09-12-2009, 03:15 PM
Wilson Appeals for Funds, 'Will Not Be Muzzled'
Rep. Joe Wilson releases a video asking supporters for donations, saying his outburst during President Obama's health care address was "wrong," but that he "will not be muzzled."
FOXNews.com
Friday, September 11, 2009
Rep. Joe Wilson released a combative fundraising video on Thursday asking supporters for donations, saying his outburst during President Obama's health care address was "wrong," but that he "will not be muzzled."
"The supporters of the government takeover of health care and the liberals who want to give health care to illegals are using my opposition as an excuse to distract from the critical questions being raised about this poorly conceived plan," Wilson said in the video. "I will not be muzzled. I will speak up loudly against this risky plan."
Click here to watch Wilson's fundraising appeal.
The fiery video appeal came after reports his Democratic opponent had raised more than half a million dollars since the outburst against Obama.
"I need your help now," Wilson pleads in the video, directing viewers to his campaign Web site.
According to Jessica Santillo of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, since Wilson blurted "You lie!", the campaign coffers of Rob Miller, who is challenging him in 2010, swelled by $700,000.
The contributions, she said, came in from 20,000 individual contributions. It's not clear whether the people who made the donations live in South Carolina.
Wilson's outburst made some supporters shudder even as others believed it could give him a political boost in his conservative hometown.
"He's the only one who has guts in that whole place. He'll get re-elected in a landslide," said John Roper, an insurance agent, as he sat among patrons at a diner near Columbia.
Still, Southern sensibilities reign in the district the 62-year-old has represented for the past eight years. Added Roper, "He probably shouldn't have said it in that context."
Wilson apologized to the White House soon after the speech and again Thursday, but did not back away from the issue that prompted his outburst. "People who have come to our country and violated laws, we should not be providing full health care services," he said.
The uproar may not be over, despite Obama having accepted Wilson's apology. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said he favors a resolution of public disapproval if Wilson doesn't apologize to the House by Tuesday.
Clyburn, whose district adjoins Wilson's, said he was not surprised by the outburst: "I think that's indicative of the combativeness he displays all the time when it comes to politics."
Wilson told WIS-TV "by calling the president right away following the speech, I feel that covers the issue the apology called for, and the response was accepted, and I'm now grateful we can get on to the issue itself."
Wilson's shout came after Obama said extending health care to all Americans who seek it would not mean insuring illegal immigrants.
The House version of the health care bill explicitly prohibits spending any federal money to help illegal immigrants get health care. Illegal immigrants could buy private health insurance, as many do now, but wouldn't get tax subsidies to help them. Still, Republicans say there aren't sufficient citizenship verification requirements to ensure illegal immigrants are excluded.
More on this Story
Rep. Joe Wilson releases a video asking supporters for donations, saying his outburst during President Obama's health care address was "wrong," but that he "will not be muzzled."
FOXNews.com
Friday, September 11, 2009
Rep. Joe Wilson released a combative fundraising video on Thursday asking supporters for donations, saying his outburst during President Obama's health care address was "wrong," but that he "will not be muzzled."
"The supporters of the government takeover of health care and the liberals who want to give health care to illegals are using my opposition as an excuse to distract from the critical questions being raised about this poorly conceived plan," Wilson said in the video. "I will not be muzzled. I will speak up loudly against this risky plan."
Click here to watch Wilson's fundraising appeal.
The fiery video appeal came after reports his Democratic opponent had raised more than half a million dollars since the outburst against Obama.
"I need your help now," Wilson pleads in the video, directing viewers to his campaign Web site.
According to Jessica Santillo of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, since Wilson blurted "You lie!", the campaign coffers of Rob Miller, who is challenging him in 2010, swelled by $700,000.
The contributions, she said, came in from 20,000 individual contributions. It's not clear whether the people who made the donations live in South Carolina.
Wilson's outburst made some supporters shudder even as others believed it could give him a political boost in his conservative hometown.
"He's the only one who has guts in that whole place. He'll get re-elected in a landslide," said John Roper, an insurance agent, as he sat among patrons at a diner near Columbia.
Still, Southern sensibilities reign in the district the 62-year-old has represented for the past eight years. Added Roper, "He probably shouldn't have said it in that context."
Wilson apologized to the White House soon after the speech and again Thursday, but did not back away from the issue that prompted his outburst. "People who have come to our country and violated laws, we should not be providing full health care services," he said.
The uproar may not be over, despite Obama having accepted Wilson's apology. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said he favors a resolution of public disapproval if Wilson doesn't apologize to the House by Tuesday.
Clyburn, whose district adjoins Wilson's, said he was not surprised by the outburst: "I think that's indicative of the combativeness he displays all the time when it comes to politics."
Wilson told WIS-TV "by calling the president right away following the speech, I feel that covers the issue the apology called for, and the response was accepted, and I'm now grateful we can get on to the issue itself."
Wilson's shout came after Obama said extending health care to all Americans who seek it would not mean insuring illegal immigrants.
The House version of the health care bill explicitly prohibits spending any federal money to help illegal immigrants get health care. Illegal immigrants could buy private health insurance, as many do now, but wouldn't get tax subsidies to help them. Still, Republicans say there aren't sufficient citizenship verification requirements to ensure illegal immigrants are excluded.