Oregon Elephant

"Doctor" at Shelia Jackson Lee's townhall turns out to be impostor...and that's not all

Check out this blog post over at Townhall.  I'm reluctant to throw stones at crazies, because both sides have them.  BUT, since the left has played the "crazy card" with such glee, here goes:

• Woman asks Sheila Jackson Lee softball question at a townhall.  Claims she is a "pediatric primary care physician."  Gets her picture taken by the paper, etc.
• Turns out she is not a doctor at all.  She lied.  She apparently sees no problem with lying about being a doctor - bragged about it when asked by people investigating it.
• Her friend with her at the townhall, is a well-known Obama supporter who had a Che Guavera flag at her office. 

Wow.  As the cliche' goes...you just can't make this stuff up.

Wu manipulates audience selection (probably)…survives PDX townhall (barely)

Well, David Wu’s Portland town hall meeting at Good Samaritan Hospital is over.  I didn’t make it, but from the report in the Oregonian, it sounds like it went much like the meeting last night in McMinnville.  Clearly, Wu wasn’t about to risk meeting with all his constituents, as attendees were given numbers, and questioners were “randomly” (you can raise your eyebrows and snicker here) selected to be able to ask questions.  Here’s a snippet from the article describing the process:

It helped that a sizable share of Wu's audiences Monday and Tuesday, both exceeding 125 people, appeared to support Democratic health care reform legislation. It also helped that Wu and his staff kept tight control over the proceedings.

Hundreds couldn't even get inside. Those who lined up early enough to gain admittance were handed numbers, and only those whose numbers were drawn could speak. No follow-up questions were allowed, and Wu wisely avoided remaining engaged with several who ignored that rule.

It’s quite a contrast to see the anger and apprehension at these town halls, and compare them to the President’s “town hall meeting” (snickers again) today.  It was clear Obama wasn’t going to risk anything so messy as a challenging question.  That audience appeared as “scrubbed” as a hospital floor.

David Wu faces hostile crowd in McMinnvile...and town hall link o' rama...

• Dad of handicapped son received threats after townhall
• Dingell compares town hall protestors to KKK members
• Specter shouted down (again)
• See 'em sweat in NJ

And in Oregon...

David Wu faces hostile questioning in McMinnville

Listened to some of David Wu's town hall on the radio today...wow.

So, I was listening...and I was tuned in long enough to hear him berating a SIXTEEN year old, asking him if he'd been paid, bused in, etc....wow. 

Just wow.

Ooops...the townhall is PDX is tomorrow, not today.

My mistake...

David Wu townhall meeting today...be there!

I'm going to Congressman David Wu's townhall meeting today in Portland at noon.  Here is the info:

August 11, 12:00-1:00
Good Samaritan Hospital, Building 2 Auditorium; 1040 NW 22nd Avenue, Portland

Be there to ask the tough questions!  Be respectful and not disruptive, but defintiely make your voice heard!

So...what does the Constitution REALLY say about the census?

Several Republicans have been saying that President Obama's moving the census to the White House is "unconstitutional".  That got me curious, so I decided to look up what the Constitution actually says about the census.  It is covered in Article 1, Section 2:

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union...the actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.

In other words, it isn't speciicied in the Constitution exactly who does the census, only that it be done "in such manner as they (Congress) shall by Law direct."  In fact, according to Wikipedia, the first seven U.S. censuses were performed by the Judicial branch.

Bottom Line:
None of this disproves the charge that the move of the census to the White House is politically motivated...it clearly is.  But it is interesting to know that the actual responsibility for the census does not necessarily have to reside with the Commerce department.  In that, the Obama people are right.

Sen. Collins won't support the final stimulus bill if it grows in size...

Maine Senator Susan Collins, one of the moderate Republicans to craft the stimulus compromise in the Senate, just said on Fox News that if the bill balloons above $800 billion or contains more spending projects in it in its final form, she won't support it (which would mean that Reid would have to maneuver politically to break a filibuster).

Interesting...