Wilson Confronts Occupy Columbia Protesters

Republican Congressman Joe Wilson barnstormed the state on Thursday to unveil his agenda for the coming session of Congress, visiting three towns across his far-flung Second District. 

But at his first stop — a morning press conference in West Columbia held in an auto garage — Occupy Columbia protesters nearly outnumbered the handful of staff, media and supporters in attendance. With more than a half-dozen protesters looking on and some videotaping the event, Wilson said he planned to focus on job creation, cutting spending, and improving the lives of the nation's armed servicemembers here and overseas.

Wilson said his aim is to lobby the Senate to pass 27 jobs bills currently languishing, promote job-making missions at the Savannah River Site, work locally and statewide to attract business, and "protect employees right-to-work by restraining the National Labor Relations Board."

Further, Wilson reiterated his support for a balanced budget amendment, including "cut, cap, and balance" legislation that died in the last Congress, vowed to continue repeal efforts of so-called "Obamacare," and said he would push for an audit of how and where federal stimulus money has been spent. 

Wilson promised to work to maintain and strengthen the military, as well as improve efforts to care for wounded service members, protect benefits and improve the lives of service members and their families, and better support Guard and Reserve members in their post-deployment transitions back to civilian life. 

But Occupy Columbia protester Tim Liszewski and his cohorts wanted to know Wilson's stance on what the Occupy movement sees as the scourge of Washington — money in politics. Liszewski noted he had recently read that Congress members spend approximately 40 percent of their time raising money — most of it from corporate donors and special-interest PACs. 

"I don't see anything on your agenda that speaks to taking money out of politics, so that everyone can be involved and so that the best ideas can be put forward rather than letting money determine [things]," said Liszewski.

"I do share your concerns," Wilson responded softly. "Because we do have a real threat in this country, and that is through [labor] union PACs. The unions have full control of the dues of union members and then the union members do not have any say-so in how the money is spent."

Liszewski argued that "corporate money is more than union money."

"The union money is used for volunteers who come into campaign. I've seen it here in South Carolina," Wilson responded. "It's not reported — and I know you'd be concerned about that. But I will also tell you I do not spend 40 percent of my time in campaign fundraising. I'm happy to spend 100 percent of my time representing the people of the Second District."

Pressed on corporate PAcs, Wilson said: "I think corporate PACs actually even the field. If we didn't have corporate PACs, the only thing we would have would be union bosses … directing politics. So it is an evening process. What we should do is encourage all people to participate in the political process. When I have campaign events … I want the maximum number of people to participate in the political process. The [fundraising] events we have begin at $25." 

A few minutes later, in what had been a civil exchange, a female Occupy Columbia member attempted to "mic check" Wilson.

"Why are you dividing Americans rather than bringing them together?" came the prompt to fellow protesters, who were supposed to repeat the phrase in unison, akin to a human microphone. But Wilson quickly and deftly managed to quell the mic check before it could even take hold.

"That's why I'm here. I appreciate the question," Wilson interjected. "I ran to be fully accessible. I am. And I truly enjoy bringing people together. But hey, not everybody is going to agree. And so I respect your point of view, and I surely hope that you'll respect mine."