My Journey

Tonight, during a speech by the President of the United States to a joint session of Congress and the American people, Representative Joe Wilson a Republican of South Carolina, yelled at the President and called him a liar. The moment Wilson called President Obama a liar was when the President said that the Health Care Reform Bill would not cover illegal immigrants.

So who is Rep. Wilson? I wondered that myself. So here is some facts about him:

He is a life long Republican.

He is a lawyer.

He is one who refuses to play well with others. “In September 2002, during a debate on the possibility of going to war in Iraq, Wilson called Congressman Bob Filner “viscerally anti-American” and claimed that he had a “hatred of America” after Filner suggested the United States supplied chemical and biological weapons to Saddam Hussein.” (1) His apology was one that said he did not intend to offend Congressman Filner. How could Filner ever be offended?

He is a liar himself. “According to organizations such as PolitiFact.com and FactCheck.org, the claim that the Democratic health care proposals include provisions to provide coverage for illegal immigrants is false.” (2) Now who is the liar?

He receives a large amount of his campaign contributions from the Health Industry. (3) In fact, so far this year, his biggest contributer has been the American Hospital Association and to a lesser extent (but still in the top 20 of his contributers) Blue Cross/Blue Shield, CareCore International, American Society of Anesthesiologists and AstraZeneca PLC (a pharmaceutical company). So, we should believe someone who makes a living off of the lobby money from Big Insurance and Pharma, why?

And here are some facts about his voting record:

2008 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the Academy of General Dentistry 100 percent in 2008.

2007-2008 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the National Breast Cancer Coalition 0 percent in 2007-2008.

2007-2008 In 2007-2008 Saint Joseph Health System gave Representative Wilson a grade of 8.

2007-2008 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the The Children’s Health Fund 27 percent in 2007-2008.

2007 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the Academy of General Dentistry 0 percent in 2007.

2007 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the Alliance For Headache Disorders Advocacy 100 percent in 2007.

2007 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the American Academy of Family Physicians 0 percent in 2007.

2007 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology 0 percent in 2007.

2007 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the Association of University Centers on Disabilites 0 percent in 2007.

2007 In 2007 Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance gave Representative Wilson a rating of 50.

2007 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the League of Women Voters 17 percent in 2007.

2007 On the votes that the The Children’s Health Fund considered to be the most important in 2007, Representative Wilson voted their preferred position 0 percent of the time.

2006 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the Academy of General Dentistry 70 percent in 2006.

2006 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the American Public Health Association 0 percent in 2006.

2005-2006 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the AIDS Action Council 0 percent in 2005-2006.

2005-2006 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine 50 percent in 2005-2006.

2005-2006 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the American Nurses Association 0 percent in 2005-2006.

2005-2006 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the National Breast Cancer Coalition 25 percent in 2005-2006.

2005-2006 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the National Rural Health Association 0 percent in 2005-2006.

2005-2006 On the votes that the Saint Joseph Health System considered to be the most important in 2005-2006, Representative Wilson voted their preferred position 16 percent of the time.

2005 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the American Public Health Association 12 percent in 2005.

2005 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the The American College of Physicians 100 percent in 2005.

2004 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the American College of Emergency Physicians 50 percent in 2004.

2004 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the American Public Health Association 33 percent in 2004.

2004 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the Citizens for Health – Whole Person Health Rating 25 percent in 2004.

2003-2004 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine 75 percent in 2003-2004.

2003-2004 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the National Breast Cancer Coalition 50 percent in 2003-2004.

2003 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the American College of Emergency Physicians 100 percent in 2003.

2003 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 100 percent in 2003.

2003 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the American Public Health Association 11 percent in 2003.

2003 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the Global AIDS Alliance 0 percent in 2003.

2002 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the American College of Emergency Physicians 50 percent in 2002.

2002 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 0 percent in 2002.

2002 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the American Public Health Association 17 percent in 2002.

2001-2002 Representative Wilson supported the interests of the National Breast Cancer Coalition 20 percent in 2001-2002. (4)

In other words, he doesn’t care about health care. He voted against extending the CHIP program to children who did not have insurance. (5) And he supported the passage of the Medicare Bill that gave Billions of dollars in hand outs to companies who do nothing to help Seniors. (6) And he voted against a bill to make sure that people were not gaming the Medicaid system. (7)

I could go on, but at a certain point I sound like a broken record. You can go here and see all his votes on health care.

So this is the guy who called Obama a liar on national TV during his speech.

Can anyone show me where one single Democrat Congressperson did that at one of Bush’s speeches? **Crickets**

Just as I thought…