Democrats Fight for Children's Health Care
The fight for children's health care is heating up this week, as House Democrats have one last chance to override Bush's veto.
Bush vetoed legislation that would fund and expand the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) earlier this month. CHIP is a highly successful program that makes sure poor children can receive medical care when they are sick.
Senate Democrats passed the legislation by a veto-proof margin of 69-39, but the 265-159 vote in the House wasn't enough. House Democrats need 25 more votes than they had during the first vote in order to override the veto.
You already sent almost 200,000 letters to Congress last week using our online tool, which is a great start, but phone calls would also help. Over at firedoglake, Christy Hardin Smith has the whip count and the toll-free numbers for the House switchboard.
For an example of why this bill is so important, look no further than Graeme Frost. After a serious car accident, 12-year-old Graeme suffered from severe brain trauma and lost the ability to eat or walk. He received the medical care he needed because of CHIP. Graeme bravely spoke out about the importance of the program--you can hear it here.
Comments (16) «
Thank you Democrats. We are watching your wonderful hard work in the Senate and the House.
God will Bless your works. We applaud you.
A good strategy the Democratic party can use to push health care is to equate Republicans to Ebeneezer Schrooge before the visit from the ghosts. He doesn't care about giving Bob Cratchett any health insurance that would help Tiny Tim. Then after a vist from Democratic ghosts he changes his mind and generously gives Cratchitt the insurance he needs. Then show Tim getting help and thanking Mr. Scrooge. Everyone knows the story and so it is a familiar way to frame the debate on this issue.
eagle47 - That's an awfully simplistic way to put it. There are other, more complex issues at hand such as: health insurance is NOT a right like the freedom of press is. I don't care what you think about it, the truth of the matter is that it is NOT a right. If you think it is, read the research I've done at the bottom. If you still think health insurance is a right that should be handed and paid for by the government, I'm sorry.
Another issue is: Who's going to pay for it? I know....! The rich? Right? The problem with that is that many already pay up to 40% of their incomes to the feds. And what constitutes a "rich" person in America? $60,000 a year? $100,000 a year? What's rich? Not only that, but the logical ouutcome of this is that the strain will become too great on the rich, and then the tax hikes are going to roll downhill into middle America and poor America. So, in the end, you would be voting to raise you own taxes for a government sponsored program that you may not even want. Another issue: Who is going to run the program? Another bloated government agency? Have you ever worked for the government? I do. And it moves s-l-o-w. Like a big green, lumbering machine. Health care now is fairly quick with minimal wait times. If the government takes the reigns, wait times could triple or quadruple just because the government agency has to process your request for urgent care. Are we going to have illegals covered? Who else qualifies? Foreign visitors? People who don't pay taxes (jobless, homeless people)? The present system gives health care to anyone that needs it in a quick and timely manner and saves peoples lives everyday. This system of socialized medicine will lead us down the path of long waits and people being denied health care because of government funding and or staffing failures due to government neglect and could potentially kill people. So keep hollering and crying for your government sponsored health care. It's far more than Scrooge keeping money from Tiny Tim.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9402E2DF173DF933A05752C0A961958260
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1288338,00.html
http://ichneumon.blogspot.com/2003/09/and-you-really-want-british-style.html
you should come to the rightside rushbabie, because you allready sound like one of us.
Often times, the complaint against universal health care is that it will be economically unfeasible. This study actually shows that a system of universal health care which covered all Marylanders, including the estimated 760,000 uninsured persons in the state, would actually reduce the total health spending in the state by about $345.8 million (i.e., 1.7 percent).
Rotbrains - eagle 47 is trying to keep it simple for 25-30% repugs to understand the health care problem. Anyone that is STILL proud of stealing two elections, invading Iraq on lies, ripping off the American taxpayers with "buddy" contractors and helping oil "buddies" steal from hard working Americans needs a simple message. If we can find money for the "occupation of profit" we can find money for helping more Americans. It's that simple!
