Decorum

Some controversy has sprung up over the violation of house decorum and rules covering the by the outburst of Rep Joe Wilson, reacting to the presidents claim that the proposed health control bill will not provide taxpayer subsidized health care to illegal aliens.

It may well not, eventually, as this report suggests:

"The Congressional Research Service has indicated that indeed the bills that are before Congress would include illegal aliens," Wilson said. "And I think this is wrong."

Indeed, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service study found that the House health care bill does not restrict illegal immigrants from receiving health care coverage.

House Republican Minority Leader John Boehner amplified the complaint that without proof of citizenship, illegal immigrants could be insured.

To be scrupulously fair, when any organization with the word "Congressional" is described as "nonpartisan", this should set off all the BS alarms within hearing. Also, it should be noted that the above mentioned report comes from Fox News, a known subsidiary of the Forces Of Darkness (tm) (r).

The report suggests that modifications are being considered that would fix this, and make Rep. Wilson, retroactively, wrong.

Also mentioned in the report:

House Democrats have left open the option to sanction Wilson for violating a House rule that expressly prohibits members from accusing presidents of lying. But they signaled a preference to move ahead without further distraction.

No mention of exactly when this rule was passed, but based on a notable lack of enforcement over the years, I'd have to guess it's a recent thing. No Democrat, to my recollection, has ever suffered any consequence, beyond a slight uptick in campaign contributions, from calling a Republican president a liar. I assume that Rep. Wilsons quick apology was the result of a personal visit by Rhambo Emmanual who explained to him the mechanics of such traditional Chicago parliamentary procedures as concrete overshoes, and the breathtaking vistas available from the bottom of the Chicago River.