House Republicans Pander To Tea Party Movement With Frivolous Resolution Inflating 9/12 Protest Numbers
House Republicans Pander To Tea Party Movement With Frivolous Resolution Inflating 9/12 Protest Numbers
Earlier today, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) released a “leader alert,” proclaiming, “Great Work, Congress: Speaker Pelosi’s House to Honor Confucius’ Birthday as Unemployment Nears 10 Percent.” “With millions of Americans looking for jobs and the nation’s unemployment rate nearing 10 percent, the U.S. House of Representatives today will take up a grand total of four non-controversial ’suspension’ bills,” said Boehner.
But Boehner’s “playing hooky” attack on Pelosi comes at an awkward moment, considering that just today, 76 House Republicans introduced a frivolous resolution aimed at playing to the conservatives’ tea party base by officially commemorating the Glenn Beck-inspired 9/12 taxpayer march on Washington. The resolution, introduced by Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), claims that “the fundamental American principles of limited government and personal liberty are under direct assault.” It also seeks to have Congress officially enshrine the inflated crowd numbers pushed by conservatives:
Whereas, on September 12, 2009, hundreds of thousands of American patriots, who refuse to sit idly by as the Federal Government advances skyrocketing deficits, taxpayer-funded bailouts, pork-barrel projects, burdensome taxes, unaccountable policy czars, command-and-control energy policy, and a government takeover of health care, came to Washington, DC, to show their disapproval;
[…]
Whereas estimates of the number of people who peacefully marched from Freedom Plaza to the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on September 12, 2009, range as high as 1,700,000 marchers;
[…]
Resolved, That the House of Representatives expresses its gratitude and appreciation to the hundreds of thousands of people who marched on Washington, DC, on September 12, 2009, to show their love of liberty and their grievance with recent government actions.
The closest thing to an official count, numbers given by the Washington DC Fire Department to ABCNews.com, placed the crowd at “approximately 60,000 to 70,000 people.”
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Confucius say: Bonehead doesn’t give two sh*ts about the unemployed.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:33 pmHuh, putting an end to child labor and insituting a 8 hour work week ended in tyranny?
October 27th, 2009 at 1:33 pmWork day I meant to type…=)
October 27th, 2009 at 1:33 pmThis is a pattern with Republicans. They like to inflate their numbers.
Think about it.
Claiming that 1.7 million people showed up in DC, which isn’t even close. Limbaugh claiming to have 20 million listeners, which isn’t even close. The constant claims that this is a center-right country, when demographics and polling show that to not be true. Beck’s statement of “we surround them” when the “we” he was referring to is less than 20% of the country that even gives a damn in the first place.
It’s like a guy that drives a flashy, expensive car. You know they’re compensating for something, and you can pretty well guess at what it is. In the case of Republicans, however, it seems that what they are compensating for is the impending death of their party spurred on by the Know-Nothing takeover. Long gone is the party of intellectuals and small government. Here comes the moron-encrusted pile of government intrusion into your private life, straight down to who you can marry and what you can put in your own body.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:34 pm“Whereas, on October 27th, oh sh*t, I’m late for my tanning appointment!!”
October 27th, 2009 at 1:35 pmAnd why are these politicians continually throwing red-meat to a cause thats shrinking the gop?
I think maybe the love affair between big business and the virgin political timber [televangelicals] is nearing and end.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:36 pmWhereas estimates of the number of people who peacefully marched from Freedom Plaza to the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on September 12, 2009, range as high as 1,700,000 marchers;
I really like that clause — I’m gonna try it with my bank account: “Estimates of the amount of money that I have in my account as of today range as high as $1 trillion”.
Repukes always seem to forget that just saying it doesn’t make it so…
October 27th, 2009 at 1:37 pmHow ironic is it that parts of your government (we’re looking at you, GOP) are looking to clog daily business by honoring an anti-government rally?
October 27th, 2009 at 1:38 pmLet me say one thing:
If the Democrats do not use all the crap being demonstrated at these tea parties as well as the idiotic ranting of Beck/Limpaball/Palin etc. in the upcoming re-elections next year then they are missing an excellent opportunity.
Throw in the “just say no” attitude of the Republican congress and the Democrats should have a wonderful mid-term.
How can any intelligent person relate to the hate and ignorance?
October 27th, 2009 at 1:38 pmResolved, that we, the Republiklan kaukus of the House of Representatives, not having a klue about what the hell the nation wants, do declare our determination to obstruct, make shit up and generally be a pain in the arse nuisance to the governance of the nation.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:39 pmAre the repiggies now pro-inflation?
That political party is just grovelling in the mud.
