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  1. #1
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    Raucous, Ugly Build-Up to House Health Care Vote

    I have found no independent verification or denial of these alleged racial incidents.

    Mar 20, 7:22 PM EDT

    Raucous, ugly build-up to House health care vote

    By ALAN FRAM
    Associated Press Writer

    WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democrats heard it all Saturday - words of inspiration from President Barack Obama and raucous chants of protests from demonstrators. And at times it was flat-out ugly, including some racial epithets aimed at black members of Congress.

    Most of the day's important work leading up to Sunday's historic vote on health care was being done behind closed doors. Democratic leaders cajoled, bargained and did what they could to nail down the votes they will need to finally push Obama's health care overhaul bill through the House.

    But much else about the day was noisy, emotional and right out in the open. After more than a year debating the capstone of Obama's domestic agenda and just hours to go before the showdown vote, there was little holding back.

    The tone was set outside the Capitol. Clogging the sidewalks and streets of Capitol Hill were at least hundreds - no official estimate was yet available - of loud, furious protesters, many of them tea party opponents of the health care overhaul.

    Rallies outside the Capitol are typically orderly, with speeches and well-behaved crowds. Saturday's was different, with anger-fueled demonstrators surrounding members of Congress who walked by, yelling at them.

    "Kill the bill," the largely middle-aged crowd shouted, surging toward lawmakers who crossed the street between their office buildings and the Capitol.

    The motorcade that carried Obama to Capitol Hill to whip up support for the bill drove past crowds waving signs that read "Stop the spending" and "Get your hands out of my pocketbook and health care." Many booed and thrust their thumbs down as Obama rode by.

    As police held demonstrators back to clear areas for lawmakers outside the Capitol Obama's speech, some protesters jeered and chanted at the officers, "You work for us."

    Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., told a reporter that as he left the Cannon House Office Building with Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a leader of the civil rights era, some among the crowd chanted "the N-word, the N-word, 15 times." Both Carson and Lewis are black, and Lewis spokeswoman Brenda Jones also said that it occurred.

    "It was like going into the time machine with John Lewis," said Carson, a large former police officer who said he wasn't frightened but worried about the 70-year-old Lewis, who is twice his age. "He said it reminded him of another time."

    Kristie Greco, spokeswoman for Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said a protester spit on Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., who is black.

    Clyburn, who led fellow black students in integrating South Carolina's public facilities a half century ago, called the behavior "absolutely shocking."

    "I heard people saying things today that I have not heard since March 15, 1960, when I was marching to try to get off the back of the bus," Clyburn told reporters.

    Inside House office buildings, protesters made their views known by visiting lawmakers' offices and chanting at legislators walking by.

    Among the demonstrators was Delane Stewart, 65, of Cookeville, Tenn., who had come with her husband, Jesse.

    "You know what's coming next if this happens?" she said, referring to the health bill's passage. "They're going to come after gun control."

    Retired businessman Randy Simpson, 67, of Seneca, S.C., also said the health bill was just a first step.

    "My concerns are about the health care bill, and the direction it takes us is toward communism, quite frankly," he said.

    At a daylong meeting of the House Rules Committee, members of both parties squeezed into a tiny hearing room traded accusations in a session that was often a shouting match.

    "You all in the minority know what the American people think," Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., said loudly and mockingly at Republicans repeatedly saying the public overwhelmingly opposes Obama's health care bill.

    Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said a tricky voting procedure Democrats had been contemplating "corrupts and prostitutes the system" and would "unleash a cultural war in this country."

    Obama's Capitol Hill visit was the day's emotional peak for House Democrats as he sought to energize them to finally approve the legislation.

    He conceded that it could be tough for some to vote for the bill, but predicted it would end up being politically smart because once it becomes law people will realize they like its provisions like curbs on insurance companies.

    "It is in your hands," the president said in what Clyburn later called the best speech he'd ever heard Obama make. "It is time to pass health care reform for America, and I am confident that you are going to do it tomorrow."

    ---

    Associated Press writers Charles Babington and Christine Simmons contributed to this report.

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... TE=DEFAULT
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    Updated March 20, 2010

    Black Lawmakers Allege Health Care Protesters Hollered Racial Epithets at Them

    By Chad Pergram

    - FOXNews.com

    Reps. John Lewis, D-Ga., and Andre Carson, D-Ind., both members of the Congressional Black Caucus, allege that a group of protesters hollered at them and called them the N-word.

    Thousands health care reform opponents descended on Capitol Hill Saturday to rally against Sunday's major vote on the package.

