She said:
“The gentleman from Florida. who represents thousands of Medicare beneficiaries, as do I, is supportive of this plan that would increase costs for Medicare beneficiaries, unbelievable from a Member from South Florida,” Wasserman Schultz said, saying the legislation “slashes Medicaid and critical investments essential to winning the future in favor of protecting tax breaks for Big Oil, millionaires, and companies who ship American jobs overseas.”
He said:
From: Z112 West, Allen
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 04:48 PM
To: Wasserman Schultz, Debbie
Cc: McCarthy, Kevin; Blyth, Jonathan; Pelosi, Nancy; Cantor, Eric
Subject: Unprofessional and Inappropriate Sophomoric Behavior from Wasserman-SchultzLook, Debbie, I understand that after I departed the House floor you directed your floor speech comments directly towards me. Let me make myself perfectly clear, you want a personal fight, I am happy to oblige. You are the most vile, unprofessional ,and despicable member of the US House of Representatives. If you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face, otherwise, shut the heck up. Focus on your own congressional district!
I am bringing your actions today to our Majority Leader and Majority Whip and from this time forward, understand that I shall defend myself forthright against your heinous characterless behavior……which dates back to the disgusting protest you ordered at my campaign hqs, October 2010 in Deerfield Beach.
You have proven repeatedly that you are not a Lady, therefore, shall not be afforded due respect from me!
Steadfast and Loyal
Congressman Allen B West (R-FL
The she and he are Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, on the floor of the House and Allen West. West seems to have gone way over the top. He moved from a disagreement over policy to a very personal attack which included words like ‘vile,’ ‘unprofessional,’ and ‘despicable.’ It sounds to me like West is no gentleman.
Further reading at Politico.com
I love Allen West, he is a great American and war vet and so far he has my vote in the GOP primary. Having said that I wish he was a bit more reserved and tactful in his comments in response Ms. Wasserman-Schultz. There is no need to stoop down to their level.
Also, I love the fact she is the DNC chair! Couldn’t have picked a more…. Alan Grayson’ish person to represent Democrats. She is a proven liar who spouts off at the mouth without any facts to back up most of what she is saying and is often either wrong or flat out lying. Great job Democrats, picked a real winner to speak for you!
I’ve got a few of my favorite quotes of hers if your interested…. 🙂
Of course, all this angst over possible medicare cuts was missing when Obama’s HCR did it. That’s how he’s saying HCR will lower gov’t cost. He cut billions out of Medicare and transferred it to other programs. Apparently, its only ok to cut Medicare when Democrats propose it.
West 2016!
West is obviously wrong here. With Gayson gone, the most vile person in the house defaults back to Pelosi. DWS is always in the top 10, but West goes too far to bestow a title on DWS that she hasn’t earned. Now I figure thAt DWS is young, and not unlike herpes, will be around for a while, so there is potential there.
@Cargo, actually he wasn’t going to cut out medicare services. He was going to cut out duplications in service…streamline things.
I see no one gets the moonhowlings gentleman’s award here either.
Is that really any way to talk about someone? That is an ad hominem attack if I ever heard one. It doesn’t really matter about DWS. It matters how West conducts himself. I see him as being in the same league as Alan Grayson.
@Dan Cooper
“no need to stoop down to their level” – “heinious charachter behavior” – “most vile, unprofessional, despicable”
I find Dan Cooper’s idol a bit uncouth.
Wasserman’s speech contained NO
derogatory name calling.
@Moon-howler
I suppose everyone missed it when I said:
“Having said that I wish he was a bit more reserved and tactful in his comments in response to Ms. Wasserman-Schultz.” – notice how I gave her the respect to call her Ms. Wasserman-Schultz?
Or when Slow said:
“West is obviously wrong here. ”
Selective reading I suppose, oh well.
To Ms. Wasserman Schultz speech I say:
How can we win the future when we’re so willing to mortgage today? How are we leaving our kids a better future when they have to work to pay just the interest on our debts?
When she mentions shared sacrifice is she willing to have the %age of taxpayers that don’t pay taxes ante up and share in that sacrifice?
Why didn’t her team pass a budget when they had the football?
@marin, I am tired of hearing about ‘mortgaging the future.’ I was born after WWII. Want to talk about what MY generation had to pay off? How about those born after the Civil War? They were paying way up into the 20th century. That’s just the way it works. My generation didn’t whine or carry on half as much as the generation of my children.
