote Counts: YEAs 80
NAYs 15
Not Voting 5
Vote Summary By Senator Name By Vote Position By Home State
Yesterday I posted about extending unemployment insurance (UI) to the the jobless. Congress is considering temporarily extending UI by 13 weeks, a measure that has been shown to be very effective in staving off recession, not to mention helping the 4 million who will run out over the next nine months. I focused on the Senate, because I just assumed the House would easily be able to pass something like this. I was wrong.
Usually, popular bills that displease a powerful constituency get tied up in procedure in the Senate. But in order to keep the bill from being weakened by amendment or delayed by extended debate, it was considered under a "suspension calendar" which requires a 2/3 majority to pass. It failed 279-144.
All Democrats voted for the bill. Interestingly, although the usual suspects in the Missouri delegation voted against (Akin and Blunt must take it for granted that they will never be beat), Graves and Emerson were released to vote for extended UI. Graves in particular must know that he has a tough fight and can't afford to get too cute, ideologically speaking. Hulshof was absent, apparently too busy running for governor to make up his mind. Akin, for his part, is oblivious - unemployment in St. Charles County is rising and people are getting nervous. Keep on stumbling, my friend!
Democrats in Congress will try to pass UI extensions again, this time with a simple majority. It should easily pass. Keep the pressure on the Senate!
Senator Kit Bond: (202) 224-5721
Senator Claire McCaskill: (202) 224-6154
Thanks to everyone for all their hard work over the last week in stopping the Telecom Immunity Bill in the Senate. Because you kept up the pressure on McCaskill, she voted "No" on the telecom immunity bill before Congress on Monday. And believe me, all your calls and faxes had an effect. Early on, the staffers answering the phones hardly offered to take down your contact information, and didn't really seem to know why changes to FISA were a big deal. Now, they're polite and much more apt to listen to your concerns about government spying. It's crazy that any effort at all is required to open a government official's eyes and ears, but that makes our effort all the more urgent.
Unfortunately, McCaskill's going to need to hear a little more from us. I have it on good authority that while McCaskill opposed the McConnell version of telecom immunity, she favors the "compromise" Feinstein or Specter version of telecom community.
So here's the key. The domestic spying has always been justified by saying it was a necessary response to 9/11. But clearly there's damned good reason to believe these programs were conceived and initiated well before the September 11th attacks.
That would mean -- gasp! -- that your "government" is full of it.
But it's not just that. If Qwest's competitors were already abetting this bloodless(?) coup before 9/11, then the "administration's" domestic spying not only has little if anything to do with response to terrorism, but it also objectively failed to prevent 9/11.
Are you listening, Senator McCaskill?
UPDATE: There's another option that Kagro X didn't consider - an allegation that I'm sure right-wing apologists for the administration will be making shortly: Qwest's refusal to allow warrantless wiretapping caused 9/11.