It is pathetic and embarrassing to watch.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:39 pmBy commemorating Fox [Beck], arent they just really saying that Fox is indeed not a legitimate news source and identifying it as a lobbyist group?
October 27th, 2009 at 1:39 pmXisithrus, I’d be all over that 8 hour work week, mon!
October 27th, 2009 at 1:40 pmI still remember when approximately a million people hit the streets to protest the Iraq invasion and FOX didn’t even mention it.
The other networks mentioned it in passing but there certainly wasn’t a big interest in talking about it.
Do conservatives think we’ve forgotten this?
October 27th, 2009 at 1:41 pmRepublicans are trying to turn “opinion” into “fact” again.. Zzzz…
October 27th, 2009 at 1:42 pmI seem to recall these anti-government “patriots” taking federally funded roads or flying into governmentally constructed airports staffed by federally funded air traffic controllers and complaining because the Metro system didn’t expend more tax dollars to add trains to get them to their stupid protest. They then protested on the Mall which is maintained by our tax dollars while being protected by the police who likewise are funded by the government.
After taking advantage of all of these resources that would not exist but for the government they hate they returned to their trailer parks to watch Glenn Beck on a television station that would not exist without the authority of their municipal government to grant the easements necessary to allow cable television to exist.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:42 pmCroxNews is the all-time champion liar.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:42 pmWell, 60,000 is really close to 1,700,000, give or take 1,640,00, after all they did learn their math from Rove.
And those teabaggies are the scum of the earth, who should have never have gotten the attention they did from the MSM.
If you looked over the crowd they were a bunch of DIM BULBS.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:44 pmVote “No” on Republipimp TeaBagger Crowds. We don’t need to commemorate them clogging up our Capitol’s transportation system.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:45 pmAh — so THIS is why the Republicans haven’t had time to introduce a health care bill of their own.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:45 pm60,000 – 70,000 … 1.7 million, close enough for a wingnut.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:45 pmThe only response to this resolution is a Democratic amendment which gives equal recognition to a pro-choice rally or a gay rights parade.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:46 pmOn the other hand, I really do wish that both parties would take the unemployment problem a little more seriously. It seems like how we are going to create 3 million secure jobs (particularly ones that can provide a living wage for less-skilled workers) is the issue that neither party is really talking about. We all know that the R’s are totally disingenuous about caring about jobs, but we are not doing enough, either. It’s way too early to declare an end to “The Great Recession”.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:46 pmThe irony of Bonehead’s smart-a$$ “leader alert” when his own party is pushing trite crap like this really sets off my Stanky Hypocritce D0uchebag alert.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:48 pmI thought it was against the law to lie to Congress.
Sergeant-at-Arms, arrest that Boner!
October 27th, 2009 at 1:48 pmLook at those absurd people with their lame sign. It’s always annoying when wing-nuts think they know something about the Founders. The most conservative of our Founders had tightly held beliefs which would have completely disqualified them as certified right wingers today. And most of them were more liberal than almost everyone in Congress.
Jefferson and Paine didn’t even think we should have a standing army in times of peace for cryin’ out loud. That would put them to the left of Dennis Kuchinich.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:48 pmIts crazy, lobbyists pets are creating legislation to commemorate lobbyists that DO feed off government and create earmarks and debt?
Wow.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:49 pm… 76 House Republicans introduced a frivolous resolution …
so, it was, or will be, voted down, right? correct?
how does that work exactly?
October 27th, 2009 at 1:50 pmWhat’s this about a resolution–shouldn’t they be concentrating on the next thing they are going to say “no” to? They might miss a really important vote.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:50 pmsmidget says:
This is a pattern with Republicans. They like to inflate their numbers.
They will DEFLATE the numbers, too, if it suits their purpose. I distinctly remember the lie to Congress delivered by one Thomas Scully about the cost of the Medicare Drug Benefit bill–$395 billion.
They, the White House and Big Pharma all knew it was an underestimate, but they didn’t want to look like big spending Democrats while throwing a socialist bone to seniors.
Lying. That’s what they do best.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:50 pmXisithrus, I’d be all over that 8 hour work week, mon!
I think congress already works about that much in a week =)
October 27th, 2009 at 1:51 pmed just announced that politico reports LIEbermann is voting with the repugs to fillibister… unless the public option is removed…
… um… somebody needs to choke his chain.
NOW.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:51 pmlol… filibuster…
October 27th, 2009 at 1:54 pmYou’re right Daddy-O.
