feed-image Twitter Room - The Hill's Twitter Room Feed »
  November 6, 2009, 3:26 pm

Elie Wiesel calls tea partyers' signs 'indecent and disgusting'

By Jordan Fabian

Renowned author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel condemned several signs containing Holocaust comparisons and anti-Semitic messages at yesterday's "House Call" protests. 

One sign at the rally contained images of dead Holocaust victims at the Dachau concentration camp under the banner "National Socialist Health Care." Another sign said that President Barack Obama "takes his orders" from the Rothschilds, a family of Jewish bankers.

Wiesel commented through his eponymous foundation's Twitter account:

Elie Wiesel on the GOP Tea Party's anti-Semitism and Holocaust comparisons: "This kind of political hatred is indecent and disgusting"

The signs also raised the ire of the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC), which yesterday slammed the signs and called on House Republican leaders who attended the event to condemn them.

The time has come for [John] Boehner, [Eric] Cantor, [Mike] Pence and other GOP leaders -- especially those who were present today -- to condemn these disgusting comparisons and anti-Semitism," said NJDC President David Harris in a statement. "They must tell their base once and for all to cut out this despicable pattern of Holocaust imagery and rhetoric."


Read more...
comment (9)
E-mail Print share
 
  November 6, 2009, 2:51 pm

TOP TWEETS

By Jordan Fabian

Romer on latest jobs numbers - White House
Remember Ft. Hood victims - Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.)
In Rules Committee hearing for healthcare - Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine)
Appreciate support for Ft. Hood community - U.S. Army
Libs focus on HC while unemployment soars - Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.)
Health bill has key endorsers - Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.)
Moment of silence for Ft. Hood - Price Floyd (DoD)
Flags at half-mast for Ft. Hood - Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.)
Slaughter challenges Camp - David Waldman (DailyKos)
Jerusalem must be undivided capital of Israel - Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.)


Read more...
comment (0)
E-mail Print share
 
  November 6, 2009, 2:09 pm

Fla. lawmaker joins moment of silence for Orlando shootings

By Jordan Fabian

Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) joined Democratic colleagues Corrine Brown (Fla.) and Alan Grayson (Fla.) in observing a moment of silence for victims of a deadly shooting at an Orlando office building.

A former worker at the office building opened fire on workers there this afternoon. He is still at large.

Posey tweeted:

Grayson and corrine brown asking for moment of silence on house floor for the vitims in Orlando today - we are all in shock

Grayson and Brown both represent areas of Orlando. Posey's district lies just south of the central Florida city.

The Orlando shooting is the second major act of violence in the country in as many days. Yesterday Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan killed 13 and wounded 30 at Ft. Hood, Texas.


Read more...
comment (0)
E-mail Print share
 
  November 6, 2009, 1:36 pm

GOPer encouraged by Dems' lack of healthcare votes

By Jordan Fabian

A GOP lawmaker took to Twitter on Friday to urge supporters to pressure lawmakers to vote against the healthcare bill in the wake of reports that Democrats have having trouble marshaling votes. 

Rules Committee member Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) cited comments from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's (D-Md.) that Democrats do not have the 218 votes necessary to pass healthcare reform. 

Foxx tweeted before a 2 p.m. Rules Committee meeting designed to establish the terms of debate for the healthcare vote scheduled to be held at 6 p.m. tomorrow. She seemed encouraged that Republicans could delay the vote even further:

Rules Comm meets at 2 pm for tax increase bill called health care. Will meet all night. Democrats do not have votes. Tell them no

Hoyer said that "delay tactics" could prevent the 6 p.m. vote from occurring on time tomorrow. Republicans have complained that the inclusion of an abortion compromise into the bill at today's Rules Committee hearing violates Hoyer House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) pledge to post the full text of legislation online 72 hour before a vote.

But Republicans say that divisions in the Democratic caucus are causing the delays.

Foxx gained the ire of liberals when she said on the House floor this week that Democratic healthcare reform proposals pose a larger threat to America than terrorism.



Read more...
comment (0)
E-mail Print share
 
  November 6, 2009, 11:52 am

Labor secretary: Unemployment numbers are 'unacceptable'

By Jordan Fabian

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said on Friday that new, double-digit unemployment numbers are "unacceptable."

Solis' Labor Department released the numbers today that showed 10.2 percent of Americans unable to find jobs in October. Nonfarm payrolls decreased by a higher-than-expected 190,000, but less than 219,000 jobs lost in September.

Solis said on Twitter:

Today’s job numbers were disappointing and a 10.2 percent unemployment rate is unacceptable.

