NOTE: I called Speaker Boehner’s office, and after being on hold for 25 minutes (“We are experiencing heavy call traffic”), I spoke with a woman in Boehner’s office who said “The Speaker said the members are more than welcome to attend Glenn Beck’s event, but not at taxpayer expense.” So… what makes this any different from the thousands of CODEL’s they take all over the world?
From The Right Scoop:
Glenn Beck slams Boehner for disallowing congressmen to attend Israel event
Posted by The Right Scoop on Aug 18, 2011 in Politics |
In an interview with Glenn Beck this morning, Congressman Joe Walsh said that the International Israel Allied Caucus Foundation (IIACF) was going to sponsor a fact-finding mission to Israel for congressmen who wanted to go, setting up meetings with Israeli officials and also joining Beck at his Restoring Courage event. But apparently Boehner’s office didn’t approve the trip noting that Beck’s portion of the trip had the appearance of a political event, that there wasn’t enough meeting time built into the schedule and that the IIACF was a lobbying group. On the last portion Walsh countered that the IIACF is certainly not a lobbying group, but rather a 501(c)(3) charity.
And I think anyone that listens to Beck knows that the Restoring Courage event is not political per se, but rather a show of support for Israel and the truth in a time when so many who stand against Israel are spreading lies and propaganda to vilify Israel. As he often says, everything is upside down.
But Walsh isn’t the only one being denied, as Beck noted that he’s been hearing for two weeks that other congressmen were being denied, after first being told that if they got private funding they could attend, but then being denied afterwards anyway. Beck read a portion of a letter that he had gotten that stated:
The Glenn Beck event is not something the congressmen should attend in office capacity based on the conflict of interest for him as a member.
Beck says he doesn’t know what the conflict of interest is and nor does Walsh, who said that to him it was just another way to continue the purpose of the trip that was a fact-finding mission.
After the interview Beck slammed the Speaker for not allowing the congressmen to attend the event, suggesting that Boehner was playing politics and was getting back at those who didn’t vote for the Boehner debt ceiling plan:
Click image to watch video of Glenn tearing the Republicans a new one.