I think it was Mark Twain who talked about lies, damned lies, and statistics. We can add to that list any number used by a Republican…provided we can pare that description down to one nice neat little word that fits nicely in the saying….I’m going with fumbers. Indicates numbers, belies the falsehoods inherently present simply by coming out of a Republican’s mouth….but I’m not very creative. Surely one of my friends on this board can do better than that.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:54 pmIf LIEberman does not vote for cloture, then he should immediately and swiftly get booted from the Democratic caucus.
He’s politically dead to me now.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:55 pmGreetings, my friends. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future. You are interested in the unknown… the mysterious. The unexplainable. That is why you are here. And now, for the first time, we are bringing to you, the full story of what happened on that fateful day. We are bringing you all the evidence, based only on the secret testimony, of the miserable souls, who survived this terrifying ordeal. The incidents, the places. My friends, we cannot keep this a secret any longer. Let us punish the guilty. Let us reward the innocent. My friends, can your hearts stand the shocking facts of grave robbers from outer space?
October 27th, 2009 at 1:55 pmEarlier today, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) released a “leader alert,”
Boehner:
“Get this out pronto! Rush, Lou, Glenn, Billy, Savage, get it out to all of them! Stat!”
“Huh? Palin? No, #%$* her…”
“And don’t forget the Confucius angle!”
“Tell ‘em the Speaker is a Confuscist!”
“Huh? Confucius? I don’t know either, Google it for me, will ya?”
October 27th, 2009 at 1:56 pmWhereas estimates of the number of people who peacefully marched from Freedom Plaza to the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on September 12, 2009, range as high as 1,700,000 marchers;
To get the estimate of 1,7 million teabaggers you have to multiply the actual number of protesters by the teabagger constant Tb, which is 28. So 60,000 x Tb = 1,680,000.
Another way to get the number 1,7 million is by using Glenn Beck math. You quote the crowd estimate in an article about President Obamas inauguration in January and then pretend the article is about the 9/12 protests.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:57 pmIt’s just the blind leading the blind.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:57 pmMy friends, can your hearts stand the shocking facts of grave robbers from outer space?
I wonder why they need to laser out cow anuses…can you tell my how a bovine butt is related to grave robbers?
October 27th, 2009 at 1:58 pmSay goodnight, Droopy Joe:
If he succeeds in fillibustering the Senate plan, if he block meaningful reform…expect the party to finally cast him out, for good. He’ll jump to the GOP, which will welcome him with one hand for being a corporate whore warmonger and smack him aside with the other for being pro-choice and supporting climate change legislation.
Blumenthal will destroy him in 2012.
October 27th, 2009 at 1:59 pmIf they are against the president arent they then against the two ongoing military operations and are actually dissidents?
October 27th, 2009 at 2:00 pmWhy honor just the marchers?
For their incredible work with counting the actual attendance at the 9/12 March, I would also ask that the House present a plaque to the prestigious people at the University of…I Don’t Remember Which University It Is.
Go Fighting Birthers of UIDRWUII!
October 27th, 2009 at 2:02 pm..placed the crowd at “approximately 60,000 to 70,000 people.”
Bullsh*t.
Only Planter’s Peanuts can house so many nuts in one place.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:02 pmAnd reich-wingers are still wondering why they are a minority?
October 27th, 2009 at 2:06 pmIf the question is how to properly honor the “tea baggers” , all we need is for people to display their dirty underwear placed a stick , on their front lawn …….
October 27th, 2009 at 2:07 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
If someone would have remembered to bring their camera, they wouldn’t have this estimating crowd size problem. No wait…Nevermind.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:08 pmIm trying to think of some utopia that existed a long time ago and the only one I can come up with is the garden of eden.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:11 pmMr.Duke says:
“What recovery?”
“I have a good friend that works at a major bank in the foreclosure dept. He said they are overwhelmed by the amount of foreclosures on the bank books.”
This giant mudball started rolling downhill a long time ago, Mr. Duke.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:13 pmUnder the previous administration.
Leader alert? not hardly.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:14 pmWhereas, on September 12, 2009, hundreds of thousands of American patriots, who refuse to sit idly by as the Federal Government advances skyrocketing deficits, taxpayer-funded bailouts, pork-barrel projects, burdensome taxes, unaccountable policy czars, command-and-control energy policy, and a government takeover of health care, came to Washington, DC, to show their disapproval;
[…]
Whereas estimates of the number of people who peacefully marched from Freedom Plaza to the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on September 12, 2009, range as high as 1,700,000 marchers;
[…]
Resolved, That the House of Representatives expresses its gratitude and appreciation to the hundreds of thousands of people who marched on Washington, DC, on September 12, 2009, to show their love of liberty and their grievance with recent government actions.