I appreciate that you disagree with Mrs. Wasserman-Schultz but you did so without calling her names and using ad hominem attacks. Allen West should have done the same.
And no…he wasn’t streamlining things….Obama was cutting billions from the Medicare budget and spending it elsewhere. That’s the money that the CBO said the Democrats were double counting. Accounting tricks are contained throughout the bill…or as I like to state…the bill are lies about the money.
Yes, he was doing away with duplications. He wasn’t cutting major funding of medicare. AARP would have eaten him alive if he had been cutting services. They didn’t.
@Moon-howler
AARP supported him because they sell insurance and were expecting an exponential increase in customers.
AARP doesn’t actually care. They are in the business of selling things to seniors.
You may have summed up an “anti-tea-party” platform perfectly! You should run for office! Got a good start on talking points here!
Kind of a “we’re perfectly entitled to spend millions on studying the sexual habits of Tasmanian butt-monkeys on cocaine” kind of message!
Cargo called it right – that bill is full of tricks. In the Military Beancounter World, we called that “Creatively Rigged Accounting Practices” AKA “C.R.A.P.”
Moon, I could fill this blog for days on the “streamlining” and “duplication eliminated” and demonstrate most of it is bunk as within both those elements, there were lots of items created such as “Accountable Care Organizations” that has a set of rules that I got two pages out of 35 into and had to stop as I was confused as hell! And that is a rare day for someone fluent in Pentagonese. There is a big building in Baltimore called Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services that is shifting people around on floors – and duties about the same, different job title. That whole organization is the first step in eliminating and streamlining, but good luck there, buckaroos.
And I’ll skip addressing AARP….the Policy Institute does decent research…the rest of it…well, they do offer nice travel discounts, don’t they?
I stand by the proposal for medicare not being cut. I have yet to see evidence of any proposal in HCR that cuts medicare programs. It does go after duplications. I don’t much care if they turn dollar bills into 4 quarters. I care about services cut.
AARP is what it is. They do good research. Who else is out there? They don’t charge much to belong.
Cargo’s party had 8 freaking years to come up with a medical plan. What did they come up with? NCLB. I won’t hand them anything. They (the R’s) did nothing and then screamed and howled like Banshees when the D’s did something.
@Moon-howler
“Want to talk about what MY generation had to pay off?”
I don’t think the monetary debt has been paid off from your generation or the generation before that.
“My generation didn’t whine or carry on half as much as the generation of my children.”
That’s because kids now a day have been brought up on the teet of government and can’t do for themselves. They think they are entitled to things like healthcare, education, a job, etc.
“I appreciate that you disagree with Mrs. Wasserman-Schultz but you did so without calling her names and using ad hominem attacks. Allen West should have done the same.”
I can’t speak for Mr. West but I think the lady from Florida has a credibility issue because she’ll never answer those three questions. The fact is her team had home team advantage, they ball in the red zone, and an opposing team that didn’t field any players. And they still fumbled the ball and gave up possession.
@marin, if my generation didn’t test the establishment, I don’t know whose did. Ooops, I misread what you wrote.
I think a certain class of people have been brought up to think that someone owes them something…you know, the rights without the accompanying responsibilities, but I wouldn’t say that everyone wants that. Certainly people of my socio economic class aren’t getting something for nothing nor do they expect it.
The Dems are beginning to look to me like some mighty slow learners. Sorry, folks. Your previous world of flim-flamming RINO’s and sidelining milquetoast conservatives is history. These days, if you throw a figurative punch, you are very liable to be hit back, right smack in the nose.
Wolverine, sure sounds like things are one sided in your world. Where did the D insult the character of the R? I must have missed that. I was rather shocked that anyone would talk like Alan Grayson. I thought he was long gone. It doesn’t matter what we might think of Rep. Wasserman-Schultz. That kind of talk is really hideous.
Don’t you think his was an overreaction? I can only think of one or two people I feel that way about and I am not sure I would say that to anyone.
What are flim-flamming RINOS? Is this the end of being a moderate? Must a person be either liberal or REAL conservative. Most people don’t fall along solid ideological lines.
And, consequently, of course, the tears will flow!
West should cleanse his soul and apologize. You just don’t talk to colleagues like that. He is rude, crude and socially unattractive. Furthermore, what grown man says ‘heck?’ What a wussy.
