Mom of man arrested for threatening Pelosi blames Fox News

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As rightwing radicals hit the news for thier thretening phone calls to senators and congressman, they are leaving a trail of bread crumbs leading right back to the Fox News Channel and some of it's most radical on-air personalities. Here is yet another eaxmple that went down yesterday in San Fransisco.

Federal agents arrested 48 year-old Gregory Giusti for allegedly threatening House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Giusti "allegedly made dozens of calls to Pelosi’s homes in California and Washington, D.C., as well as her husband’s business office. He allegedly recited her home address and warned that she should not support the healthcare overhaul bill that was recently signed into law if she wanted to see her home again." Yesterday on San Fransisco’s local ABC affiliate, Giusti’s mother blamed Fox News:

ELEANOR GIUSTI: Greg has — frequently gets in with a group of people that have really radical ideas and that are not consistent with myself or the rest of the family and — which gets him into problems. And apparently I would say this must be another one that somehow he’s gotten onto either by — I’d say Fox News or all of those that are really radical, and he — that’s where he comes from.

Watch Video From MediaMatters

Media Matters has documented numerous instances in which Fox News personalities have launched inflammatory remarks directed at Pelosi and highlights the network’s history of violent rhetoric regarding health care reform.

House Dems Unveil 2K Pg. $894 Bil Health Bill

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and fellow House Democrats touted their own $900 billion health care reform bill on Thursday in answer to the Senate’s version and as part of President Obama’s overall push for reform, a push that is getting closer to reality with each legislative tweak and congressional roll-out.

Pelosi took to the steps of the U.S. Capitol to introduce a nearly 2,000 page, $894 billion piece of legislation designed to go far enough to please House liberals but include enough goodies for moderates to make a deal with both chambers possible.

It would create a full public option plan for the uninsured and, according to fast-tracked CBO estimates, cut the deficit by $30 billion, savings generated by taxing wealthy Americans and following the president’s directive in finding savings in Medicare waste and fraud.

This would be on top of the consistent goals expressed by the president throughout the debate, like ending coverage denials based on preexisting conditions and covering up to 96 percent percent of America’s uninsured.

Pelosi: "No Question" we have the votes to pass health care

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According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) there is "no question" that she has the votes to pass healthcare reform legislation even as key Democrats retreated from their predictions of progress.But Democratic opponents of the bill said Pelosi’s vote count was somewhere between wildly optimistic and dead wrong.

"I don’t know who’s doing her vote counting, but she doesn’t have the votes," said Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), who has worked with the band of centrist Blue Dog Democrats blocking the bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee.

"They’re 100 votes away on a good day," said another Democratic member.Republicans mocked Pelosi’s assertion, sending out a list documenting 42 House Democrats who have said they oppose or have concerns about the bill. But the list includes some members who will almost certainly vote for the measure, such as House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.). Regardless, the stalled health bill is a major test of Pelosi’s leadership. And unless she gets it moving soon, Republicans will claim victory throughout August and into September.

Pelosi said if Democrats cannot reach agreement within their ranks by July 31, she thinks they should work into their planned August recess."I think 70 percent of the American people would want that," Pelosi said. "I want a bill."That stance contradicts House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who said Tuesday that he didn’t see any point in staying into August if Democrats haven’t reached consensus on a bill by then.

Leadership aides said that in their weekly Monday meeting, Pelosi and Hoyer never discussed what to do if they didn’t have the votes by the end of July.In an interview on Fox News on Wednesday, Hoyer said, "We’re very hopeful and we believe we’ll be able to pass a healthcare bill next week."With Senate Finance Committee leaders still ironing out their bill behind closed doors, the Senate will not be voting on healthcare reform before the August recess, as initially planned.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Wednesday told The Hill, "We’re going to take a little longer to get it right. Initially we had hoped for a full vote by [the recess], but I don’t think it’s going to be possible."Some Democrats are extremely frustrated that Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has not introduced a bill. Asked on Wednesday if he is feeling pressure from the White House, Baucus responded, "No, I’m not."With the GOP seizing political momentum, Obama administration officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, appeared on several cable news networks making the case for revamping the nation’s health system.

