Emanuel Cleaver: “I came to the floor today to talk about Social Security, but having spent most of last evening watching the news on a…”

“I came to the floor today to talk about Social Security, but having spent most of last evening watching the news on a variety of stations and reading several newspapers this morning, I decided I just wanted to speak about what I am seeing. This body has gone from ``states craft'' to demagoguery and witchcraft. The Hill has become a sick setting for everything wrong and ugly about politics. We're not about a way to fix. We're about pure nasty politics. We can be partisan without being poisonous. And when I look back at our young pages, young Americans who are gifted, I cannot help but wonder whether we are teaching them through our actions to become peace sowers or bomb throwers. We make the choice. We can be partisan without being poisonous, and on this day, July 21, 2010, we are poisonous.”