******All estimates provided by Bellevue Mental Hospital******
October 27th, 2009 at 2:15 pm“What recovery?”
“I have a good friend that works at a major bank in the foreclosure dept. He said they are overwhelmed by the amount of foreclosures on the bank books.”
Thats what happens when investment banks, just like what happened causing the great depression, get involved in mortgages they have no intention of holding and bundle them in SIVs to be sold to investors.
It was these same people that lobbied for and gutted Glass Steagall.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:16 pmGOP = Disgrace, writ large.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:18 pmThey want to believe that fantasy can be made into reality.
It’s called psychosis.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:22 pm76 Republicans who DO NOT deserve to be re-elected!!
LIARS . .
October 27th, 2009 at 2:32 pmMaybe they’re also counting the 600,00 residents of D.C., everyone who work in D.C. but live outside of it, and all of the tourists visiting the capitol.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:33 pmHey, look at the bright side. Maybe they can put forth and pass a resolution declaring that the federal debt is the $4 trillion it was when Dubya began office, and that unemployment is 4%. That ought to fix things up considerably.
Cheers,
October 27th, 2009 at 2:37 pmAnd what exactly became of this idiotic resolution? Who really cares? The teabagging Beck worshipers are insignificant. They only become news when someone brings the media’s attention to their meaningless shouts. Let them eat cake. Better yet, let them eat cupcakes.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:51 pmSoooo…. I guess this means that Obama is NOT an idiot, NOR has he betrayed us by preferring a different tactic that ends up with a public option on his desk?
Right?
October 27th, 2009 at 2:57 pmRepublicans have been lying through their upper and lower plates (false teeth) since December, 2000, when Bush’s attorney’s told the Supreme Court that continuing to count the Presidential votes in the Florida election would harm the interests of their client. After stealing the 2000 Presidential Election and thus staging their fascist coup, the GOP gangsters lied for the next eight years. Thousands of lies. And now, in 2009, the GOP is still lying…
October 27th, 2009 at 2:58 pmIsn’t there some way we can make a referral for these obviously ill repukes to the Employee Assistance Program for counseling and debriefing? Perhaps we can force them out of their jobs by requiring a psych exam to prove they are unfit for duty. I am so glad I do not live in their world.
October 27th, 2009 at 3:06 pmRWPunditry, controversy creation and bias is like Dr Frankensteins creation coming back to crush its maker. Its like an addiction. The more drugs you take the more damage you do to yourself..but they just cant stop.
October 27th, 2009 at 3:09 pmWhy are people who are supposedly celebrating the Boston Tea Party carying posters which call George Washington, Thomas Jerfferson, James Madison, Ben Frankiln, ect. tyrants?
October 27th, 2009 at 3:12 pmMy spouse went running on the mall that day… it was related to me that not anywhere near “hundreds of thousands” of people were present.
October 27th, 2009 at 3:35 pmHeh. We could all apply that wingnut math and penchant for exaggeration to the average IQ of teabaggers – they claim at least 180, but the truth is closer to 65-70.
October 27th, 2009 at 3:41 pmI think it is quite amusing that the Republicans would pass a resolution honoring tea-baggers.
(Wink, wink.)
October 27th, 2009 at 3:52 pmThe GOP shows themselves yet again to be a bunch of clowns with no respect for Congress, & absolutely no respect for honesty.
October 27th, 2009 at 4:07 pmRepubs can’t get a plan together for Health Care reform, but by God they can slap together a stupid, insulting, dishonest resolution in no time.
October 27th, 2009 at 4:10 pm76 House Republicans introduced a frivolous resolution aimed at playing to the conservatives’ tea party base by officially commemorating the Glenn Beck-inspired 9/12 taxpayer march on Washington.
Ten bucks says these guys whined the official condemnation of Joe Wilson by Congress was “a waste of time and taxpayer money”.
And nice to learn that supported facts truly have no relevence when Congress is law-making. /rolleyes
October 27th, 2009 at 4:15 pmIsn’t it a law or very strong rule that nothing blatantly false can be entered into the congressional record? Maybe I dreamed that up. Anyway, if I said “there were seven billion people there”, then Rep. Tom Price (R-GA)could say:
“Whereas estimates of the number of people who marched range as high as seven billion..” and he would be telling the truth.
October 27th, 2009 at 8:38 pmDo they include the imaginary friends of each wingnut teabagger in their crowd estimate? If they did, that could easily add up to 1.7 million (30 imaginary friends X 60,000 teabaggers)= about 1.68 million. IDIOTS!
October 27th, 2009 at 10:22 pm