The Party of values. The Party of morals This Party does not want babies to be killed in the womb. Oh no this Party waits till the babies are out of the womb and kills them by taken their health insurance away or this same Party of values waits till they are in the prime of their lives and then send them into an unnessary war in Iraq to be killed. haro
I guess the choice of someone who was already covered by this program was a mistake. I think the objection comes in with the number of children who have private insurance who would be placed on this program. My husband and I are in our 50's, make 50,000 a year and pay $500 per month for our own insurance ($5000 deductible - before ANY payment kicks in) I don't expect any help from anyone, and do not appreciate being asked to pay my tax dollars to cover kids who already have private insurance. I think we could cut back on this bill and still satisfy everyone. I don't know why someone who makes over $80,000 should get help from me.
vietnam2 - Your obviously not getting it. So, I'll make it simple, too. Socialized medicine - the way this party is proposing it - will not work. The evidence of that is found in European countries that have gone down this road already and are reaping the "benefits" such as pulling your own teeth and being denied medical service because government money isn't there. Let me ask you another question: this is the party that does not trust big government to do anything, yet you want to put your HEALTHCARE totally into the hands of big government?!?! What kind of double speak is that? You must be speaking out both sides of your mouth. I don't want it and I don't want to pay for anyone's medical bill. Why should I? Why should you?
All I ask for is a vote count to see who did not vote for over riding the Bush's veto. This way people who care about Children's health and following the teachings of Jesus would know who cares more about War,Oil and supporting this present excuse of a administration.15 months is still too long.Do not give in,continue to send bills,that Bush can veto and ask for a vote count until real Americans are sick and tired of hearing the same representatives,who are supposed to voice the views of the American people.. Thanks
America, Land of Fear?
By John Cory
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Wednesday 17 October 2007
"We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven into an age of unreason if we dig deep into our history and remember we are not descended from fearful men."
- Edward R. Murrow
They have presented us with their sinister box gift-wrapped in a thobe and ghutra tied in a bow with a chapan and pakol. And when the package loses its luster, they light the ribbon-fuse and toss the sparkling box into the air for all to see and remember and shudder. Such a lovely parcel, this box of fear; carefully packaged and marketed with shiny toys of death inside and extra coupons on the back to order more. Don't be the only kid on the block without one.
When did America change from "the land of the free" to the land of fear?
When did we become a nation afraid of tubes of toothpaste and shampoo and water bottles? Who taught us to fear brown people in all their shades? What is it that makes us fear and despise oral sex more than torture? How is it that a nation founded on revolution and free speech now cowers in "free speech zones" and trembles at every utterance of its citizens? How in the heck did we come to dread the truth from 12-year-old children?
We were a nation inspired by thought and words. Patrick Henry, "Give me liberty or give me death." Dr. King, "I have a dream." The hymns of the heart like, "We Shall Overcome." Suddenly we say "Give me less liberty so I don't worry about death." Standing on the mountaintop, we exclaim, "I have no dream." Overwhelmed by paranoia and despair, we lament, "We cannot overcome."
In the film, "Seven Days in May," a revolution is underway to overthrow the president of the United States. Behind it are members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, led by Gen. James Mattoon Scott. When fingers are pointed and the presidential adviser says it is time to face the enemy, President Jordan Lyman responds, "He's not the enemy. Scott, the Joint Chiefs, even the emotional, very illogical lunatic fringe: They're not the enemy. The enemy's an age - a nuclear age. It happens to have killed man's faith in his ability to influence what happens to him. And out of this comes a sickness, and out of sickness a frustration, a feeling of impotence, helplessness, weakness. And from this, this desperation, we look for a champion in red, white, and blue. Every now and then a man on a white horse rides by, and we appoint him to be our personal god for the duration. For some men it was a Senator McCarthy, for others it was a General Walker, and now it's a General Scott."
There have always been those who capitalize on our fears for their own power-starved greed; who gave us Manzanar, and "restricted" clubs and hotels, the Red-baiting scare and blacklists; those willing to violate the sanctity of freedom by spying on their own citizens while loudly proclaiming the need for "the right kind" of thought and expression to save the cherished American dream - who count lapel pins as patriotism.
How long ago did we lose the ability to meet and greet our friends and loved ones at the arrival gate in the airport? Do you remember? And no, it was long before 9/11.
