Video: Apologies On The House Floor - C-SPAN
Charlie Rangel’s speech on the House floor about his pending ethics case reminded me of other speeches by past members on mistakes or allegations of misdeeds. There were two members expelled – James Traficant(2002) and Austin Murphy, expelled in 1987 over the Abscam scandal. Speakers Wright and Gingrich both gave speeches on the floor following their ethics investigations. Barney Frank both gave an apology and was the subject of one by Majority Leader Armey. Three other notable speeches of apology or near apology were Livingston, McKinney, and Thomas. Each of these speeches arose from a different set of circumstances. Each has a different level of apology or contriteness. What binds them all, however, is that they are delivered in the well of the House…
“I think Republicans are going to get the House back… But frankly, I think we’re being very conservative with that [Republicans need to win 39 Democratic seats to get control of the House, and Mr. Cook’s current estimate is that they are in line for a 35- to 45-seat gain]. The odds of it being higher than that range are a lot better than lower.”
Independent prognosticator Charlie Cook, on the November elections
realitychex via wsj
“Hey, if I was you, I’d want me to go away too.” “I am not going away. I am here.” - Charlie Rangel - Point of personal privilege
The House is supposed to be in recess, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi called members back today to vote on an aid package for states. Rangel took advantage of the special session to speak on the floor in his own defense for about 30 minutes. - TPM
Poll: Americans want Democrats to control Congress after November elections
According to an Associated Press-GfK poll released on Saturday, Americans want Democrats to control Congress after this fall’s elections, which represents a shift from April.
The tenuous 45 percent to 40 percent preference for a Democratic Congress reverses the finding a month ago on the same question: 44 percent for Republicans and 41 percent for Democrats. The new readout came as the economy continued showing signs of improvement and the tumultuous battle over the health care law that President Barack Obama finally signed in March faded into the background.
Just one of our submarines packs enough Fire Power to level a continent. The Terrorists should be terrified of the USA not the other way around. This is because many US politicians are spineless jellyfish. 9/11 should have been more than enough provocation for us to use our “HEAVY EQUIPMENT.”
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Attorney General Eric Holder: Terrorists in court “have the same rights that Charles Manson would have, any other kind of mass murderer,” the attorney general said. “It doesn’t mean that they’re going to be coddled, it doesn’t mean that they’re going to be treated with kid gloves.”
The comparison to convicted killer Manson angered Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas: “My constituents and I just have a deep-seated and profound philosophical difference with the Obama administration,”
Holder: “Let’s deal with reality,” “The reality is that we will be reading Miranda rights to the corpse of Osama bin Laden. He will never appear in an American courtroom.”
Holder also said: “The possibility of catching him alive is infinitesimal. He will be killed by us or he will be killed by his own people so he can’t be captured by us.”
Attorney General Eric Holder had a testy exchange with House Republicans today over how to treat captured terrorists and/or Osama Bin Laden himself.
quotes via rawstory
“They may be in the minority, but Republican members of Congress far outnumber Democrats on Twitter. They’re also more active, tweeting about twice as often as Democratic lawmakers. House Republicans, alone, make up 50 percent of all tweeting members.”
Weiner Offends The GOP On House Floor: You’re All ‘Owned’ By The ‘Insurance Industry’!
prompting an offended Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) to lodge a complaint
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY): You guys have chutzpah. The Republican Party is the wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry. They say this isn’t going to do enough, but when we propose an alternative to provide competition, they’re against it. They say we want to strengthen state insurance commissioners and they’ll do the job. But when we did that in our national health care bill, they said we’re against it. They said we want to have competition but when we proposed requiring competition they’re against it. They’re a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry. That’s the fact!
Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA): Mr. Speaker I ask that the gentleman’s words be taken down.
WEINER: You really don’t want to go there, Mr. Lungren.
Weiner then continued:
“Make no mistake about it. Every single Republican I have ever met in my entire life is wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry.”
MUST WATCH!!
House leadership strips party-switching AL Rep. Parker Griffith of committee positions.
SEE YA!
Unruly Republicans Disrupt Health Care Debate
After being repeatedly interrupted by Republican shouts, Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH) observed:
Do I not have the right to be able to continue my sentence without objections that are trying to censor my remarks here on the floor that I have a right to make as a member of this House?
(via thinkprogress)
Tell Congress to Support President Obama’s Plan for Health Reform