We are working hard to reverse these circumstances for the millions of Americans who need and want work but cannot find it.

But she also expressed hope that recovering housing market and GDP growth last quarter could reverse the trend of rising unemployment.

Housing markets are showing signs of recovery, credit is flowing again and last wk we saw that the econ. is grwing for the 1st time in a yr.

As the econ. recovers, more bus. will begin hiring workers & there are signs of growth even in sectors that were hardest hit.


Read more...
comment (3)
E-mail Print share
 
  November 6, 2009, 10:10 am

Mullen tweets prayers for Ft. Hood victims

By Jordan Fabian

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen on Friday tweeted prayers for the victims of the shooting at Ft. Hood, Texas yesterday that killed 13 and wounded 30.

Mullen said he was "deeply saddened" by Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's "senseless" shooting at the base but refused to speculate about Hasan's motives.

He tweeted last night and retweeted a message from his wife this morning:

Deeply saddened by the shooting @ Fort Hood. My thoughts & prayers w/ wounded, families of those killed, & all @ Ft. Hood.

Ft. Hood details still unclear. Army investigating. Important we not speculate about circumstances leading 2 this senseless violence.

RT @deborahmullen: Difficult 2 express how very sad I am @ t/senseless shooting @ Ft. Hood. I pray 4 those killed/injured-families/friends

Mullen added details about a moment of silence:

Please join OUR military in a moment of silence & prayer 4 the fallen @ Fort Hood - TODAY @ 2:34pmET

Investigators are still determining why Hasan decided to turn a gun on his fellow soldiers. Ft. Hood's base commander Lt. Gen. Robert Cone said there have been unconfirmed reports that Hasan shouted "Allah Akbar!" before he opened fire.

Hasan was set to deploy to Afghanistan. Hasan reportedly made remarks in opposition to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.


Read more...
comment (0)
E-mail Print share
 
  November 5, 2009, 4:09 pm

Fla. GOP official fired for fake Twitter account

By Jordan Fabian

A Florida Republican official was fired on Thursday for creating a fake Twitter account to discredit a well known critic of state GOP leaders. 

This is not the first time such an incident has occurred. Connecticut GOP officials were found to have created fake accounts for Democratic state lawmakers.

Here is more from the Miami Herald:

This week, the party fired Tim Nungesser, who was director of the field operations department, and insisted that no one else knew about it.

The victim, however, says that top party officials were aware of what was going on and did nothing until law enforcement identified the culprit. He urged Gov. Charlie Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum to investigate and then demand the resignation of the party's executive director and state chairman.

"This is not about me. It's about the Republican Party of the state of Florida cleaning up its act and doing the right thing and getting back on a positive footing so people have confidence in the party again,'' said Jason Steele, chairman of the Brevard County Republican Party.

OTHER CASE

It was the second time in a week in which the state GOP has faced questions about its online activities and whether it is taking sides in intraparty battles. A top Republican operative and Charlie Crist advisor working out of the state party headquarters last week acknowledged he had helped put together an anonymous website criticizing Republican Senate candidate Marco Rubio, but said the party had nothing to do with it.

Steele, a vocal critic of the state party leadership's spending, said that about three months ago someone called him and urged him to tone down his Twitter messages. Checking online, he discovered a Twitter account with his name and photo that since April had been tweeting often vulgar comments about party officials.

[...]

The Brevard County Sheriff's Office subpoenaed records from Twitter and from an Internet provider, said Agent Tim Anliker, who expects to wrap up the investigation within the next week.

Anliker declined to identify a suspect, but Steele said the Sheriff's Office tracked the Twitter account to a computer in Nungesser's Palm Bay home. Steele said he spoke to Nungesser and was told that Delmar Johnson, the party's executive director, had seen the account.
[...]

Nungesser could not be reached for comments Wednesday. The state party released a statement saying the ``totally unacceptable'' fake Twitter account was done without the knowledge of any other party employee: ``We have taken all appropriate action and the employee has been terminated. This is a continuation of a long-standing political feud between those Brevard County individuals involved [and] is not in any way connected with the Republican Party of Florida.''



Read more...
comment (0)
E-mail Print share
 
  November 5, 2009, 3:19 pm

Dem: GOP attendance at protest 'saddest thing I've seen here'

By Jordan Fabian

A freshman Democrat on Thursday said that Republican lawmakers' attendance at the "House Call" protest was "the saddest thing I've seen here."