Meanwhile, House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) on Wednesday announced that he and the Obama administration have agreed to create an independent commission to set reimbursement rates for healthcare providers in the government-run "public plan." The seven Blue Dogs who have been holding up consideration of the bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee have said they support the idea of a commission as a way to rein in healthcare costs.

But that concession has not won over the Blue Dogs and Waxman’s negotiations with the group are ongoing. Waxman’s committee was initially scheduled to have a final vote on healthcare reform on Wednesday. Waxman said he hopes to resume his committee markup on Thursday. "We have not resolved our issues. But we’re going to get back together and continue discussions," Waxman said.Waxman had angered the seven Blue Dogs earlier in the day by announcing a deal on the independent commission.

They felt the announcement was premature."They felt he was trying to box them in," said a Blue Dog member.Waxman’s press release subsequently disappeared from his panel’s website. A committee spokesperson did not comment by press time. Leadership aides say that even if Waxman can resolve the concerns of the Blue Dogs, there are plenty more troubles awaiting him in committee and on the floor, including a tax on the wealthy to help pay for the $1 trillion cost of the bill."There’s so many problems beyond the Blue Dogs," said a leadership aide. "There’s regional disparity. The pay-for is a train wreck. The committee might want to blame the Blue Dogs. But the Blue Dogs have wanted to engage and they haven’t."

In more signs of trouble, a diverse group of Democrats, including Blue Dogs and progressives, sent Waxman a letter urging that the measure be re-written to include legislation by Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) that would provide incentives for quality care rather than volume of care."The focus should be on how far we’ve come.

We’ve come a lot further than anyone would have expected," said a Democratic aide. "The important thing is that members and the groups stay on offense in August. August is generally a time that legislation ends up dying."Meanwhile, Democratic liberals are getting worried by constant negotiation with Blue Dogs and Pelosi’s statements that what the more conservative Senate Finance Committee does could influence the bill.

"We have to stay on our toes," said Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), co-chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

"We know what we want and we don’t want to get rolled."Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), who leads the charge for the Progressive Caucus on healthcare, said liberals have been reminding their Blue Dog colleagues that they might be the ones stopping a bill if a public option is watered down.

"A number of us have conveyed to the Blue Dogs that there are 82 people who are insisting on a ‘robust’ public option," Schakowsky said.

Robert Gates And Hillary To GOP Leaders: You’re Putting Our Security At Risk

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Wow. Robert Gates and Hillary Clinton are now thrusting themselves into the raging fight over the White House’s request for Congressional cash for the International Monetary Fund, demanding in a letter that GOP leaders back the funding or put our security at risk.

I’ve obtained a copy of the letter, which was sent to GOP leaders John Boehner and Mitch McConnell and Dem leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, though the obvious targets are the Republicans, who have opposed the IMF funding. Gates and Clinton significantly up the stakes, saying that the IMF funding would reduce the threat of terrorism.

The battle over the IMF funding is at the center of the big battle on Capitol Hill over the war spending bill. House Republicans are strongly opposed to including in the bill the IMF funding, which the White House wants to fulfill a pledge to foreign leaders to fund the IMF to help foreign economies weather the downturn.

In the letter, Gates, Clinton and a third signatory, National Security Adviser James Jones, say the IMF plays a key role in reducing the “security risks” the crisis “poses to our nation and the world.” The crisis, it says, risks destabilizing foreign economies, producing “unforeseeable reactions.”

It adds:Financial hardships and poverty breed desperation, which helps terrorist networks to attract new recruits with messages of hate, violence and intolerance. IMF financing reduces this threat by reducing economic instability in vulnerable states.

Ironically, Boehner and Eric Cantor have justified their opposition to the IMF funding on national security grounds, claiming it could help state sponsors of terror. But that case could be tougher to make, now that Gates, Clinton and Jones say funding the IMF is necessary to reduce the terror threat and enhance our security.