A Blog Called Hope

Chairman Lynch just release this statement:

“I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Sen. Kennedy. Today, the senate has lost a giant and America’s working families have lost a champion. The senior senator from Massachusetts was always a true friend to the people of Rhode Island, and I will miss this great and honorable public servant who spent decades fighting for the underdog and championing the causes of the voiceless.

My thoughts and prayers are with Congressman Patrick Kennedy today, and the entire Kennedy family.”

A few minutes ago, Chairman Lynch issued this release:

Lynch calls on Steele and Cicione to renounce false email campaign ‘Stop using scare tactics to incite anger and block real health care reform’

PAWTUCKET – Rhode Island Democratic Party Chairman Bill Lynch called on the leaders of the local and national GOP to renounce the false email campaign being conducted on their behalf by the chair of the RI Young Republicans, in which they allege that organizers from ACORN are being bused into tonight’s town hall meeting with Congressman Langevin.

Earlier this week, RI Young Republican Chair Travis Rowley began forwarding an email which he claimed was originally sent from the organizing group ACORN that read:

Dear Members.

As you are aware in our prior email, we need your presence at Congressman James Langevin’s Town Hall Meeting at the Warwick police Station 99 Veterans Memorial Drive, Warwick, Rhode Island. We are planning on arriving early at 1:30PM to fill the hall before the radical right protestors arrive. A box lunch will be provided for those on the bus. We will meet at headquarters for those wishing to join us on the bus.

Thank you!

The Acorn Team

Today, ACORN issued a statement saying they never sent such an email, and that their organization had no plans to be in attendance at tonight’s town hall meeting in Warwick. That statement reads:

An e-mail from Rhode Island Young Republicans that supposedly included an e-mail message from ACORN to our members is entirely a hoax and a fabrication.  We have seen this pattern across the country, where right wing and Republican elements are attempting to stoke up their base using these entirely fabricated lies about ACORN.  Around the country ACORN is engaged in the fight for quality, affordable health care, and believe it is every American’s right and privilege to voice their opinion and attend town hall meetings.  But for the record:

a) ACORN has never had a plan to attend Congressman Langevin’s Town Hall meeting; and

b) The e-mail that was supposedly from ACORN to our members is a total fabrication.

“Frankly, I think it’s nauseating that the Republican Party would manufacture a fake email as a desperate attempt to excite their right wing base. No wonder Rhode Islanders don’t trust Republicans to lead, today they’ve proven themselves to be nothing more than liars who will do anything to stand in the way of reform and beat back the change American voted for last November,” Lynch said.

“I would hope that Chairmen Steele and Cicione would at least have to decency to repudiate this divisive, false and cheap stunt. To not do so would exhaust what little credibility they already have in the eyes of hard working Rhode Islanders,” Lynch said.

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Chairman Lynch just put out this statement calling out the RI GOP for their shameful efforts to turn this week’s town hall meetings with Congressman Langevin and Senator Whitehouse into an angry sideshow.

“I’m disappointed that the Rhode Island Republican Party would choose to turn a serious meeting between members of our Congressional delegation and their constituents into a divisive and angry mob-like atmosphere. And while the GOP may think it’s funny to try to incite a riot,
I would remind them that there are nearly 46 million Americans, including 63,000 Rhode Islanders, without health coverage, and millions more throughout the country who struggle to afford it every day.

In the last eight years, the Republican Party gave the insurance industry exclusive control of our health care system, and now they’re desperate to fight the kind of change that will empower Rhode Islanders and their doctors, not lobbyists, to make decision about their care.

These meeting are supposed to be a thoughtful exchange of ideas, and a place where people can ask questions about efforts to reform our health care system. Over the last few weeks it’s become increasingly clear that the Republican Party, with no reform plan of their own, is not concerned about Americans’ access to quality heath care, but are extreme ideologues, only interested in ‘breaking’ the President and thwarting the change Americans voted for last November.

It’s no wonder why Rhode Island voters don’t trust the Republican Party to lead.

Despite their shameful and threatening tactics, we will continue our work to give a voice to the majority of Rhode Islanders who believe that all Americans should have access to quality, affordable health care.”

Tomorrow, please come to the Town Hall meeting in Warwick with Congressman Langevin. Let your voice be heard, and help us pass health care reform legislation that will insure access and affordability for all Rhode Islanders