This time around -- pressured by everyone from President Obama to Moveon.org -- the Cleveland Democrat had no luxury to dawdle before taking a stance. He just announced at a Capitol news conference that he'll vote yes on the bill's latest draft."I have doubts about the bill," Kucinich said. "This is not the bill I wanted to support. . . However, after careful discussions with President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, my wife Elizabeth and close friends, I’ve decided to cast a vote in favor of the legislation.
So now with Dennis Kucinich on board I don't think there is ANY doubt that the Democrats are going to get this bill passed this week.
And another indicator of that is the absolute frenzy that the Republicans and the Teabaggers are in as they scramble to stop what they know will be a huge advantage for the other party.
Great success!
ReplyDeleteI knew Kucinich would have liked to see the bill do more, but I didn't think his principles would allow him to vote against it knowing it could be another 15 years before a similar opportunity presents itself
Good for Kucinich. He was my first choice for president last go around. He dropped out before my state's primary, so I never got a chance to vote for him. He may seem like a pie in the sky wooly headed liberal, but damned if he wasn't 100% right about the war in Iraq from day one. He was one of the few who told the truth and he had the huevos elefante to stand up to Cheney/Bush. Imagine how much different this HCR debate would be if Kucinich were president. They'd be voting - or likely would have already have voted - on a single payer system.
ReplyDeleteKucinich has been thumped pretty hard by progressives for not being a team player. His voting record has been scrutinized and it had been pointed out that only about 3% of legislation pushed by Kucinich has actually become law, as if to show how out of touch he actually is.
I take away the opposite view from those statistics. I see a principled politician who is unafraid to do the right thing even if it is politically inexpedient to do so. There were MANY Dem Sens. & Reps. who knew that the Cheney/Bush rationale for war was 100% pure bullshit, but how many of them said so? I think that had John Kerry ran on a campaign of truthfulness about the war, he would have won. People were becoming suspicious in 2004.
As for Hillary Clinton, her milquetoast support/nonsupport for the war is why I refused to vote for her. Had she mounted a strong principled stand against the war, it might have made a difference. Instead, she did what she perceived to be politically expedient, not what was right. She is a brilliant woman, but one whose judgement I do not trust as POTUS.
Dennis Kucinich expressed many of the same doubts about this HCR that I myself have expressed. This reform is a mighty thin broth and needlessly so. President Obama foolishly took single payer off the table before the debate even began. Even if he never intended to back single payer, he should have used it as a cudgel against the GOP. As it was, he signaled the weakness of his bargaining position right from the start.
I will hold out hope that Kucinich and other liberal stalwarts such as Wiener and Grayson will not be content to sup on this meagre fare and that they will demand greater sustenance from meaningful reform such as a truly robust public option or even eventually, single payer.
Dennis Kucinich is a man of honor who has consistently been unafraid of taking on the bullshit merchants in DC. Instead of isolating him, President Obama should have been listening to him when crafting HCR.
FINALLY! Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now let's get this done.
ReplyDeleteA good man with great ideas! May he see his goals be a part of future legislation. Thank you Congressman Kucinich!!
ReplyDeleteI just attended a Pro Health Care rally. It was well attended, and made me feel like I was doing something good. I urge every one to attend one in their own area and to write or call there elected officials. There were some tea baggers at the rally as well, and I was horrified to see the ones that were carrying confederate flags. What is up with that?? Seemed racist to me.
ReplyDeleteHere is my idea for jump starting single payer: Devise a single payer program that totally bypasses the health insurance industry for all federal employees incl military. The goal is to reduce govt. costs and the deficit. Offer entrance to the fed program to all state and local governments who also have to cut costs. If it saves money, it will be successful and will set a good example. It must be mandatory for all feds incl. members of congress who cannot have any other coverage or supplemental coverage.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dennis Kucinich!! I know this is not the health care bill that we wanted, but we do have to start somewhere. I don't think it would be worth the loss in November if nothing was passed after all this time and effort. That is exactly what the Rethugs' game plan all along was. Weak tea indeed is their beverage now.
ReplyDeleteI heartily second themom's post above:
ReplyDelete"A good man with great ideas! May he see his goals be a part of future legislation. Thank you Congressman Kucinich."
jk
This bill gets our foot in the door of universal care. We have to chip away. i would love to toss out the insurance companies, but that was never going to happen.
ReplyDeleteBravo Dennis!
"Welcome to Health Care for All Pennsylvania. We are a 501(c)(3)/(c)(4) nonprofit whose purpose it is to both educate citizens about the Single Payer Solution in Pennsylvania, and to see that the 'Family and Business Healthcare Security Act of 2009' becomes the law of Pennsylvania so that ALL of our citizens are guaranteed quality, comprehensive, affordable, single-payer medical care.
