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Capitol games: Discord between GOP, Dems prompts call to police

http://www.jewishworldreview.com | (KRT) Amid cries of "you little fruitcake" and threats of physical violence, a few lawmakers turned Capitol Hill into an episode of "Cops" on Friday

Tempers flared after Republicans on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee sprang a new version of a $50 billion pension bill on the Democrats at the last minute - a lowdown, but legal, maneuver.

The Democrats quickly stormed out to discuss strategy in a committee library, leaving longtime Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., in the hearing room to stall any vote by himself.

The Capitol Police, called by committee Chairman Bill Thomas, R-Calif., showed up in the library and said they'd been asked to break up the Democratic meeting.

Several Democrats, who've issued many complaints lately accusing the Republicans of abusing their power as the majority party, said the GOP had finally crossed the line.

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"This is not a police state!" cried Rep. Sander Levin. D-Mich.

"This is how tyranny begins," added Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.

Back in the committee room, where the GOP was trying to push its bill through quickly, Republicans said Stark, 72, threatened them when he was told to "shut up" by Rep. Scott McInnis, R-Colo., after Stark had sarcastically praised Thomas' "overwhelming" intellect.

"Are you big enough to make me, you little wimp?" Stark replied. "Why don't you come over here and make me? I dare you, you little fruitcake. You little fruitcake."

"I considered that a physical threat," McInnis, 50, said later. "It was clear there was going to be fairly prompt disorder."

His Republican colleagues backed him up. "I did not know if this gentleman could control either his emotions or his bodily functions," said Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, who later apologized for his crack.

Democrats noted the cops didn't go to the hearing room, where the supposedly dangerous Stark was, but to the library to evict the committee renegades.

"If it was Mr. Stark in the hearing room with a fruitcake, why did you call the cops on the Democrats in the library?" quipped Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y.

The committee eventually passed the legislation, which would allow Americans to put more tax-deferred income into their retirement accounts and let corporations set aside less money for pension obligations.

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