enceladus wrote:
Take your "pug pussy" and cross post this crap elsewhere......
> "enceladus" <enceladus@no-spam> wrote in message
> news:KpjUa.129943$OZ2.25194@no-spam
> >
> > "enceladus" <enceladus@no-spam> wrote in message
> > news:mpjUa.130768$wk6.34271@no-spam
> > > Ways and Means Chairman Apologizes to House
> > >
> > >
> > > By Juliet Eilperin
> > > Washington Post Staff Writer
> > > Thursday, July 24, 2003; Page A01
> > >
> > >
> > > Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) tearfully
> > > apologized on the House floor yesterday for asking Capitol Police
> officers
> > > to evict Democrats from a committee room Friday, as Republicans worked
> to
> > > quell bad publicity stemming from the fracas.
> > >
> > > The extraordinary public admission -- Thomas broke down in tears as he
> > > addressed a hushed chamber usually reserved for policy debates and state
> > > speeches -- capped a week of quiet damage control by GOP leaders.
> Furious
> > at
> > > the thought of handing Democrats a public relations win, top Republicans
> > > have spent hours in closed-door meetings lecturing senior members on
> > proper
> > > decorum.
> > >
> > > Friday's routine Ways and Means Committee session on pension legislation
> > > dissolved into partisan brawling after Democrats said they had not been
> > > given enough time to review a substitute version offered by Thomas. When
> > the
> > > chairman refused to delay the vote, the Democrats decamped to an
> adjacent
> > > library in protest.
> > >
> > > Thomas summoned Capitol Police to oust them, although the arriving
> > officers
> > > declined to do so, and the impasse ended without fisticuffs. That did
> not
> > > stop Democrats from blasting Thomas and his GOP colleagues on the House
> > > floor all afternoon, and many news accounts and editorial pages aired
> > their
> > > complaints.
> > >
> > > The scorn focused on Thomas, whose self-confidence borders on arrogance
> > and
> > > whose abrasive manner has long been tolerated by House leaders because
> of
> > > his expertise in tax-writing, health care and trade. Yesterday, his
> normal
> > > hubris melted in front of his riveted colleagues.
> > >
> > > "I learned a very painful lesson on Friday," he told the House. "As
> > members,
> > > you deserve better judgment from me, and you'll get it. Because of my
> poor
> > > judgment, those outside the House who want to trivialize, marginalize
> and
> > > debase this institution were given an opportunity to do so. Because of
> my
> > > poor judgment, the stewardship of my party as the majority party in this
> > > House has been unfairly criticized."
> > >
> > > Friday's brouhaha was the latest and loudest manifestation of an
> > escalating
> > > animosity between the two parties, notable even in a body designed for
> > > serious partisan differences. Some Republicans privately worry they are
> > > beginning to look and sound like the high-handed Democratic majority
> they
> > > unseated in 1994. GOP House leaders often refuse to let Democrats offer
> > > amendments or ideas for important bills -- precisely the type of
> complaint
> > > House Republicans leveled at Democrats in the 1980s and early 1990s.
> > >
> > > Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Majority Leader Tom DeLay
> (R-Tex.)
> > > met with Thomas and other Republican members of the Ways and Means
> > Committee
> > > on Tuesday afternoon, demanding that they take steps to repair Friday's
> > > political damage. DeLay told his colleagues they could be "fair but
> firm,"
> > > because they have the votes to defeat Democrats on any substantive
> issue,
> > > one participant said.
> > >
> > > Thomas appeared emotional and contrite at the meeting, lawmakers said,
> > > promising to try to repair relations with committee Democrats.
> > >
> > > Hastert, who told "Fox News Sunday" that "there was a lot of juvenile
> > > behavior" on Capitol Hill last week, urged Thomas to apologize for his
> > > actions. "He gently nudged him," Hastert spokesman John Feehery said.
> > >
> > > Hastert and DeLay held a second session Tuesday with every other
> committee
> > > chairman, warning against rising to the Democrats' bait. Several
> lawmakers
> > > said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was trying to goad
> > > Republicans into overreaching. "The only people who can hurt us are
> > > ourselves," said one chairman who attended the session.
> > >
> > > Thomas, who frequently spars with colleagues and peppers his public and
> > > private comments with barbs, admitted yesterday that his style has
> > > drawbacks. "It's been said that our strengths are our weaknesses," he
> > said.
> > > "Or, as my mother would have put it, 'When they were passing out
> > moderation,
> > > you were hiding behind the door.' "
> > >
> > > While apologizing for summoning the police, Thomas defended his separate
> > > call to the House sergeant-at-arms to "reestablish order in the
> > committee."
> > > He was referring to the tirade by Rep. Fortney "Pete" Stark (D-Calif.)
> in
> > > which he repeatedly called Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo.) "a little
> > > fruitcake."
> > >
> > > That angered Pelosi, who did not join her fellow Democrats in rising to
> > > applaud Thomas's speech. She told reporters she would not be satisfied
> > until
> > > GOP leaders publish a complete account of the circumstances surrounding
> > > Thomas's call to the Capitol Police, issue guidelines prohibiting
> members
> > > from summoning police in similar situations and let the Ways and Means
> > panel
> > > reconsider the pension bill -- ironically, a measure with Democratic and
> > GOP
> > > co-sponsors.
> > >
> > > "I respect what Mr. Thomas did," Pelosi said. "But I don't think the
> > record
> > > has been set straight yet."
> > >
> > > Republicans said last week's flare-up was embarrassing -- one GOP
> pollster
> > > said Thomas handed Democrats "an issue on a silver platter because he
> > > couldn't keep his temper in check" -- but expressed confidence that
> voters
> > > would forget the incident. But Rep. Charles B. Rangel (N.Y.), the top
> > > Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, took the floor after Thomas's
> > > speech and said his party wanted better treatment, not merely public
> > > apologies.
> > >
> > > "To respect the American people, we have to respect each other," Rangel
> > > said. "It's not a matter of personalities."
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > © 2003 The Washington Post Company
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
