This is pretty pathetic.
Today, Democrat Betty McCollum's campaign sent out a press release detailing the blatant lies in a mailing sent by her Republican opponent, Patrice Bataglia. Now, these aren't the typical campaign exaggerations. These are flat out lies, saying Betty voted against bills she voted for, and citing unrelated bills that were never even voted on. The facts, plus more on Patrice's recent bizarre activity, in extended entry.
Here are the raw facts:
Bataglia Lie: "March 2003: Voted against commending the troops for liberating Iraq. (H.R. 561)"
Truth: McCollum voted for H. Con. Res. 104, "Expressing the support and appreciation of the Nation for the President and members of the Armed Forces who are participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom." (3/21/03, roll call vote 83, passed House 414-12) - Click to Link
Truth: Bataglia cites H.R. 561 but this is a bill to suspend temporarily the duty on certain manufacturing equipment introduced by Rep. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and has NEVER been voted on in Congress.
Bataglia Lie: "April 2003: Voted against approval of Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act. (H.R. 172)"
Truth: McCollum voted for H.R. 1559, The Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act. (4/3/03, roll call vote 108, passed House 414-12) - Click to Link
Truth: Bataglia cites H.R. 172 but this is a bill introduced by Rep. Thomas Reynolds (R-NY) to amend title XVI of the Social Security Act to provide that annuities paid by States to blind veterans shall be disregarded in determining supplemental security income benefits and has NEVER been voted on in Congress.
This isn't Bataglia's first brush with controversy. Just a few days back, she had a trainwreck of an interview on local talk radio. Here are some of her winning comments:
Rosenbaum: "What instance did he [Saddam] use biological warfare against our troops?"
Bataglia: "In the Iraq/Iran war."
Rosenbaum: "What instance do you have that he used biological weapons against American troops?"
Bataglia: "We had Americans in the country during those times."
Rosenbaum: "I'm not going to let you off the hook on that. During what times?"
(SIX SECONDS OF SILENCE)
Bataglia: "You know, the real point is that I'd really like to debate these issues with Betty McCollum."
And, later:
O'Connell: "I think what threw us off was that you said that you said that he used them on American troops."
Bataglia: "I don't believe that is what I said."
Clips for these quotes can be found
here; the entire interview can be downloaded in MP3 format
here.