Welcome to the Big Leagues, kid!
Definition of a RINO who was flim-flammed: Arlen Spectre.
You’re kidding, Moon….aren’t you? All those years of being told by Dems that conservatives want to starve old people, impoverish children, and ruin the whole planet was just love talk? Seems to me that liberal W-S’s tirade on the floor of the House was just one more slice of “hurt the elderly” samo-samo thrown at conservative West. Only this time, W-S got a pie back in the puss. Looks like it shocked the Hell out of her that someone might actually strike back.
Just wondering, what did she say that was so despicable? Their state DOES cater to a large population of eldery who rely on what………..? Oh yeah, right, MEDICARE and SOCIAL SECURITY!
No, I am not kidding at all. That is sure a one sided way of looking at things. How about the fact that Republicans have told people for years that Democrats are socialists, aren’t patriots, want to give away all your money to poor people, hug trees, take God out of your life, line up door to door and take everyone’s guns, and raise your taxes to 85%?
I read what W-S said. It wasn’t vile, dispictable or anything like that. It was over policy, not his existence as a human being. She did not call him out by name. He should have responded in kind, not as he did.
I wouldn’t be proud of what Rep. West did. He is further proof that chivalry is dead…as a door nail. I am not even a fan of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. I can’t stand to hear her talk. It is as ear offensive as Palin (my opinion).
I just think I see things from both sides more so than some of you.
In his defense the H key is only one key away from the F key.
The key issue here is the reference in Alan West’s email to the protest ordered by Debbie Wasserman-Shutz (DBW) at his headquarters in October 2010. Even though DWS simply made a policy statement in this case, it appears that that this was the latest in a series of incidents that infuriated West.
If DWS did order protests at his campaign headquarters, then she plays dirty politics. So West’s response might have been a little emotional, but DWS is not exactly a model of decorum either. She appears to be playing the “victim” card for consumption by the gullible, but her hardball politics might be expected to result in line drives coming right back at her.
W-S was on the floor of the House of Representatives. The issue under discussion was a major and highly controversial one which is pitting the leadership of both parties against each other. Does she stick to the major issue at hand? No, she chooses to launch a personal attack against a fellow member of the House who is not even on the floor to respond to the attack. W-S needs a lesson in legislative etiquette. She had it coming. Times have changed.
I beg to differ. The things she said were about policy and not about him as a person. Do you really think she looked around that big room to see if she saw him? I seriously doubt it. That is a huge room. He over-reacted. It wasn’t a personal attack. It was all about policy, not his personal attributes.
I don’t know what the topic was. I am assuming cuts to spending. Isn’t that what she was talking about? I still say, you don’t talk to people like that–like West did.
I thought that now Alan Grayson was gone, Florida (and the House) might clean up a bit. I guess not. He owes her an apology and he needs to stick to policy disagreement rather than getting personal like that.
Ha ha. I see some situational outrage here. Bad manners and name-calling appear to be okay if the slams are made against Dems. If they’re made against Repubs, they’re rude and a low level of discourse.
@Censored bybvbl
Well, I’ve seen the reverse too. Welcome to my world.
I couldn’t agree more.
Cargo and Kelly, that’s true, but one shouldn’t claim to be above it all as long as it’s the other side being skewered. We’re all opinionated, but when someone gets into lecturing about ad hominem attacks and then figures it’s okay as long as it’s the opposition who’s the recipient, then there’s that whiff of hypocrisy.
From the subject of West’s email, you can tell where the body of the message is going. The laughable thing is that he disparages Wasserman-Schultz for not being a lady while failing to be a gentleman himself. He must be worried to expend such froth.
Actually, I agree that West went to far. And if he was willing to state that in an email, he should have done it in person. I’m not disagreeing with the objections to his actions. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
They have a long standing feud. WS IS an annoying b##ch. But, West can be an A@@hole.
And yes, I used the words because they are appropriate. West is the type that took an insurgent outside a building, fired his pistol next to the insurgent’s head, intimidated him into telling what he knew, and then, when it was all said and done, reported himself to his command.
WS is the type of politician that likes to use personal attacks and demonstrations at inappropriate times and places.
Her past actions angered him. This was the final straw….
He would actually gain if he now acted the gentleman. I’m sure that there are any number of ways to apologize. I know that I could find a way to apologize to my advantage if I were him.