    But some of the protesters targeted a handful of black members of Congress and one gay lawmaker as they walked from the House office buildings to the Capitol to vote.

    Reps. John Lewis, D-Ga, and Andre Carson, D-Ind., both members of the Congressional Black Caucus, allege that a group of protesters hollered at them and called them the N-word.

    "They were just shouting. Harassing," Lewis said. "People being downright mean."

    Lewis was one of the most pivotal figures of the civil rights struggle. He spoke alongside Dr. Martin Luther King at the Lincoln Memorial during the "I Have a Dream" speech. And Alabama State Police fractured the congressman's skull as he led a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on what became known as "Bloody Sunday" in 1965.

    "It's okay, I've faced this before," said Lewis of Saturday's incident. "I haven't heard anything like this in 40, 45 years. Since the march to Selma, really."

    Andre Carson is one of only two Muslims in Congress and was born nine years after "Bloody Sunday." Carson conceded he wasn't used to hearing such epithets.

    "The beauty is that I was walking with a good sage who had been there before," Carson said, who with Lewis at the time.

    First elected in 1970, Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., is one of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

    "You don't see any black folks in these groups," said Rangel. "Ever, ever, ever, ever, ever."

    Rangel suggested that some of the protesters knew Lewis' story and deliberately went after him.

    "They knew what he represented," he said.

    Fellow CBC member Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., said nothing would surprise him from some of the bands of health care protesters.

    "I have never heard anyone campaign for their freedom to be uninsured. I've never heard anyone campaign against Medicare," said Scott. "That's what you're dealing with."

    But African American lawmakers weren't the only targets of the protesters' invective. Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., alleges some of the demonstrators also castigated Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who is gay.

    "I don't even want to repeat it," said Crowley when asked what they said to Frank.

    A spokeswoman for the U.S. Capitol Police said she was unaware of any law enforcement inquiry into the incidents.

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03 ... olitics%29
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  3. #3
    Super Moderator Newmexican's Avatar
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    I would not be surprised to find that if this did indeed happen, that it was done by an infiltrator that was there to cause trouble.
    This is not an new trick.
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  4. #4
    Senior Member ReggieMay's Avatar
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    Fellow CBC member Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., said nothing would surprise him from some of the bands of health care protesters.

    "I have never heard anyone campaign for their freedom to be uninsured. I've never heard anyone campaign against Medicare," said Scott. "That's what you're dealing with."
    This afternoon I was connected to a conference call by Congressman Mark Kirk, who is running for the Sentate in Illinois. They specifically discussed the healthcare bill and the problems with it. Many of the callers were rightfully concerned about the cuts in Medicare. Some of them sounded downright frightened. According to the Congressman, there are 10 cuts in Medicare programs that will severely affect our seniors. I am appalled by Bobby Scott's statement about Medicare when he's actually voting for substantial cuts.
    "A Nation of sheep will beget a government of Wolves" -Edward R. Murrow

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  5. #5
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    Geraldo Rivera is using this as the lead on his FOX program right now. He said that "most of the uninsured in this country are "black and brown". He wanted to drum up the "racial component" as much as possible. Fortunately, Gov. Mike Huckabee was the first guest, and he returned the focus of the discussion to health care. Huckabee said that a large portion of our current "uninsured" are people who qualify for health insurance but who prefer to spend their money for something else, "like a truck". It never is allowed to point out that perhaps 1/3 of the uninsured are illegal aliens.
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  6. #6
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    RELATED

    Tea partyiers call Barney Frank a . . .

    http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-192043.html

    Tea party protesters call Georgia's John Lewis (N word)

    http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-192042.html
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


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  7. #7
    Senior Member Judy's Avatar
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    No one got this on tape? I don't believe a thing coming out of the talking points memo, Geraldo or the Congress Traitors that plan to pass this bill. And if Clyburn hasn't heard those words in South Carolina since the 60's then he's been out of touch for the past 40 years and has no clue what Black Americans have been putting up with every day since, which could be why he hasn't done a thing to change the fact that Black Americans still have the highest unemployment rate in the country and the lowest wages and salaries in the US across all education attainment levels.

    And he wants to act like he's some type of civil rights hero when he's pushing a bill that will force people to buy insurance, go on government insurance handouts, turn over their bank accounts, tax returns and medical records, or go straight to jail without collecting $200?

    Puleeze.



    Clyburn, who led fellow black students in integrating South Carolina's public facilities a half century ago, called the behavior "absolutely shocking."

