Mar 31, 2010

Whitmer Launches Petition to Condemn Violence in Health Care Debate


With all the hate and violence directed at Democrats and whipped up by so-called Republican leaders, State Sen. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, launched a petition today on her website to condemn the recent violent threats and behavior by fanatics opposing the passage of national health care reform legislation.

“This has nothing to do with supporting or opposing health care reform or being a Democrat or a Republican—it’s about standing up against hateful behavior that threatens political discourse in our country,” she said “I encourage citizens to sign this petition and stand up together against these violent actions that only divide our nation and our state.”

Last week, Whitmer offered a Senate Resolution to condemn these activities as news broke of hateful and threatening behavior against lawmakers, including cutting the gas line at the home of a legislator’s family, making death threats and violent phone calls, and shouting malicious verbal insults. Several Democratic Congressmen were spit on and subjected to racist and homophobic insults as they prepared to vote on the Health Care Reform bill last week.

She plans on introducing a resolution condemning the behavior as soon as the Legislature comes back from its two-week Easter break on April 13. It will be interesting to see who supports it, if the Senate Republicans even allow a vote in it. Hopefully, it will compel Republicans to do the right thing.

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