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) chided GOPers from skipping out on official House business, including the swearing in ceremony for a special election winner. He made his comment on Twitter:

W/few courageous exceptions, GOP caucus walks out en masse as 2 new members (dems from specials) are sworn in. Saddest thing I've seen here.

Former Lt. Gov. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) was sworn in this afternoon on the House floor. Garamendi replaced former Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) who took a position at the State Department. The other special election winner, Bill Owens (D-N.Y.) will actually be sworn in tomorrow.

Meanwhile Health Caucus, a House Republican group, criticized Democrats for holding official business during the rally:

As an FYI House Dems intentionally called a vote during #housecall. They only want to work when they're afraid.


Read more...
comment (14)
E-mail Print share
 
  November 5, 2009, 3:07 pm

TOP TWEETS

By Jordan Fabian

Countdown to 'House Call' - Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.)
Put the focus on patients - Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.)
Obama stimulus claim is unbelievable - Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.)
Speaking against workplace discrimination - Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)
Need to create more jobs - Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.)
Hearing on H1N1 vaccine for Wall St. - Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.)
Net neutrality a bad solution - Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)
Photos from GOP climate boycott - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
Should ID Venezuela as state sponsor of terror - Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.)
Sick of credit card companies tricks - Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.)


Read more...
comment (0)
E-mail Print share
 
  November 5, 2009, 2:19 pm

Wilson condemns fake campaign ad

By Jordan Fabian

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) on Thursday condemned a fake campaign ad circulating under his name that implies President Barack Obama is a communist. 

Wilson became a lighting rod for criticism from the left, and some on the right, when he shouted "you lie!" at President Barack Obama during his September speech on healthcare reform before a joint session of Congress. He later apologized for interrupting the speech, but the House later voted to officially condemn Wilson. 

The fifth-term congressman said on his Twitter account "Have heard about a fake ad circulating under my name. To be clear, this ad is not produced by our campaign, is offensive, & shld be removed."

The 30-second ad begins with a clip of President Barack Obama's speech to students on the first day of school this year. Red-colored text scrolls across the screen that says "Community Activist," a message that morphs into "Communist Activity."

The image then changes from Obama to clips of Red Army parades featuring infantrymen, tanks, and rockets. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev appears on screen speaking at a rostrum saying "your children will be communists." Then, it flashes to a segment of President Lyndon B. Johnson's controversial "Daisy" campaign ad in which the narrator says "these are the stakes, or we must die."

"The stakes are too high for you to stay home," it concludes. The end of the ad contains Wilson's campaign logo and says "paid for by Joe Wilson for Congress."

VIDEO:


Cross-posted to the Briefing Room


Read more...
comment (0)
E-mail Print share
 
12345678910Next >End »
VISIT THE HILL'S HOMEPAGE FOR THE LATEST ON CONGRESS ››
 

Key Twitters

The Hill Twitters
The Hill
Congress Blog
Pundits Blog
Twitter Room
Briefing Room
 
Publications
CNN Breaking News
NY Times
CNN
NPR Politics
Fox News
Wall Street Journal
BBC
Heritage Foundation
Huffington Post
Politico
Fishbowl DC
 
Dem Lawmakers
Rep. Neil Abercrombie
Rep. John Barrow
Sen. Mark Begich
Sen. Joseph Biden
Rep. Earl Blumenauer
Rep. Leonard Boswell
Sen. Barbara Boxer
Rep. Sherrod Brown
Sen. Robert Byrd
Rep. Russ Carnahan
Rep. Artur Davis
Sen. Christopher Dodd
Rep. Mike Doyle
Rep. Keith Ellison
Sen. Russ Feingold
Rep. Marcia Fudge
Rep. Paul Hodes
Rep. Michael Honda
Rep. Steve Israel
Sen. John Kerry
Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy
Rep. Dennis Kucinich
Rep. Sander Levin
Rep. Ben Ray Lujan
Rep. Ed Markey
Sen. Claire McCaskill
Sen. Robert Menendez
Rep. Kendrick Meek
Sen. Jeff Merkley
Rep. Michael Michaud
Rep. George Miller
Rep. Gwen Moore
Sen. Bill Nelson
Rep. James Oberstar
Rep. Nancy Pelosi
Rep. Tom Perriello
Rep. Chellie Pingree
Rep. Ed Perlmutter
Rep. Jared Polis
Rep. Charlie Rangel
Sen. Harry Reid
Rep. Mike Ross
Rep. Timothy Ryan
Rep. Kurt Schrader
Sen. Arlen Specter
Rep. Joe Stesak
Sen. Mark Udall
Sen. Tom Udall
Sen. Mark Warner
Rep. John Yarmuth
 
