Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) Says "Health Care Reform is a Bigger Threat than Terrorism"

There are some real idiots on both sides of the political aisle who managed to get elected, but Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) is on par with Michele Bachmann. She claimed that "health care reform is a bigger threat than terrorism." Really Ms. Foxx? Is this bill is worst than Osama bin Laden. You know, the ringleader of Al-Quaida who we still have not been able to catch. The same one President Bush said was "not a top priority use of American resource," just months after he said he wanted him "dead or alive." You see, she's no stranger to making incendiary comments. She referred to Matthew Shepard's hate-motivated murder as "a hoax," on the floor when the hate crimes legislation bearing his name came up for a vote. She uttered patently ridiculous comment about health care reform while speaking on the House floor:

Everywhere I go in my district, people tell me they are frightened. ... I share that fear, and I believe they should be fearful. And I believe the greatest fear that we all should have to our freedom comes from this room -- this very room -- and what may happen later this week in terms of a tax increase bill masquerading as a health care bill. I believe we have more to fear from the potential of that bill passing than we do from any terrorist right now in any country.

She's not the only Republican who has made incendiary comments of this nature. Her attack comes days after Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) said that the health care reform is an issue more important "than the impeachment of President Clinton or even 9/11 and the decision to go to war." All I have to ask is if she really represent the will of her constituents? I have no issue if you disagree with health care reform, especially what the Democrats are proposing, but to say that it is a far bigger threat than terrorism is just insulting to all the men and women in harm's way fighting to keep the United States safe from Al-Quaida and any other terrorist groups out there.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/02/virginia-foxx-health-care_n_342583.html

U.S. House passes 'Matthew Shepard Act' Hate Crimes Bill, as GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx Calls his Murder a "Hoax"

After steep opposition from the Republicans in the House of Representatives, the Matthew Shepard Act was passed. The bill will now make its way to the Senate, who will come up with its own version. I have no doubt that it will pass here as well, but I am sure with a great deal of opposition from the GOP.

The “Matthew Shepard Act.” The bill, which was introduced in 2007, was named after Matthew Wayne Shepard who died on October 12, 1998. He was twenty-one at the time of death. His killers are currently serving life behind bars. During the trial, witnesses said that Shepard was attacked because of his sexual preferences, which was a travesty and a hate crime.

The real drama came from GOP Representative Virginia Foxx of North Carolina who referred to Matthew Shepard's hate-motivated murder as "a hoax." Voters in her district need to note her incendiary comments about the bill and vote accordingly when she comes up for re-election. She owes the family and all other victims of hate-crimes an apology. This is a disgrace and she should be called out on it.

According to Reuters, , the vote passed through the US House by 249-175. That means one-hundred and seventy-five House Representatives had given their opposition to the bill, of which the Republicans had a large number of detractors. Opponents of the bill have said that it is discriminatory. In this piece, GOP Representative Trent Franks of Arizona said the bill puts equal protection in danger. He added that it destroys equality of protection amongst all groups. Really Trent Franks? So, I guess my question to him is what really constitute a hate crime?

Franks gave the argument that this bill if signed into law would undermine equal protection. He made the argument that handing out justice to perpetrators of a crime will end up depending on gender, ethnicity, sexual preferences, and so forth. So, I am guessing that the whole notion of a hate crime is moot to him and we should just sit by and watch people get hurt or even killed and just shrug our shoulders. Contrary to the flawed argument from the Republicans, this bill will strength civil rights protections.