Dem Rep Receives Threat Over NASCAR Proposal

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/02/after-taking-on-nascar-dem-rep-is-threatened-document.php?ref=fpb

Evan McMorris-Santoro | February 17, 2011, 1:30PM

Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) alerted Capitol Police Thursday after a threatening fax arrived at her office attacking her proposal to strip Pentagon sponsorship from NASCAR teams.

McCollum's staff tells TPM this is the first time they've alerted the police about a threat made against here office since the health care debate.

"Yo, Slut Betty," the fax, which arrived at McCollum's DC office Thursday morning, reads. "Shut Your Phucking Pie Hole!"

The fax then goes on to say that "without exception, Marxists are enemies of the Constitution" and "Death To All Marxists, Foreign And Domestic!"

Read the threatening fax, obtained exclusively by TPM, here. Warning: document contains extremely offensive language.

Team McCollum told TPM that they alerted police as soon as the fax arrived, and have yet to hear back from the department. McCollum's office does not know who sent the fax, or where it was sent from.

"We alerted Capitol Police this morning after we got the fax," Maria Reppas, communications director for McCollum, said. "We leave it to them to determine the threat level for pieces of correspondence such as this."

McCollum's proposal seeks to ban the military from spending taxpayer money on racing sponsorships. Currently, the Army sponsors a car in the NASCAR's Sprint Cup series to the tune of about $7 million per year.

McCollum contends that money -- which NASCAR says helps boost Army recruiting -- is wasted.

Since announcing the proposal, McCollum's office has received more than a few calls from irate NASCAR fans upset at what they perceive as a slight against their sport.

"We've had calls," Bill Harper, McCollum's Chief of Staff, told TPM. "Lots of Mississippi people, North Carolina people. We had a Florida person."

Asked what the callers say, Harper replied, "'Get your hands off my NASCAR', mostly."

Harper said he found it "ironic" that McCollum's amendment, which he said is the exact kind of government waste-cutting the new Republican majority has championed, is riling up NASCAR fans to the point of calling McCollum's office.

"We've heard innumerable times that the Republicans were elected to send a message from the people that we should stop spending money," he said. "And yet the people who sent that message want us to spend $7 million for a sticker on a NASCAR."

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