Tuesday, October 16, 2007

The Countdown Is On

Now that Baby Boy Bush has waged a war on America's children, we are now left to wait and see how many Republicans are willing to stick with their lord of darkness despite the fact at least 70 percent of Americans support the increased funding for SCHIP. Let's just ignore the fact that the people elected to Congress are supposed to represent the people. And let's just ignore the fact that SCHIP does not cover all children that are from families that can't afford health insurance or preventative health care. And let's just ignore the fact that these people running the country have not known what it is like to struggle financially and have rocks in their chests instead of hearts. Obviously, the concept of being a "compassionate conservative" is bullshit.

The reality is, that when people don't have health insurance the cost of health care goes up for everyone. There are many individuals and families that have to make the choice to pay their rent and bills and buy food instead of luxuries like health insurance and preventative health care. I guess those assholes up in D.C. wearing their fancy suits don't get this dilemma that millions of Americans face. People that can't afford to go to the doctor have to wait until it is so urgent that they have to go to the emergency room. This is their best option because the hospital has to take them even if they can't afford to pay for it. But I guess taxpayers picking up the tab for this is a much better alternative than helping people get medical care before it becomes urgent and more expensive. But let's be real clear about this, SCHIP insurance is no treat. Very few doctors take it and if your child has a serious medical condition you can forget about finding a specialist that takes that kind of insurance. But at least it helps pay for medicine and catastrophic care. And when you don't make enough money to pay all of your bills, you certainly can't afford to buy medicine for your child.

So why don't the Republicans want to increase SCHIP? Because they are afraid of nationalized health care. Honestly, I'm not sure I want this government to run anything, but making sure we have healthy kids is a good thing. Healthy kids do better in school which makes them more likely to grow up into productive adults. This can only be a good thing for our economy. Isn't that what drives the Republicans? But maybe the Republicans are trying to solve the social security problem by making sure future generations don't live long enough to collect. But the fact is that the Republicans are proposing an increase that wont even cover all the kids that are currently eligible for SCHIP. There is no risk of the increase of SCHIP funding that was vetoed by Bush will lead to anything that is like a government run health care system. So, if you live in one of the 159 congressional districts that is representatives that voted against kids, you should give your representative a call or an email and tell them how much they suck. Do it now. Help Congress override the veto.

Do you want a breakdown of the vote click here. I learned that 21 Geminis voted against SCIP. You can learn such useful things at washingtonpost.com!

Here are the 8 Democrat House members that voted against SCHIP:
Dan Boren, Kathy Castor, Bob Etheridge, Baron Hill, Dennis Kucinich, Jim Marshall, Mike McIntyre, Gene Taylor

Here are the 151 Republican House Members that voted against SCHIP:
Robert Aderholt, Todd Akin, Rodney Alexander, Michele Bachmann, Spencer Bachus, Richard Baker, J. Gresham Barrett, Roscoe Bartlett, Joe Barton, Judith Biggert, Brian Bilbray, Gus Bilirakis, Rob Bishop, Marsha Blackburn, Roy Blunt, John Boehner, Jo Bonner, John Boozman, Charles Boustany, Kevin Brady, Paul Broun, Henry Brown, Ginny Brown-Waite, Michael Burgess, Dan Burton, Steve Buyer, Ken Calvert, Dave Camp, John Campbell, Chris Cannon, Eric Cantor, John Carter, Steve Chabot, Howard Coble, Tom Cole, Michael Conaway, Ander Crenshaw, John Culberson, Geoff Davis, David Davis, Nathan Deal, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart, John Doolittle, Thelma Drake, David Dreier, John 'Jimmy' Duncan, Terry Everett, Mary Fallin, Tom Feeney, Jeff Flake, Randy Forbes, Jeff Fortenberry, Virginia Foxx, Trent Franks, Rodney Frelinghuysen, Elton Gallegly, Scott Garrett, Phil Gingrey, Louie Gohmert, Virgil Goode, Bob Goodlatte, Kay Granger, Sam Graves, Ralph Hall, J. Dennis Hastert, Doc Hastings, Robin Hayes, Dean Heller, Jeb Hensarling, Peter Hoekstra, Kenny Hulshof, Duncan Hunter, Bob Inglis, Darrell Issa, Sam Johnson, Tim Johnson, Walter Jones, Jim Jordan, Ric Keller, Steve King, Jack Kingston, John Kline, Joe Knollenberg, Randy Kuhl, Doug Lamborn, Ron Lewis, Jerry Lewis, John Linder, Frank Lucas, Daniel Lungren, Connie Mack, Donald Manzullo, Kenny Marchant, Kevin McCarthy, Michael McCaul, Thad McCotter, Jim McCrery, Patrick McHenry, Buck McKeon, John Mica, Gary Miller, Jeff Miller, Marilyn Musgrave, Sue Myrick, Randy Neugebauer, Devin Nunes, Ron Paul, Stevan Pearce, Mike Pence, John Peterson, Chip Pickering, Joe Pitts, Tom Price, Adam Putnam, George Radanovich, Thomas Reynolds, Hal Rogers, Mike Rogers, Mike Rogers, Dana Rohrabacher, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Peter Roskam, Edward Royce, Paul Ryan, Bill Sali, Jim Saxton, Jean Schmidt, Jim Sensenbrenner, Pete Sessions, John Shadegg, John Shimkus, Bill Shuster, Lamar Smith, Adrian Smith, Mark Souder, Cliff Stearns, John Sullivan, Tom Tancredo, Lee Terry, Mac Thornberry, Todd Tiahrt, Timothy Walberg, Greg Walden, Zachary Wamp, Dave Weldon, Jerry Weller, Lynn Westmoreland, Ed Whitfield, Roger Wicker, Joe Wilson

5 comments:

mad said...

What's particularly offensive is how the wingnuts on the right have attacked that 12-year-old boy and his family over this issue. Makes you sad to be an American.

Unknown said...

This is despicible!How is the Shrub kidding? Un insured children is just the tip of the iceberg. My husband and I are among the thousands who have no insurance. Hence we do not go to the doctor.I have a son -in-law who works for the Agriculture department doing some kind of work regarding loans. They don't have ins on their two boys, one of whom may have developmental issues. They have to wait until their SCHIP kicks in so they can have him evaluated. So much for the government.

pineapple said...

mad: that kid is 12, shouldn't he be able to pay for his own health insurance by now???

jill: this makes me sad. My One True Love has no insurance. His daily hospital bills and collection notices for his emergency health care are very stressful. The republicans are hateful and should be forced to live like the rest of us to see what life is really like.

Anonymous said...

Yes, we do want children that are healthy and that can grow up into productive adults. However, the underlying ideology of this bill implies it is the government's job to raise america's children. There must be some personal responsibility built within the system that enforces parents to take care of the children that they chose to have. As a medical student, I have seen the parents of Medicaid children and they do not appear the least bit impoverished. I am generalizing, but these parents who "cannot afford health insurance" have no problem affording the latest cell phones, shoes, and designer shoes for themsleves and their children. It is not right for hardworking American taxpayers to budget their money and deny themselves certain luxuries so that their tax dollars can enable irresponsible adults to have a free ride. This is not good for our country. Furthermore, I can assure you that no children are being denied medical care

pineapple said...

never said I was compassionate and SCHIP actually relies on private insurance so get over your fear of nationalized healthcare.