And that, my friend, is the seditious subtlety of the politics of fear. It is never sudden, but creeps slowly into the mainstream. Small steps and small fears that acclimate us to the need for protection - from what or whom doesn't matter. It is enough to be afraid and sit quietly in the dark and wait for "them" to identify the danger and offer their warped protection.
America has always been more myth than reality, but it was that magical mix of fiction and fact that made the dream of America larger than life. We were a cross between Paul Bunyan and Paul Revere, and that was our charm. Tall tales and brash "can-do" Americanism lifted us on the swells of rising dreams all around the world.
The greatness of America was never its armies or corporate empires - it was its citizens, the everyday John Doe on the street. It was and should always be "we the people."
Immigrants came to America to be part of "we the people." They came to work, no matter how menial; it was all just a stepping-stone to the new frontier of being American. They believed in the myth and the magic despite the posted signs, "Irish need not apply" or drinking fountains labeled "Whites Only." America was Little Italy, Chinatown, Harlem and Little Saigon.
Now we have become a nation besieged by desperation. Politicians running for office sneer at us, holding themselves up as "leaders" rather than "representatives" of we the people. Demographics and demagoguery pass for political discussion, and the rubber stamp echoes through the halls of Congress. One party clutches frantically to power, while the other is smug in the knowledge that we the people want change so badly we'll probably vote for anyone but the current regime. They do not fight or stand, but choose to nod weakly while democracy passes by.
In the play "Inherit the Wind," an allegory for the McCarthy Era, Henry Drummond speaks about wicked laws and fanaticism: "I say that you cannot administer a wicked law impartially. You can only destroy, you can only punish. And I warn you, that a wicked law, like cholera, destroys every one it touches. Its upholders as well as its defiers. Can't you understand?.... And soon you may ban books and newspapers. And then you may turn Catholic against Protestant, and Protestant against Protestant. If you can do one, you can do the other. Because fanaticism and ignorance is forever busy, and needs feeding."/em>
I disagree with President Lyman above - it is not a nuclear age or terrorism, but rather the men and women of the age who determine whether the disease of dictatorship and fascism continues to infect or is killed in the sunlight of pure democracy.
America deserves better. We the people deserve better.
This will be my America and my vote: (Are you listening, Democrats?)
An end to the war in Iraq and an end to its funding. An end to the lies that kill.
A Sunday morning bathed in autumn sunlight, presidential candidates and members of Congress standing on the tarmac at Dover AFB, ready and willing to serve as pallbearers for the caskets that cradle our American pride and joy now stilled by this senseless war.
A mosque in Detroit surrounded by Christian and Muslim Americans embracing their love of GOD and rejecting the fear of GOP.
A border town bulldozing chain-link fences and reciting Robert Frost.
A multinational corporation showing up at a veterans' hospital with building materials and employment counselors and funding for those for whom duty and honor are not political marketing slogans.
A child, born in the security of never going without health care, and parents never having to choose to which of their children they can afford to give medical treatment or where they will all live after selling off house and home to pay hospital bills.
Impossible, you say? Impractical and unreal?
My friend, this is America. We have danced on the moon and scuffed the dust of Mars. We once put pen to paper and ignited a revolution heard round the world.
We are not descended from fearful men.
John Cory is a Vietnam veteran. He received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with V device, 1969 - 1970.
-------
I tried very hard to get help yesterday for Schip program and ran into a stonewall.
It seems like between the speakers office and Mr. Hoyer's office there is not very good communications. I tried for 4 hours, just to be treated with total disrespect from the Speaker's office. the biggest insult came when the asked me how much money I contribute every year.