    "I heard people saying things today that I have not heard since March 15, 1960, when I was marching to try to get off the back of the bus," Clyburn told reporters.
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  8. #8
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    Tea Party Leader, GOP Condemn Racial Slurs Hurled at Black Lawmakers

    FOXNews.com


    Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., is questioned by reporters about an incident involving Tea Party demonstrators as he leaves a speech by President Obama to House Democrats on Saturday, March 20, 2010. (AP)


    Republican National Chairman Michael Steele and one of the organizers of Saturday's Tea Party rally strongly condemned the racial slurs that some black lawmakers alleged were yelled at them by some health care protesters as they headed for a procedural vote at Capitol Hill.

    "I absolutely think it's isolated," Amy Kremer, the grassroots coordinator of the Tea Party Express, told Fox News on Sunday. "It's disgraceful and the people in this movement won't tolerate it because that's not what we're about."

    Steele rejected the notion that the incident may make any association with the Tea Party Movement a danger.

    "It's not a danger," Steele told NBC's "Meet the Press on Sunday." "It's certainly not a reflection of the movement or the Republican Party when you have idiots out there saying stupid things."

    "As Leader Boehner said, that's reprehensible," he said, referring to House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. "We don't support that."

    The incident occurred Saturday after thousands of Tea Partiers descended upon Capitol Hill to rally against Sunday's major vote on health care reform.

    Some of the protesters targeted a handful of black members of Congress and one gay lawmaker as they walked from the House office buildings to the Capitol to make a procedural vote.

    Reps. John Lewis, D-Ga, and Andre Carson, D-Ind., both members of the Congressional Black Caucus, said that a group of protesters hollered at them and called them the N-word.

    "They were just shouting. Harassing," Lewis told Fox News. "People being downright mean."

    Kristie Greco, spokeswoman for Democratic Whip Jim Clyburn, said a protester spit on Rep. Emanuel Cleaver who is black and said police escorted the lawmakers into the Capitol. Cleaver's office said he would decline to press charges, but Sgt. Kimberly Schneider of the U.S. Capitol Police said in an e-mail later: "We did not make any arrests today."

    Clyburn, who led fellow black students in integrating South Carolina's public facilities a half century ago, called the behavior "absolutely shocking."

    "I heard people saying things today that I have not heard since March 15, 1960, when I was marching to try to get off the back of the bus," Clyburn told reporters.

    Lewis was one of the most pivotal figures of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. He spoke alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King at the Lincoln Memorial during the "I Have a Dream" speech. And Alabama State Police fractured the congressman's skull as he led a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on what became known as "Bloody Sunday" in 1965.

    "It's okay, I've faced this before," Lewis told Fox News about the incident. "I haven't heard anything like this in 40, 45 years. Since the march to Selma, really."

    Carson is one of only two Muslims in Congress and was born nine years after "Bloody Sunday." Carson conceded he wasn't used to hearing such epithets.

    "The beauty is that I was walking with a good sage who had been there before," Carson said, who with Lewis at the time.

    First elected in 1970, Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., is one of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

    "You don't see any black folks in these groups," said Rangel. "Ever, ever, ever, ever, ever."

    Rangel suggested that some of the protesters knew Lewis' story and deliberately went after him.

    "They knew what he represented," he told Fox News.

    Fellow CBC member Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., said nothing would surprise him from some of the bands of health care protesters.

    "I have never heard anyone campaign for their freedom to be uninsured. I've never heard anyone campaign against Medicare," said Scott. "That's what you're dealing with."

    But black lawmakers weren't the only targets of the protesters' invective. Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., alleges some of the demonstrators also castigated Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who is gay.

    "I don't even want to repeat it," said Crowley when asked what they said to Frank.

    A spokeswoman for the U.S. Capitol Police said she was unaware of any law enforcement inquiry into the incidents.

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03 ... olitics%29

    Fox News' Chad Pergram, Caroline Shively and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Separate post on topic:
    http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-192090.html
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  9. #9
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Judy
    No one got this on tape?
    From another article:

    jamesw62
    ALIPAC Moderator

    Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 11:05 am

    i saw the ABC news video when Frank was called the F word.
    he just turned around to the people and waved.
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


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  10. #10
    Senior Member Judy's Avatar
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    Until I see it and hear it on tape, I don't believe it. This is supposed to be an "historic day" and there's no press or media that caught this incident on film or on tape? I don't believe a word of it.
    A Nation Without Borders Is Not A Nation - Ronald Reagan
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