Name calling ensues at a House Committee meeting

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

July 19, 2003 -- WASHINGTON - Chaos erupted at a House tax committee hearing yesterday, with police called as enraged Republicans and Dems swiped insults.

The feud arose after Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Manhattan), the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, asked members of his party to walk out on a meeting.

 

Rangel said he was upset that the committee chairman, Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.), gave little notice of major changes to a pension bill.

 

The committee's Democrats retreated to the committee library, but they left behind Rep. Pete Stark, (D-Calif.) to keep an eye on the committee's Republican majority.

 

Things quickly heated up in the committee hearing room. A transcript reveals a Republican member told Stark to shut up.

 

Stark replied, "You little wimp. Come on. Come over here and make me. I dare you . . . You little fruitcake. I said you are a fruitcake."

 

Soon afterward, Stark left the room and the Republicans passed the bill on a voice vote.

 

Meanwhile, Capitol police appeared in the library and told Democrats they had been called to clear them from the room. Though police didn't try to remove them, Democrats were outraged.

 

But Republicans had a different version: They said cops were called because events were threatening to spiral out of control in the committee room.

 

Fruitcake! Ohh, I bet that Republican ran home and told his mommy..

[Guest DrTom]

::points out that the Democrat started the name-calling::

 

New GOP slogan:

 

The Republican Party: we might be as greedy as anyone else, but at least we don't call people "fruitcakes" in committee meetings.

[LaParkaYourCar]

Isn't there some country in which their meetings end up in name calling and fights all the time?

 

I remember seeing clips somewhere.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

I've seen video where actual fist fights break out between politicians.

[Guest Lil Naitch]

And people wonder why our country is so screwed up.

[LaParkaYourCar]

Actually compared to some countries' House meetings ours have been pretty tame over the years.

[Rob E Dangerously]

the country with the fights is Taiwan

[Guest BDC]

The formalities and such prevent most of the outbursts and considering the old House (now Statutory Hall in the Capitol) used to have duels, fistfights and assassination attempts... hmmm, it would be more fun to watch than T3...

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

Yeah yeah yeah our country's political climate has never been worse than it is now. Yawn.

 

Until politicians start settling disputes with pistol duels, I'm not interested when one public official calls the other a poopyhead...

[Guest NoCalMike]

@ those folks

[Guest Ripper]

I think that the saddest part is that an elected official is suppose to have some level of smarts about them...and the best he could come up with is FRUITCAKE!!

 

I mean seriously, if you want my vote, you better kick out a "You scrotum licking ass sucka" or something. Give me creativity...

 

fruitcake...

 

*shakes head and leaves*

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Yeah, really. If I were going to call a member of Congress a nasty name, I could think of something far more appropriate than "fruitcake."

[Guest Some Guy]

Seems to me that if a Republican had refered to a Democrat as a derogatory term for gay men he'd have to resign, but sine it's a liberl he gets a little lip service on teh news adn then it gets forgotten. What Trent Lott said was nothign compared to this and yet that got blown way out of proportion. This one just slides under teh radar. Hmmmmmmmm......