"Democrats are charging that the GOP made up a fake messaging memo that purports to be from Democrats as a way to undermine the party's message at the last minute. The memo was circulated to reporters -- including this one -- by a spokesman to House Minority Leader John Boehner. Politico reported on the memo and posted a story which the Drudge Report featured prominently.
"The memo is a fake," said Kristie Greco, a spokesperson for Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.). "It's an under-handed and unethical attempt to distract from the health care debate. If opponents of health insurance reform had a credible policy alternative they wouldn't have to resort to nefarious games."
Several anonymous Democratic aides similarly told Talking Points Memo's Christina Bellantoni that the memo was a trick."
[SKIP]
"Politico has since pulled the memo, leaving Drudge to link instead to a page that reads "UPDATE: Democrats challenge authenticity of 'doc fix' memo."
The right-wing blog Big Government, however, still has it up as evidence that Democrats intend to mislead the American people about the cost of the bill."
UPDATE 3/19 5:20pm: Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) just read from the memo on the House floor. And Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) responded by ripping him and demanding his source.
"What they're doing is producing fake memos," he said.
"That memo that he read from has no source. He will not return to the microphone to tell us what it was because he took something that was created by the opponents of health care -- and there are a whole lot of them, mostly paid for by the health insurance industry -- and came to the rostrum with a fake document," said Weiner.
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) interrupted. "Parliamentary inquiry," she yelled.
"I don't yield for that," said Weiner, continuing. "There is no reluctance to talk about the real CBO score: $1.2 trillion in savings for the American people. That's the fact. That's nothing we're hiding from."
"Will the gentleman yield?"
"I will yield only if the person will tell us the source of the document."
A chaotic back-and-forth broke out until Weiner regained the floor.
"Ladies and gentlemen, what you saw just now is a microcosm for this debate: A real piece of legislation that for a year we've been working on and a fake document that they won't even give a source for," he said.
h/t HuffPost
23 comments:
Fake memos? The GOP?
It would only be news if the Republicans weren't dissembling.
Lee Atwater & Dick Nixon would be pleased.
Though to be fair Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-Mars) brings a certain frisson to the debate.
OH, and the conservatives who support the republicans will go on and on about principles....
Our Founding Fathers.....
The evils of socialism.....
The whole while they are burning down the Reichstag.....
that header sounded exactly like Boehner, I was sure it was him! Interesting!
The fake memo ordeal was so ridiculous. The GOP are in desperation mode and Weiner cracks me up! Watching C-Span is so much fun isn't it? LOL, I'll have my popcorn ready for tomorrow!
Well Shaw. Looks like the righties don't want me helping them. Too bad for them.
The memo? Hell. This thing will be quoted for time immemorial. There are still righties that site the sinking of The Maine and the Gulf of Tonkin as valid talking points.
God forbid the righties abandon a good lie.
Fake memos got you stumped?
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"God forbid the righties abandon a good lie." Yep, They'll believe anything ..even when they are dead wrong.
"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force."
Stupidity is the most brutal force Alisa...
Oh Gawd. More Ayn Rand quotes?
We had an election in 2006 and in 2008 where "we the people" elected people to represent us.
That's how our Republic works.
You're sour because you don't like the people who are just now in the majority.
The Republic will survive despite the crazies in the Tea Parties and Cultists who run around the blogs pasting self-absorbed Randian dogma thinking it'll change the world.
"Government 'help' to business is just as disastrous as government persecution... the only way a government can be of service to national prosperity is by keeping its hands off."
And TAO, this is MLK's quote, which is close to what you posted:
"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."
Yeah, Ayn. Keeping government's hands off so we can become a nation of Enrons, Merrill Lynches, WorldComs, Global Crossings-- to name only a few among many of the criminal organizations that passed themselves off as "businesses."
Just think, without government interference, we could have American babies teething on lead-painted toys, and to maintain a good bottom line, businesses could dilute babies' apple juice with water [as Gerber did].
You're living in a fantasy world.
Actually it was Beech-Nut that diluted baby apple juice, not Gerber.
But still, what a country--so it could make a bigger profit, Beech-Nut watered down baby juice? Nice.
Aww Shaw, Beech Nut probably got the baby food line mixed up with the watered down chewing tobacco line. No harm done. Unless your chew bag was full of cream peas or something.
Those bastards are just pure evil...they are doing their best to finish what Bush started...Armageddon.
“One of the methods used by statists to destroy capitalism consists in establishing controls that tie a given industry hand and foot, making it unable to solve its problems, then declaring that freedom has failed and stronger controls are necessary.”
...then US companies will ship to China, manufacture, ship back & sell to those who still have jobs -lead paint & all...
Evil? Yes. Enjoy your government at work. I hear they make really good cheese.
I thought China's government controlled everything over there Rand Lady. So what you're saying is that a real big government is kicking our economic ass.
I was wondering about that. Perhaps you're correct and our government should be more like China's. Except making us wear drab clothing anyway.
Good point, TRUTH, but Ayn won't reply to it.
The China's government controlled country has us by the economic short hairs.
How can that be??? Government controlled economy is bad! Capitalism rules, right?
Except for reality. It's a bitch isn't it, Ayn.
BTW, read Tom Friedman's column today. The majority of the 40 finalists in the Intel Science competition are Asians. And most of them are Chinese.
Mind like a steel trap Shaw. I don't need no stinkin Wikapedia!
@Truth/Kenawe - China IS gov't controlled business & they are kickin our a$$#s; mostly b/c they don't give a $#$% about their people's quality of life or quality of product. Their big Gov't is obsessed w/ State profit. OUR big gov't is obsessed w/ regulating, encumbering such that staying in the US is cost prohibitive.
...while you're busy high-fiving each other on how you cut Alisa down to size, ask the nearest Chinese which place they'd rather live: here, where Gov't is SUPPOSED to stay out of our lives, or there, where they're slaves of the State. Yeah - gov't control - a beautiful thing.
Stupidity is the most brutal force. Especially when it smacks you between the eyes. Eh, Truth, Kenawe?
Done. You people are insufferable.
Alisa-
Sniff...
Done forever?
What a blow.
The Randian wrote: "...mostly b/c they don't give a $#$% about their people's quality of life or quality of product."
Really? But didn't we have to pass laws in this country to get car manufacturers and factories to stop pumping their unhealthy emissions into the air we breathe so that we could enjoy a decent "quality of life?"
Would they have done this out of altruism? No! Government had to tell them to stop poisoning us.
And then there's that pesky USDA that interferes with the beef industry and forces it to limit the amount of cow feces allowed in those fabulous burgers we Americans gobble up every day.
Just think, if it weren't for that busy-body agency, you'd be able to eat more feces in your McDonald's.
The Randian went off in a huff and sniffed:
"Done. You people are insufferable."
After it came here and pasted a bunch of Rand's quotes as comments and then acted like a supercilious crank, telling us how to reach Nirvana if only we were more selfish.
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