By Cliff Montgomery – Dec. 8th, 2009
Senate Republicans who are opposed to any kind of public health-insurance option for you hope to requiremembers of Congress and all essential members of the Obama Administration to join such a plan.
We can only assume this example of GOP rhetorical hubris is meant to make it appear as if every lawmaker fora public option is afraid to have such an option for themselves.
But lawmakers backing a public option are gleefully latching onto this idea.
An earlier, more narrow version of the amendment–proposed by Republican Senators David Vitter (R-LA) andTom Coburn (R-OK)–quickly turned into a joke on Friday as numerous Democrats worked to make the GOPamendment a reality.
For instance, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) told The Hill that he had hoped to lend his backing to theamendment, but was rebuffed by frustrated Republicans.
A spokesman for Sen. Coburn claimed that Sen. Brown was welcome to join the amendment drive…but thatRepublicans were so busy, they just couldn’t find the time to send a reply to the Ohio Democrat.
Sen. Brown, as well as Senators Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Al Franken of Minnesota, stood on theSenate floor and proudly stated that unanimous consent should be added to the GOP amendment. Therequest was swiftly approved.
Such drives simply reveal Republican lawmakers’ stunning lack of honesty when it comes to the health carecrisis in America. Otherwise, they would acknowledge that all members of Congress–Democrats andRepublicans alike–have enjoyed their own health insurance public option for years.
The late Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts made a habit of pointing out this obvious hypocrisy fromAmerica’s most conservative congresspeople.
In Memphis, Tennessee on December 9th, 1978, the senator gave an excellent speech which touched on thisissue at a health care workshop sponsored by the Democratic National Committee:
“We’ve got national health insurance for members of the Senate and House of Representatives,” saidKennedy.
“They give their speeches and cast their votes in Congress. And then they go out to Walter Reed ArmyHospital or Bethesda Naval Hospital for the free medical and dental care that Uncle Sam provides,” he added.
“That isn’t fair. If national health insurance is…good enough for Congress, then it is good enough for everyAmerican citizen in every city, town and village and on every farm throughout this land,” declared Kennedy.
It’s a conservative hypocrisy which continues to this day. Need a concrete example? Representative Roy Blunt(R-MO) freely enjoys the benefits of his public-run health care system.
During his tenure as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Blunt has opted to have at least twohighly-involved medical procedures of his own performed at Bethesda Naval Hospital, via the government-runhealth care service provided to members of Congress.
Rep. Blunt’s medical procedures were not delayed. They were not denied. They were not rationed. And Blunthas a personal net worth of up to $1.6 million, according to OpenSecrets, a leading political watchdog group.Hence he has no monetary need to use this publicly run health care system.
Representative Roy Blunt freely chose this government-run option because he knew he could trust it with hislife, and because it was much less expensive to boot.
Other conservative lawmakers who happily use the government-run health insurance program ofCongress–but tell you it would be pure horror if you enjoyed the same benefits they’ve enjoyed foryears–include Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Senator George Voinovich, (R-OH), Senator Kit Bond (R-MO),and even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
If that high-quality, inexpensive service is good enough for America’s millionaire conservative lawmakers, it willbe good enough for you and your family.
So we at the American Spark offer a counter-proposal for America’s conservative lawmakers: Give up yourown generous government-run health insurance program, spend the next few years paying the same bloatedprices for health care that average Americans now are forced to pay, then come back and lecture everyone onthe “evils” of a public option.