ELECTION INFORMATION - Find Out When YOUR Primary Election Will Be Held
STATE PRIMARY & GENERAL ELECTION Voting CONTACT INFORMATION for the 50 States of the United States
Secretaries of States ELECTION Phone Numbers & Web Addresses
Alabama (334)242-7210; 1-(800)274-8683 http://www.sos.alabama.gov/
Alaska (907)465-4611; 1-(888)383-8683 http://www.elections.state.ak.us/
Arizona (602)542-8683;1-(877)843-8683 http://www.az.sos.gov/
Arkansas (501)682-5070;1-(800)482-1127 http://www.sos.arkansas.gov/
California (916)657-2166;1-(800)345-8683 http://www.sos.ca.gov/
Colorado (303)894-2200; http://www.state.co.us
Connecticut (860)509-6100; http://www.sots.ct.gov/
Delaware (302)739-4277; 1-(800)273-9500 http://www.elections.delaware.gov/
Florida (850)245-6200; 1(866)308-6739; 1-(850)245-6290 http://election.dos.state.fl.us
Georgia (404)656-2871; http://www.sos.state.ga.us
Hawaii (808)453-8683; 1-(800)442-8683 http://www.hawaii.gov/elections/
Idaho (208)334-2852; http://www.sos.idaho.gov/
Illinois (217)782-4141 Springfield; (312)814-6440 Chicago; 1-(800)527-8683;1-(800)923-8683 http://www.elections.il.gov/
Indiana (317)232-3939; 1-(800)622-4941 http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/
Iowa (515)281-5781; 1-(888)767-8683 http://www.sos.state.ia.us/
Kansas (785)296-4561; 1-(800)262-8683 http://www.voteks.org/
Kentucky (502)573-7100; 1-(800)246-1399 http://www.sos.ky.gov/
Louisiana (225)922-0900; 1-(800)883-2805 http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/elections/elections-index.htm
Maine (207)624-7736; http://www.maine.gov/sos/
Maryland (410)269-2840; 1(800)222-8683 http://www.elections.state.md.us/
Massachusetts (617)727-2828; 1-(800)462-8683 http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/
Michigan (517)373-2540; http://www.michigan.gov/sos
Minnesota (651)215-1440; 1-(877)600-8683 http://www.sos.state.mn.us
Mississippi (601)359-1350; 1-(800)829-6786 http://www.sos.state.ms.us/
Missouri (573)751-2301; 1-(800)669-8683 http://www.sos.mo.gov/
Montana (406)444-4732; 1-(888)884-8683 http://www.sos.mt.gov/
Nebraska (402)471-2555; http://www.sos.state.ne.us/
Nevada (775)684-5705; http://sos.state.nv.us/elections/
New Hampshire (603)271-3242; http://www.sos.nh.gov/
New Jersey (609)292-3760; 1-(877)658-6837 http://www.state.nj.us/lps/elections/electionshome.html
New Mexico (505)827-3600; 1-(800)477-3632 http://www.sos.state.nm.us/
New York (518)474-6220; 1-(800)367-8683 http://www.elections.state.ny.us/
North Carolina (919)733-7173; http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/
Ohio (614)466-2585; 1-(877)767-6446 http://www.sos.state.oh.us/
Oklahoma (405)521-2391; http://www.elections.state.ok.us/
Oregon (503)986-1518; 1-(866)673-8683 http://www.oregonvotes.org
Pennsylvania (717)787-5280; 1-(800)552-8683 http://www.dos.state.pa.us/bcel/site/default.asp
Rhode Island (401)222-2345; 1-(877)462-8683 http://www.elections.ri.gov/
South Carolina (803)734-9060; http://www.scvotes.org/
South Dakota (605)773-3537; http://www.sdsos.gov
Tennessee (615)741-7956; http://www.state.tn.us/sos/
Texas (512)463-5650; 1-(800)252-8683 http://www.sos.state.tx.us
Utah (801)538-1041; 1-(800)995-8683 http://www.elections.utah.gov/voterinformation.html
Vermont (802)828-2464; 1(800)439-8683 http://vermont-elections.org/soshome.htm
Virginia (804)864-8901; 1-(800)552-9745 http://www.sbe.state.va.us
Washington (360)902-4180; 1-(800)448-4881 http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/
West Virginia (304)558-6000; 1-(866)767-8683 http://www.wvsos.com/
Wisconsin (608)266-8005; 1-(866)868-3947 http://elections.wi.gov
Wyoming (307)777-7186; http://soswy.state.wy.us
« Hide Comments
Comments are now closed for this entry.