ReplyDelete"The Constitution of the United States provides a central mission statement: that the government --our government -- shall provide for the 'general welfare' of our citizens. Seen much of that lately? Well, neither have we. That's why medical, legal, academic, business, farm, labor, and religious communities have come together: to fight for passage of universal, publicly-financed, privately-provided, top-notch healthcare for every citizen of Pennsylvania."
http://healthcare4allpa.org/
PA has a high unemployment rate and needs more employers. Some are smart enough to see that, not only do they need universal health care, but also that the state that solves the problem of high health care costs for employers will attract them to locate there. I believe that's generally referred to as free market competition. Southern "welfare" states that have attracted (foreign) auto manufacturers to locate there have made themselves competitive in an entirely different way - by giving huge state subsidies to the corporations, banning unions to assure low wages, and making up the states' budget shortfalls with Federal tax monies. In the end, we all subsidize them to make them more competitive against our own states. Not only does that support a system unfavorable to their workers, but ultimately it subverts the interests of all workers in all states. The two models represent very different philosophies - in PA, a Progressive, sustainable model that benefits workers, and in the south, the model of unsustainable Republican corporate welfare floated on the backs of workers. I encourage you to investigate the PA approach - we are not helpless to solve the health insurance problem, and we do not have to sit around and wait for the "wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry", aka, the Republican party, to get out of our way. The current health care legislation sucks, but it will do good things for some people. Perhaps it's biggest impact will come from opening eyes and minds to the simple fact that things don't have to be the way they are, and inspiring some creative solutions that circumvent Corp-gressional obstruction.
If you think that passage to the health care bill will cure all the ills of or health care bill system you will be sadly disappointed. Most of you want this benefit, but are you ready to pay the true cost of that benefit. The federal government never gets the cost estimates right and you have to accept that the true cost of the bill will be much more expensive than the President is telling us.
ReplyDeleteThe federal government is going broke and the health care bill will be just another nail in the coffin. The federal government is not the answer to our problems, they are the cause. The social security system is about to start cashing the IOU's that have been accumulated over the years as the government borrowed the receipts as fast as they came in.
Whether you realize it or not, tax increases are on the horizon. Every time the government spends more money than it take in, you just had a tax increase, you just haven't paid for it. There are two facts in taxes. There are the taxes which the government imposes on us and the other is the level of government spending. At the rate the President is spending money, the day of reckoning will be sooner than later.
Be careful what you wish for.
THANK YOU KUCINICH!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe need more like you!
Talk it up!
Kucinich, your wife is a stunning beauty.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Dennis for supporting this, and I guess kudos to you too for your wife....2 decades younger and a foot taller!
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised with her in his life he has any time to spend on his job at all!
Snark off.
Anon @ 12:01
ReplyDelete"Be careful what you wish for."
Well, aren't you just the lucky, happy little camper.
Fact: I am 62 years old
Fact: I was laid off from my job a year ago last January after twelve years of continuous work with the same company related to the housing industry.
Fact: My former employer not only found it necessary to lay me off, but also 10 others at about that same time.
Fact: My former small business employer provided health insurance for any employee who wished.
Fact: Payment for the last medical treatment that I received while still covered by insurance was denied by my insurance carrier.
Fact: I drew unemployment and earnestly searched and am still searching for new employment.
Fact: In the interum, I ultimately was forced to file for early social security retirement benefits.
Fact: I had a heart attack eleven years ago, after shoveling two feet of snow from around my car so that I could go to work.
Fact: Five years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer, required surgery and radiation treatments.
Fact: I am too young to qualify for medicare.
Fact: Because of pre-existing conditions, the cost of health insurance is beyond my means.
Fact: I am unwilling to sell my small, modest home, 1999 car, etc. so that I would have no assets and therefore qualify for medicaid.
Fact: As a result of this situation, that I have not brought upon myself, I have not had the required follow-up care for my heart or the breast cancer for over a year.
Fact: If you have a job and health insurance at this moment, you are a very fortunate American.
Fact: Tomorrow, you may not be so fortunate.
Fact: If I, God forbid, become ill and require medical treatment, I will not have the money required to pay for huge medical bills.
Fact: The hospital will offset my medical expenses by charging the next insured person more.
Fact: One way or the other, you and those like you will be paying toward the medical bills for the millions like me.
Fact: I am not a recent immigrant. All my family lines go back to and before the American Revolution. A significant number of my ancestors fought in the Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, etc. Yes, I am a "real"
American.
Fact: Because of your post, I gather that you don't have a compassionate bone in your body.
Fact: Forget about me, because of your post, I gather that you care more about the dimes in your pocket and the dollars in your bank account than you would for your own grandmother, if she stood in my shoes.
Conclusion: Since you don't think a complete overhall of the current system is a feasible idea, then, maybe you wouldn't mind if I just went for a check up and had my family physician bill you.
Please post your mailing address for me and those like me so that our medical bills can be sent directly to you, instead of your being disturbed by the idea of a comprehensive Bill being passed by Congress to safeguard the whole of the American people.
signed:
Shame on you
P.S. Be careful what you wish for--I recommend that you be careful driving and standing on tall ladders--oh, and cross your fingers that you have inherited perfect genes...any one of these things could result in your requiring medical assistance and may ultimately give you a much needed reality check.