Today, the Senate health committee approved legislation expanding insurance coverage to nearly all Americans, becoming the first congressional panel to make a move on President Obama’s health care plan. House Democrats released their proposal for health care overhaul yesterday.
Truth be told, I’m not all that jazzed for Obama’s proposal. He conceded necessary reforms too soon by starting with his “public option” plan instead of a complete overhaul. A single-payer system would be change I can believe in (even if most congresspeople do not). Obama should have asked for more than what he knew he could get (single-payer) and worked from there, rather than beginning in the middle and working rightward.
But what’s done is done. What threatens us now is the attack on reproductive rights. Abortion opponents are promising to throw a wrench into the reform process by refusing to support a bill that does not exclude coverage for abortion services. Republican Senator Tom Coburn said, “The rest of the people in this country should not be paying for [abortion] services through their tax dollars.” Nineteen House Democrats have informed Speaker Nancy Pelosi that they will not support a bill that includes abortion funding. They are effectively insisting that the Hyde Amendment – the Medicaid abortion ban – should apply to the potential public health insurance plan. Women who currently have abortion coverage could lose it, and poor women would suffer the most.
“The next step in this logic will be to require anybody seeking these services to walk to the clinic, lest they use federal highways, supported by federal highway funds,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat. Hm, why haven’t the anti-choicers thought of that? I don’t want my own tax dollars spent to lock people up for non-violent drug offenses, or to bomb Iraqi cities, or to help old men get better, longer-lasting boners. I do want the public health care option to cover the full range of reproductive health services for women. Women deserve nothing less.
Guess what, Tom Coburn? ALL of us pay for tons of government-mandated/funded shit that we don’t like/approve of. I personally don’t think I should have to pay your salary and benefits, for example.
But the men need long-lasting boners so they can induce the pregnancies that women should never terminate! It’s just common sense and good for America!!!
Looking for who the 19 are…not having any luck…
Not at all a fan of this here health care overhaul.
Here they are – if you live in one of them is YOUR representative – PLEASE write!
Reps. Dan Boren (D-OK); Bart Stupak (D-MI); Colin Peterson (D-MN); Tim Holden (D-PA); Travis Childers (D-MS); Lincoln Davis (D-TN); Heath Shuler (D-NC) Solomon Ortiz (D-TX); Mike McIntyre (D-NC); Jerry Costello (D-IL); Gene Taylor (D-MS); James Oberstar (D-MN); Bobby Bright (D-AL); Steve Driehaus (D-OH); Marcy Kaptur (D-OH); Charlie Melancon (D-LA); John Murtha (D-PA); Paul Kanjorski (D-PA); and Kathleen Dahlkemper (D-PA).
Thank you TVille!
I don’t live in PA anymore but if I did I’d be writing Kanjorski. LOTS of PA reps up there, grrrr.
yup. I am not psyched about this plan. at all. I guess its better than nothing, but, idk, I wanted more of a real overhaul. I know thats really really hard, I get that. but…thats their job, you know?
Don’t we all pay for abstinence-only sex ed?
Any economist (or somebody who’s heard the argument) want to explain to me why they didn’t get rid of tax breaks for employee packages? I mean yeah, middle class tax hike, etc., but wouldn’t that just get rid of any market distortions and push people toward the public plan, which will (hopefully) be cheaper?
@BearDownCBears – http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/07/taxing-rich-politically-smart-way-to.html
@all – Along this theme of refusing to pay taxes, apparently Sen. Grassley has taken this one step further and endorses the thought that people should pull a Thoreau and just stop opening their pockets to the government if the plan includes abortion funding.
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/15/grassley-taxes-abortion/
I heard this reported on NPR and nearly had a conniption. Thanks so much for that list, I will be calling and giving them my opinion “as a Catholic swing voter” as I always identify myself. Sure, I’m swinging between Dem and Green, but they don’t have to know that right?
Oh…nice proof read there…I hate when my grammar makes me look like a doofus on the interwebs..
Shoulda read, “If one of them is YOUR representative.”
Right…
@baraqiel: Yeah, and it’ll pay for less than half of it. Can’t wait to see what those entitlement “savings” are going to be to fund the rest of it.
@J.D.: So you’re a member of the Catholic Swinger’s Party, eh? I hear the caucuses get pretty heated. (wokka wokka)
Sarah, you nailed it when you said that Obama didn’t ask for enough. He’s shown himself to be overly willing to compromise (i.e., give away rights and benefits to those who put him into office so everyone will like him).
Abortion is health care. We need to let the Democrats know that no plan is acceptable without complete, unfettered access.
I kind of want to hug Sheldon Whitehouse right now. He’s so sensible! SarahMC, I love that entire last paragraph. Sums up what I’d like to say to Tom Coburn pretty much every day.
[...] for your ideas. Who is the new boss? The “new pro-lifers.” They include people like the nineteen Democrats who oppose abortion funding in the new health care bill. They fancy themselves [...]