What do Republicans have against the 9/11 responders?

Posted: December 21, 2010 | Author: | Filed under: legislation, U.S. Politics | Tags: | 9 Comments

There’s going to be a lot of lumps of coals left in a few people’s stockings this christmas.  It sure is a shame that the voters can’t do more to idiots like Tom Coburn.  He didn’t earn the nickname Dr. No for nothing!

New York Democrats hoping for quick action on a bill to give health care compensation to ground zero workers are about to run into Tom Coburn.

The Oklahoma Republican senator and physician — known in the Senate as “Dr. No” for his penchant for blocking bills — told POLITICO on Monday night that he wouldn’t allow the bill to move quickly, saying he has problems with parts of the bill and the process Democrats are employing.

Another Republican, Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi, said he had concerns with the measure and that it should instead move through the committee process.

“I’m not trying to fight it; I’m trying to get it right,” Enzi said. “There are 30 things that ought to be changed real quick in committee but very difficult on the floor. To finish a bill at this point of time, we’re not going to be able to amend it.”

The bill — offered by New York Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer — would give compensation to first responders who fell ill from the toxic dust from the collapse of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

We just got through giving huge tax breaks to folks that don’t need it and some that have even stated they don’t want it and yet we can’t help any of our fellow citizen’s in need.  I just don’t get it at all.  You may recall that Minx has mentioned that Shep Smith has taken this on as a personal cause.  The Business Insider is reporting that he’s naming every single Republican who refused to speak to him over this bill.  He’s invited them to his show to explain why they’re not supporting the effort.  Jon Stewart has personally made appeals for the bill on his show too.  Stewart brought on first responders who were dying from their exposure to toxic materials doing their 9/11 duties.  Smith just got Pataki and excuses instead of Republican Senators.

Instead he got former Gov. George Pataki, who offered a very brief, very faint concession that the GOP has raised ‘valid questions’ before agreeing that, yes, it should get passed.  “This is the right thing to do.”

But that wasn’t enough for Shep who noted it that took Jon Stewart bringing on 9/11 First Responders, “people who are dying,’ to get this done.  And then this:

“Thank God this didn’t happen down in a place like New Orleans where they don’t have a lot of media to run around and take up for themselves and where Sen. Gillibrand [his previous guest] and Gov. Pataki don’t have microphones in their backyard cause then it might have worked out differently.”

We’ll undoubtedly get problems showing up from the BP Oil spills down here.  We’ll see if we can get similar attention when that happens.  Meanwhile, why can’t we take care of these public servants?  Because some one wants to hold a meeting and give a few speeches?

Interestingly enough, a committee hearing was held on the bill in June.  Coburn sits on the committee so he should know about it.  I will add that Former Arkansas Mayor Mike Huckabee and former NY Mayor Guiliani support the bill.

Last night on Fox’s Red Eye, former Republican Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee urged the Senate to pass the bill immediately, telling the moving story of a friend of his from Texas who volunteered to come to New York City after 9/11, spent a year working there, and is now dying from cancer he contracted while on the job. “There are people who need medical care right now, and frankly, the clock is running out on them. Their lives are fading away, even as we sit here talking about it,” Huckabee said.

Likewise, former Republican New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani urged Congress to pass the bill straight away, noting the heroism these first responders showed in days and weeks after 9/11.