@Cargo
Exactly. I don’t think what she did on the floor was all that bad. I was sort of thinking so what….her rhetoric was no different than anyone else’s in politics. That is not to say there wasn’t something that happened before hand. So, regardless, he ended up looking like an A-hole. He should apologize. It is to his benefit to do so. He really came off looking like a chump and she looked like the wounded damsel, which I doubt it really true.
Did he really do that with an insurgent? Too bad Moe didn’t get hold of him.
Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) and other Democratic women in Congress have rebuked Rep. West for ungentlemanly behavior and what she feels constitutes a hostile work place. She says she would have the same outrage if the Congressman had been a Democrat. The behavior is unacceptable.
Kelly, I think a protest at someone’s campaign headquarters is fair game. I would agree with you if it were at his home. I don’t like home protests for any reason.
I think he is thin skinned and emotional and he should apologize.
@Moon-howler
Why should Moe get a hold of him? The insurgent was unharmed. And he talked, possibly saving many American lives. Then he did the right thing, reported himself, and took responsibility for his actions.
As for Speier’s outrage, where was her outrage when it was Grayson badmouthing everyone?
Here’s two of my favorite DWS quotes.
At a time when our moral standing in the world has been weakened by a rubber stamp Justice Department that placed the Bush Administration above the law, we now need someone who is objective and independent. And, make no mistake, Eric Holder is independent.
😉 Operation Gun Walker anyone?
And then this one:
Democrats are going to proudly run on the fact that we turned the economy around. It was our policies under President Obama’s leadership through the Recovery Act, through investing in the automobile industry.
Please, do. Pretty please…..with sugar on top. 😈
Definitely snort-worthy!
Once again, I have listened to Wassermans speech on the floor, what was West so peeved about? A disagreement in policy????? Where the hell does he think he works, Chucky Cheese?
The more crap I hear coming out of his mouth, the more I think he needs to be reprimanded. I don’t care what his perceived injuries were. He should have handled them a different way.
@Elena
With the likes of DWS on the staff, you could see where he might get that impression.
The Dems can dish it out, but they are now finding that they cannot take it. Grayson, for one, may be lucky that he is NOT in this Congress.
@Wolverine
WHAT? I think Debbie Wasserman Schultz took it pretty well. Wolverine, you have proven my point. There is nothing an R can do or say that you will not defend or find an excuse for.
No, the Dems didn’t dish it out. She never called him vile, dispictable, unprofessional, a coward and never described his behavior as heinous or characterless. What do you call ‘dishing it out?’ Is she responsible for the behavior of all democrats? Most of the democratic women who rebuke West’s behavior have stated they would feel the same way if West were a Democrat and Wasserman Schults were a Repubican. ie:P There are just some things that are over the top!
West whined that she ‘shared’ the email. Have I misunderstood what cc means?
Perhaps her father, brother or husband ought to just call him out and buggy whip him. What West said was really out of line and conduct unbecoming a gentleman.
what does grayson have to do with west insulting wassermans womanhood? can we stay on topic please.
here are some facts:
West’s IRS tax lien was printed in a mailer when he was running against the incumbent Klein. although the addressd other info was redacted, his ssn and EIN remained. the Democratic Party apologized for the oversight and offered to pay for two years of security for his ssn.
http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2011/jul/21/allen-west/west-says-democrats-distributed-his-social-securit/
Now, if you want to be shocked, read this article where West says he has higher security clearance than the President.
http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2010/sep/24/allen-west/allen-west-says-he-has-clearance-even-president-un/
@Elena
Would you think I am rude if I said that I think West is full of crap?
He said on TV today that no one ever apologized to him and he had to defend his own honor. I fail to see where his honor has been besmirched.
Furthermore, if he was running against someone named Klein, why is he made at Wasserman? Did she used to be named Klein?
He is being a jerk.
Hah. The Democrats get a line drive smacked back at them for once, and they all start to whine and moan like a flock of chickens who have just spotted a hawk circling overhead. The party of Grayson, Schumer, Durbin, Waters, and Jackson Lee, inter alia, trying to act like they are God’s little angels of political politeness and decorum — just sugar and spice and everything nice. Makes me laugh out loud.
