Tag Archives: U.S. Senate

Same lies, different week.

September 22, 2017 – 10:41 am

They’re back.

Lawmakers in the U.S. Senate are trying to take away health care from the Americans they represent. Again.

The newest effort, the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson proposal, or Graham-Cassidy, as many are calling it, is pretty much the same effort that failed earlier, in a different package. I guess the only thing different about this one is that this time, four guys are actually stupid enough to attach their names to it.

But the basics of the bill are the same as others: Remove Affordable Care Act subsidies and replace them with block grants. Nice idea, but it really never works. And even if it sort of works, it only works on a state-by-state basis. So the truth is that, best case scenario, many patients in many states would have significantly reduced access to care. Even less access to care than before Obamacare was passed.

The bill also proposes to defund Planned Parenthood (again). Like I’ve said before, you can’t do that without saying to millions of American women that breast cancer screenings and other preventative procedures aren’t important to you. That’s a hard sell.

The bill also states that it will “protect patients with pre-existing medical conditions”. Well, excuse, me, but I already have that protection today. This bill doesn’t promise anything new on that, except the assertion that this “protection” they speak of would also come with significantly increased premiums for people living with pre-existing conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and yes, pregnancy.

Senator Lindsey Graham, in repeated interviews, has stated that I don’t have to worry, that I would still be able to purchase insurance if this passes. Hey, look, I can still purchase a $120,000 Tesla, but I can’t afford it. This is the same thing: Making health care a luxury product, rather than a right for all Americans.

It still comes back to the same thing for me. If a “repeal and replace” bill can’t offer at least the same access to coverage, at the same cost, as the Affordable Care Act does today, it’s going to be a non-starter for Americans. Especially since half or more of us live with those pre-existing conditions.

We’re tasked once again with defending our right to health care. Contact your elected officials right now. Once again, American lives are at stake.

DOWNLOAD THE DPAC APP on your Apple or Android device –
Use it to contact your elected officials and encourage them to vote No on Graham-Cassidy.
Your voice matters… and you can speak it to your elected officials in less than one minute using the DPAC App.

By StephenS | Posted in Advocacy | Also tagged , , | Comments (2)

So many questions. Damn few answers.

June 27, 2017 – 9:18 am

They represent the residents of their states in the United States Senate.

– They must be at least 30 years old.

– They must be a U.S. citizen for at least 9 years.

– They must be an inhabitant of the state they represent.

As a citizen of my country, I have a right to expect that members of the United States Senate are serving the people they represent. All of the people they represent, whether those people voted for them or not. I mean, how many of the corporations spending money to help them get elected are actually domiciled in their states, right?

After a lot of closed door scheming, the Senate majority leader decided it would finally be okay to release the onerous upward-wealth-distribution-disguised-as-healthcare legislation he intends to have a vote on this week. On the surface, it would seem that the party in power might have trouble getting the necessary 51 votes to pass their death sentence to Americans. They only have a 52 to 48 seat majority, plus the Vice President available to break any ties, if necessary. That means if they have 3 defectors on this legislation, they won’t be able to pass it.

But… obviously, stranger things have happened in politics, especially in the past year or so. The majority is not taking any chances. They are working hard, maybe harder than they worked on the legislation that they’re trying to ram down people’s throats, to change the minds of the five or so GOP senators who are Nos at this point.

Well, I don’t have to be the second coming of Alexander Hamilton to know that this is not how American democracy is supposed to work. I don’t have to be the second coming of Edward R. Murrow to know that American citizens have the right to know what their elected officials are up to, and what they stand to gain from turning their backs on American values. I don’t have to be the second coming of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to see that not only partisanship, but racism is alive and well in the U.S. Senate.

I have a lot of questions. Why do they think that saving money should be the only criteria for what they’re doing? If your child is sick, aren’t you going to do whatever you can to help them feel better, regardless of the cost? Why doesn’t congress feel this way? Why is there a wealth distribution toward the already excessively rich tied to health care?

Additional questions include: What are they so afraid of? Why must it be rushed through to a vote? Why do these Republican senators hate the Americans they represent so much?

To be honest, I think they hate the previous president more than they hate me. They really hate the previous president. You and me, they couldn’t care less about.

Why else would they want to take away pre-existing condition protections? Why would they want to subject hospitals, care facilities, and Americans like you and me to potential bankruptcies? Why would they want to kick veterans off of Medicaid?

We’re left with a lot of questions, and damn few answers.

But I know a way to silence those questions. That would be by stopping this hateful, un-American legislation. If these senators could just set aside their hatred, and in some cases, their racism toward the previous president, we would be left with only one question:

How do we make health care better?

That’s a goal that every American would be happy to support. Including this American.

DOWNLOAD THE DPAC APP on your Apple or Android device –
Use it to contact your elected officials and encourage them to vote No on BCRA.
Your voice matters… and you can speak it to your elected officials in less than one minute using the DPAC App.

By StephenS | Posted in Advocacy | Also tagged , | Comments (0)
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