This editorial appeared in yesterday's Decatur Daily. Of course, they don't want people to read it, otherwise they would allow it to be seen without subscribing to the paper on the web site. For your benefit, I have typed it out. I hope they don't mind.
Often I change key points to bold type, but if I did it here, the entire column would be bold. So just read it with that in mind.
Sunday, December 27, 2009 The Decatur Daily
Rep. Griffith joins the party of 'no'
We like our representatives in Congress to have their fingers on the pulse of their constituents. Maybe U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith has been watching too much Fox News Channel.
It didn't take long for Griffith, R-Huntsville, to pick up the GOP talking points.
"We're watching (Democrats) pass a health care bill that basically two-thirds of Americans are saying, 'Don't pass it; leave it alone,' and they're completely ignoring the American people at their own risk," Griffith said Tuesday at a press conference announcing his jump to the Republican Party.
In fact, Fox News - the channel where news producers were caught on camera cheerleading at a Washington, D.C., "tea party" rally opposing health care reform - is about the only place where one hears that kind of rhetoric recited as fact and sees hourly loops of House Minority Leader John Boehner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell or former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin saying that many Americans oppose health care reform.
Yet, a majority of Americans voted for Barack Obama for president - in large part because he promised to reform health care. Just because a minority of Americans took to the streets, hijacked town hall meetings and received disproportionate media attention during Congress' August recess does not mean the national mood has changed.
By now, the GOP talking points are all too familiar: The bills comprise too many pages; nobody has read them; the program is too expensive; Medicare will suffer; government bureaucrats, not doctors and patients, will be making medical decisions; "death panels."
Griffith says health care reform will take America down "the wrong track." Yet the Huntsville physician, of all people, does not tell us specifically what is wrong with the proposed legislation.
No Republican has presented a serious alternative to the unacceptable status quo, where those who have insurance subsidize health care for 30 million Americans who do not.
Here is what we do know about the proposed legislation: It would end the insurance company practice of denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. It would slow the rate of health care inflation. It would prohibit the use of federal funds for abortions.
Most important: It would extend health insurance coverage to at least 30 million Americans who now have none.
According to the rhetoric, not a single Republican believes those changes are good for the American people.
The truth is that Republicans cannot politically afford for President Barack Obama's No. 1 domestic priority to succeed - even if that means trying to kill a measure that would benefit everyone.
Rep. Griffith: Welcome to the party of "no."
The Year of Moving Forward
At our 4 person wedding reception in DC
9 comments:
No, a majority of Americans boted for Barack because he was BLACK. No demo has yet to explain HOW they are going to PAY for this reform. And yes, it will extend health care coverage to many Americans who don't want to go out and get a job to pay for their insurance.
Would you teabaggers quit spreading those lies? Please?
I voted for Obama because he stood for the principles I believe in. Those are the principles of the democratic party.
My partner did the same. We both were Hillary supporters for the same reason, when it was clear he would be the nominee, we supported him, not because he was black (neither was she, by the way) but because he stood for the same values.
Most, like 98% of the black people I know, support and vote democratic. Their support was there before he became the nominee, so they did not vote for him because he is black. It just so happens, like any good black man (or woman, or white person) he believes in equality, in reaching out to those less fortunate, in preverving the earth, in health care for all, in peace when possible, and in the common good of humanity.
We did not care what color he is.
If you read the house and senate plan, you can see that there are two proposals for paying. they will come up with one,probably a compromise of sorts but the possibles are out there.
Read; and educate yourself, Jackie.
thats pretty sick to imply that those who dont have insurance are not willing to work. there are plenty of those who work where insurance isnt offered and those who are willing to work but there isnt a job ... everyone whois uninsured by far is not in that situation by choice. there are those whose insurance has been dropped because of their illness and those who are 'uninsurable ' because the have an illness.
these are people...real people...mankind as much as you are . if you really think they deserve to suffer for their misfortune it is a sick way to think. i doubt you really think that. i suggest that you might be against anything at all that was proposed by pres obama.
It is not an implication. It is real. And if you don't believe it, you aren't living in the REAL world. You guys need to 'get out' some and listen to the talk on the streets. Those in the lower income brackets are LOVING this. It means FREE INSURANCE at a cost (higher taxes) to the RICH man. It is what the Democratic Party has become. These aren't lies Joe, it is the truth. Your problem is you believe everything you hear on liberal news and call it 'research'.
Lipscomb may want to respond to this, but I can speak for both of us on part of it. We do get out. We do speak to people on the streets. In the art community, the science community, the medical community, the black community, the gay community, the parenting community, the kids community and more.
The lie I was referring to was the one about the majority voting for Obama because of his race. I explained the truth.
I see no problem with the "rich" paying a little more to help fund this. I, myself would be willing to pay more, like, say in Denmark, for the services they provide regarding health care and education.
See, I believe everyone should be entitled to all the education they want, independent of their financial status. Why should only the wealthy be educated? I know, there are scholarships and programs for the underpriveleged, but those only go so far.
But I have learned over the years that republicans like to keep only themselves educated, so they can get the higher paying jobs.
Uh, oh, you got me started...
So you think the rich should be FORCED to pay more, right? They shouldn't have a choice? That, my friend, is NOT the kind of Government we are suppose to be.
As for the election, do you not remember all of the syndicated black radio hosts like Baisden, Joiner, and Harvey ENCOURAGING their audiences to help elect the first Black president. It had NOTHING to do with the issues. It had to do with skin color. How SAD.
Jackie,
My partner is "forced" to pay property tax to fund schools even though he has no children. Should he not have a choice?
We have to pay into medicare to help fund health care for the elderly. Should we not have a choice, and if so, would you choose to deny them health care?
We are forced to pay taxes to fund health care for veterans. If given the choice, would you deny them?
I have a friend in New York who does not drive. She is forced to pay taxes for upkeep of the roads. Should she have a choice?
I pay property tax in Bessemer, a portion of which funds the library. Should only members have to pay that tax? I don't get a choice, whether I use the library or not (actually I am a member).
And can you not understand this concept. A black radio host who wants a president that believes in what he does, and when a candidate comes along with those principles, and happens to be black, then encouraging his black listeners to vote for him, and in addition to getting a president that will work to end an unjust war, help preserve our planet, work for health care reform, etc, and as a bonus, we can get our first black president and show the world how far we (well, some of us) have come.
There is nothing wrong with that.
It is not as "black and white" as you think.
Bad examples, Joe. All of them. Sure people pay taxes. But they are all the same. They are not based on how much money the property owner makes, but on the value of the property. All of the tax money we pay, goes to roads and schools, etc. While your friend in NY may not drive, those roads are used to pick up her garbage, deliver her mail, deliver her pizza, and pick her up should she have an emergency. But to propose a plan where people who make more money are taxed at a higher rate to pay for healthcare for those who have no job is wrong.
Jackie is right on the money. There are people who will take advantage of this system, people who have NO INTENTION of working, who COULD in fact purchase their own healthcare, but choose not to. I am all for helping someone when they are down, but his is political. And it is wrong.
And it will indeed bankrupt this country. There is no way this plan will work.
Guys, this healthcare crap is so screwed up. It is full of pork, it is not applied equally to every state, and it is going to run our national debt past the point of no return.
This is the biggest joke of legislation I have ever seen. On a positive note, it will mean the demise of Obama as president. No second term for this guy. NO WAY.
Hopefully we can make it a couple of more years.
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