GOP Lawmakers
Rep. Steven Austria
Rep. Michele Bachmann
Rep. J. Gresham Barrett
Rep. Joe Barton
Rep. Judy Biggert
Rep. Gus Michael Bilirakis
Rep. Roy Blunt
Rep. Mary Bono Mack
Rep. John Boozman
Rep. Kevin Brady
Rep. Paul Broun
Sen. Sam Brownback
Rep. Vern Buchanan
Rep. Michael Burgess
Rep. Dan Burton
Rep. Dave Camp
Rep. Anh Joseph Cao
Rep. Michael Castle
Rep. Eric Cantor
Sen. Tom Coburn
Rep. Mike Coffman
Sen. Susan Collins
Sen. John Cornyn
Rep. Ander Crenshaw
Sen. John Culberson
Sen. Jim DeMint
Sen. John Ensign
Rep. Mary Fallin
Rep. Jeff Flake
Rep. John Fleming
Rep. James Randy Forbes
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry
Sen. Lisa Murkowski
Rep. Virginia Foxx
Rep. Trent Franks
Rep. Jim Gerlach
Rep. Bob Goodlatte
Sen. Charles Grassley
Rep. Gregg Harper
Sen. Orrin Hatch
Rep. Dean Heller
Rep. Peter Hoekstra
Rep. Robert Inglis
Sen. James Inhofe
Rep. Darrell Issa
Rep. Walter Jones
Rep. James Jordan
Rep. Lynn Jenkins
Rep. Christopher Lee
Rep. Duncan Hunter
Rep. Mark Kirk
Rep. John Kuhl
Rep. Thomas Latham
Rep. Robert Latta
Rep. Cynthia Lummis
Rep. Don Manzullo
Rep. Kenny Marchant
Sen. Mel Martinez
Sen. John McCain
Rep. Kevin McCarthy
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter
Rep. Patrick McHenry
Rep. Buck McKeon
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers
Rep. Candice Miller
Rep. Pete Olson
Rep. Erik Paulsen
Rep. Mike Pence
Rep. Thomas Price
Rep. George Radanovich
Rep. Dennis Rehberg
Rep. David George Reichert
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher
Rep. Peter Roskam
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Rep. Paul Ryan
Rep. Aaron Schock
Rep. Christopher Shays
Rep. John Shimkus
Rep. Bill Shuster
Rep. Lamar Smith
Rep. John Sullivan
Rep. Lee Terry
Rep. Glenn Thompson
Sen. John Thune
Sen. David Vitter
Rep. Greg Walden
Rep. Zach Wamp
Sen. Roger Wicker
Rep. Addison Wilson
Rep. Robert Wittman
 
Executive Branch
Barack Obama
EPA
OPM
SEC
NASA
Hillary Clinton
The White House
CDC Emergency
Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen
 
Other Political Figures
10 Downing Street
Mike Bloomberg
Committee on Natural Resources, Republican Website
DNC
DCCC
John Edwards
Al Gore
HASC Republicans
Health Care Caucus
Mike Huckabee
Boris Johnson
Gavin Newsom
NRCC
NRSC
Sarah Palin
Tim Pawlenty
Ross Perot
Rick Perry
Karl Rove
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Senate Republicans
Rob Simmons
Andy Stern
Don Stewart
Pat Toomey
Joe Trippi
 
Political Pundits
David All
Marc Ambinder
Saul Anuzis
Atrios
Fred Barnes
Christina Bellantoni
Mark Blumenthal
Amanda Carpenter
Stephen Colbert
Anderson Cooper
Anna Marie Cox
Crooks & Liars
Daily Kos
Erick Erickson
Glenn Greenwald
David Gregory
Mary Katharine Ham
Hugh Hewitt
Hotair
Instapundit
Aaron Keyak
Rick Klein
Nicholas Kristof
Michael Patrick Leahy
Kathryn Lopez
James Lileks
Rachel Maddow
Michelle Malkin
Meghan McCain
Ed Morrissey
Markos Moulitsas
Grover Norquist
Andy Roth
Patrick Ruffini
David Sirota
Ben Smith
Kate Snow
Andrew Sullivan
George Stephanopoulos
Talking Points Memo
The Fix
Wonkette

Live Tweetstream

You need Flash Player 8 (or higher) and JavaScript enabled to view this content

Get latest news from The Hill direct to your inbox, RSS reader and mobile devices.