Wolverine, are you seriously that entrenched with your Republicans? The people you mentioned weren’t involved. Why not go grab Mark Warner by the lapels and slap him around while we are at it. Get old Terry McAuliffe also,
The whiner and moaner is your guy Allen West who is acting like a girlie-man over his honor. And the bottom line is, you just don’t talk to people like he did. If Wasserman did something to him, he has inadequately explained it and everyone is still scratching their heads as to what she said THAT offensive to him to bring out that kind of response.
You are defending someone who acted like a rude pig. Wassherman’s behavior on the floor of Congress has nothing to do with those other people you named. That makes as much sense as me slapping around marin because Elena is mad at her husband.
I’m still laughing out loud. Pile of crap? Whiner? Moaner? Rude pig? Girlie-man? Entrenched with your Republicans? All this from a single angry e-mail sent to one of the most acerbic tongues on the Democrat side of the aisle?
Wasserman Schultz has developed this nasty habit of referring to every Republican domestic policy proposal as nothing but a purposeful intention of harming the elderly…or the sick…or the kids…whatever happens to be the issue of the day. “Throwing them to the wolves” is one of her more common lines. On this occasion, she personalized on the floor of the House the same type of argument against a fellow member of Congress with whom she has a prior antagonistic history, including, of all things, arranging a protest at West’s headquarters outside her own district. In point of fact, WS earned three Pinocchios on 1 June 2011 from The Fact Checker in the Washington Post for using misleading arguments against the Republican health care alternate proposals. And, yes, the WaPo cited “throwing them to the wolves” as one of her unfair and incorrect references to the policy proposals in question. WS has a history with that acerbic and ultra-partisan tongue of hers. Her problem is that she has never until now met a foe like Col. West.
he’s being a hero.
Bwahahahah! Some foe. Yeah, I’ll bet that she’s scared. She just recognized that he was stupid enough to hand her a win for which she didn’t have to work very hard. She got a lot of mileage out of his spew.
@Censored
Who said that? I am laughing like hell. I can see Wasserman shaking in her shoes right now. I expect she cut her teeth on disrespectful whiners like West when she was growing up. West and his honor…oh PUH-Leez
M-h, the poster who objected to my using the terms “toadies” and “wingnuts” when referring to some of Bachmann’s supporters. lol
@Censored
I missed seeing that. Mr. West is a wussy. He says ‘heck’ when he means to say oaths. I just bet Debbie Wasserman is trembling. NOT.
I like her better. I just discovered that she has been fairly active in ‘death with dignity’ issues. I am watching the movie You don’t know Jack tonight. It is sad. We treat our animals better than human beings.
I wonder if Rick has seen it. Rick? Opinion please.
Whats wrong with toadie and wingnuts? Those are cute names. Would it be the same people who call one of our regulars a squirrel? I like squirrels unless they are eating sunflowers or spilling sunflower seeds all over the porch.
@Moon-howler
I object!
I’m the one the uses “squirrel!” Its mine and no one elses! I stole it fair and square from Wolverine.
And I didn’t comment about toadies and wingnuts. I mean, if its fair for one side, that means I can use it to describe certain other politicians’ supporters.
@Cargo, I have seen squirrel elsewhere. Wolverine probably dropped it.
I never saw the toadie and wingnut complaint. I would prefer that the commenters here not use those terms at each other …as in Cargo! You wingnut!
But as an abstraction…I am not the police. I called West a wussie. Is that as bad as a wing nut?
Proud to be a Wingnut! But not a toadie. Am the opposite of toadie.
Wussie? Its a free country, your opinion, your blog. You think he’s a wussie….I don’t think that it matters in the larger scheme of things.
Instead of wussie, though, knowing his history, perhaps a term denoting……. thin skinned? In your opinion, that is.
Personally, while I think that he over-reacted, it was refreshing to see a Republican treat a Democrat like the Democrats routinely treat Republicans.
I would rather have outright hostility than polite deception.
Grown men don’t need to say ‘heck’. It sounds sissyl.
Not sure what a toadie is in your world. I know the formal definition but nothing else. I know what a toad is in mine. But that is slang.
Why are so many Republicans always paranoid and retreating to the but they did it first mentality?
I don’t know of many Democrats who treat Republicans like that. I can’t even think of one. Do you hear how R candidates talk about the president? I just read on another blog where someone called his mother a whore–someone who proudly wears the elephant. Soo unacceptable.
Name me one and give me an example…lets go for anyone elected to public office. We can leave the blog crowd out of this.