10.06.07
All they want to socialize is killing
Before the August recess, Rep. John Carter called S-CHIP “a slow stroll down the road to socialism”. Since that time he found himself on the wrong side of a 265-159 vote on passage of the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007. Joining Carter in rejecting the needs of our sick children were Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth), 16 other Texas Republican representatives and Sen. John Cornyn. This week, Pres. George W. Bush sided with the 37% of the House, 31% of the Senate, and 25% of Americans polled by ABC News and the Washington Post, in vetoing the S-CHIP reauthorization.
The rebuke of this popular program has been called “spectacularly dumb,” “infuriatingly bad policy,” and “inexplicable.” The President defended his veto on Wedensday:
“You say, that’s fine, sounds good, all these programs sound wonderful. Except how are you going to pay for it?” Bush asked a crowd of some 400 people at the invitation-only event.
“The answer is, raising taxes. And I think they’re wrong to raise taxes on the American people. I know we don’t need to raise taxes on the American people,” Bush said to applause.
The Republican candidates for President fell in line with Bush‘s ideological stance. Republican Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani subtly re-invoked the pedestrian anti-socialized-medicine metaphor: “It is not just a beginning, it’s a big step in the direction of government-controlled medicine.”
The Republican argument, in a nutshell is “socialism bad.” Yet, the federal government spends $657.3 billion (FY 2008) on the Social Security Administration, a program whose widespread popularity is rooted in its success at ending the blight of senior citizen squalor that tore at the fabric of this nation 60 years ago. Today, nearly 50 million people receive financial support from the SSA, about one-sixth of all Americans.
On the other hand, there is consistency in the ideological arguments against socialism when one considers the President’s past misguided attempts to privatize the SSA. Rep. Carter was a foot soldier in that battle as well, although his famous 2005 quote blaming SSA budget shortfalls on “people having these abortions and using birth control” did not exactly bolster the President’s case.
It seems the only human activity that Republicans believe ought to be socialized is war. The National Priorities Project estimates the total cost of the Iraq War now exceeds $457 billion. Yet John Carter continues to support the war and oppose S-CHIP. Carter’s priorities seem to have more to do with his estimated $2.5 to $3.4 million personal stake in ExxonMobil than with the working poor families in Williamson county who fear their children’s fever more than terrorists.
Please contact John Carter and ask why continuing to keep our soldiers in the line of fire for unfettered access by American corporations to Middle East oil is an acceptable socialized program, and S-CHIP is not. Can’t we afford to spend one-thirteenth as much on a program that directly helps children in working poor families?
Eye On Williamson certainly hopes our Congressman will come before the citizens in district 31 to answer for his positions. In the meantime, please call his Washington office at (202) 225-3864, his Round Rock office at (512) 246-1600 or his Temple office at (254) 933-1392 and urge him to reverse his position and vote to override President Bush’s veto of HR 976.
remerson said,
October 6, 2007 at 2:57 pm
The thing is that John Carter is the Godfather of central Texas politics; he controls with the same level of power and capacity for retribution as any mafia don. Lower-level Republicans in our area carry water for Carter, just as Carter carries water for the Bush agenda. (Take a look at local issues that seem outrageously irrational—and follow the money. BigDaddy watches out for his buddies. And the media is subject to his retribution because of the advertising money he influences and the projects he controls. This is reality, and it is sickening. But it is real.)
Neither Bush nor Carter is educable or trainable; the only answer is their removal. We need to focus our energies on that task. Bush is a done deal; Carter can be toppled with the right candidate and a whole lot of money to overcome the special interest funding that he commands. It won’t be easy; it is essential.
Texas Liberal said,
October 6, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Excellent title to this post.