1002: In which I Rail at a Death Warrant
This Congressional term, George III has signed numerous tax breaks and spending bills. But now he vetoes (only his fourth veto, ever) the amendment of a program that gives millions of low-income (read: poor, poverty-stricken, disenfranchised, needy) children health coverage (read: the means to live, along with the "right to life"). The bill would have increased the program's funding by 35 billion dollars across five years by raising the federal tax on cigarettes to a grand total of $1. In effect, a good deal. People slowly killing themselves help to fund the health care of the poorest children in the country. But the President says only a $5 billion dollar increase is desirable, and that to give the program extra money would be "bringing us closer to socialized medicine." Bullshit. Ever heard of a morality tax? Or a vanity tax? You seemed pretty well in favor of them as governor of Texas. So why not tax smokers to rescue kids from disease and life-threatening injury?
Compassionate conservative my ass. I kind of want to kidnap you and force you to look on as a child dies of leukemia, because his parents can't afford the bone marrow transplant that would possibly save his life.
Culture of life my ass. How can you justify spending another 42 billion dollars immediately on a war that siphons off the decreased tax revenue, by saying we are protecting our children by "taking the war to the terrorists," when you're the one assisting parents in watching, impotent, while their child dies of a terminal illness, all because you thought a 61-cent increase to a tax on a commodity was socialism?
Perhaps I'm being dramatic. So what? When children are involved, I get touchy.
You heartless hypocrite. You can't manage the budget, so you take it out on the kids. The most vulnerable of children in this world, in your dream market economy where the entrepreneurs are incentivized and the indigent strangled. You're a social darwinist by another name, Mr. President, and I spit on all your highly touted morals.
I should probably mention something, for those of you from countries that care about their citizenry, about the American health care system. If you're in an accident, or need immediate medical care for some other trauma, hospitals are required by law to treat you. Well, to keep you from dying right away. But when long-term treatment is at issue, even if it's a potential cure, you've got to show your ability to pay for the treatment before you can be treated. It pretty much tramples the Hippocratic Oath, but it's the system. Medical care is expensive, and someone's got to pick up the tab. Free market health care for the free market economy. The program whose increased viability President Bush vetoed on Wednesday "is a joint state-federal effort that subsidizes health coverage for 6.6 million people, mostly children, from families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford their own private coverage" (AP).
Furthermore: "Of the over 43 million people nationwide who lack health insurance, over 6 million are under 18 years old. That's over 9 percent of all children." (AP)
43,000,000 people who have no health insurance, neither private nor Medicaid/Medicare.
6,000,000+ are minors.
Here are the total populations of the countries and states I know contain people who read this journal.
The Netherlands: 16,570,613 (2007 est.)
Australia: 20,434,176 (2007 est.)
England: 49,138,831 (2001 census)
Scotland: 5,062,011 (2001 census)
Wales: 2,903,085 (2001 census)
Northern Ireland: 1,724,000 (2005 est.)
Belgium: 10,392,226 (2007 est.)
Commonwealth of Virginia: 7,642,884 (2006 est.)
Minnesota: 5,167,101 (2006 est.)
Scary numbers, the uninsured, right?
Compassionate conservative my ass. I kind of want to kidnap you and force you to look on as a child dies of leukemia, because his parents can't afford the bone marrow transplant that would possibly save his life.
Culture of life my ass. How can you justify spending another 42 billion dollars immediately on a war that siphons off the decreased tax revenue, by saying we are protecting our children by "taking the war to the terrorists," when you're the one assisting parents in watching, impotent, while their child dies of a terminal illness, all because you thought a 61-cent increase to a tax on a commodity was socialism?
Perhaps I'm being dramatic. So what? When children are involved, I get touchy.
You heartless hypocrite. You can't manage the budget, so you take it out on the kids. The most vulnerable of children in this world, in your dream market economy where the entrepreneurs are incentivized and the indigent strangled. You're a social darwinist by another name, Mr. President, and I spit on all your highly touted morals.
I should probably mention something, for those of you from countries that care about their citizenry, about the American health care system. If you're in an accident, or need immediate medical care for some other trauma, hospitals are required by law to treat you. Well, to keep you from dying right away. But when long-term treatment is at issue, even if it's a potential cure, you've got to show your ability to pay for the treatment before you can be treated. It pretty much tramples the Hippocratic Oath, but it's the system. Medical care is expensive, and someone's got to pick up the tab. Free market health care for the free market economy. The program whose increased viability President Bush vetoed on Wednesday "is a joint state-federal effort that subsidizes health coverage for 6.6 million people, mostly children, from families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford their own private coverage" (AP).
Furthermore: "Of the over 43 million people nationwide who lack health insurance, over 6 million are under 18 years old. That's over 9 percent of all children." (AP)
43,000,000 people who have no health insurance, neither private nor Medicaid/Medicare.
6,000,000+ are minors.
Here are the total populations of the countries and states I know contain people who read this journal.
The Netherlands: 16,570,613 (2007 est.)
Australia: 20,434,176 (2007 est.)
England: 49,138,831 (2001 census)
Scotland: 5,062,011 (2001 census)
Wales: 2,903,085 (2001 census)
Northern Ireland: 1,724,000 (2005 est.)
Belgium: 10,392,226 (2007 est.)
Commonwealth of Virginia: 7,642,884 (2006 est.)
Minnesota: 5,167,101 (2006 est.)
Scary numbers, the uninsured, right?