| Benjamin Lodmell's campaign released a statement today (full text below) with some harsh -- and deserved -- criticism of Jo Bonner for his NO vote on reauthorization of the S-CHIP program. Republicans like Bonner point to S-CHIP and cry socialized medicine, taxes and government health care. Those words aren't quite as scary as they used to be. If you want to see how socialized medicine works in this country, take a look at our military and veterans hospitals and clinics. Or check out Medicare, an extremely popular, government-run, tax-funded program. This bridge is an example of what happens if we go hell-bent down the "eliminate taxes" and "drown the government in the bathtub" road. I don't see any moral ground for opposing S-CHIP reauthorization. Thankfully, Democrats like Lodmell are calling Republicans out over this unconscionable vote. Bonner is so deep in Bush's pocket, he will probably vote to uphold the veto anyway. Who will suffer if Bush's veto stands? The children of working class Alabamians will feel the pinch right away. Bonner and his ilk will have to wait until November of next year. P.S. In case you want to reward good behavior. MOBILE, October 8, 2007 – If Representative Jo Bonner has his way – and it looks like he will - the ranks of Alabama’s uninsured children will likely swell, thanks to President Bush’s veto last week of legislation calling for an expansion of the federally-subsidized State Children’s Health Care Program. If enacted, the so-called “S-CHIP” program would be paid for by an increase in federal tobacco tax.
Much to his shame, Bonner, and every other member of Alabama’s Republican Congressional delegation, voted against the five-year S-CHIP reauthorization and expansion bill that would add as many as 4 million of the nation’s 9 million uninsured children to the popular healthcare program at a cost about $6 billion a year more than the President wants.
Estimates are that if Congress fails to override the President’s veto later in the month, about 68,000 Alabama children could lose their existing health insurance and join the 75,000 kids currently uninsured in the state.
“That must be what they mean by compassionate conservatism,” Lodmell said when learning of the President’s veto.
Even if Congress eventually gives the President what he wants, it won’t be enough to even maintain the ‘ALL KIDS’ version of S-CHIP that has been operating in Alabama for ten years, according to estimates by Department of Health officials.
“That’s heartless and intolerable.”
When asked about his vote against S-CHIP, one member of Alabama’s Congressional delegation reportedly said he “didn’t join the Republican Party to raise taxes on the American people.” Point well taken, Lodmell said, “Especially when you consider how a failed Republican ideology has destroyed this country’s sense of fiscal responsibility by replacing years of federal surpluses with staggering deficits and reducing taxes for the rich while trying to fight two wars at the same time.
“It’s incredible that those who managed to increase our national debt by about $3.5 trillion since Jo Bonner and President Bush first took office can now say ‘no’ when asked to provide healthcare for children who through no fault of their own are uninsured.
“The difference between what the bill calls for and what President Bush opposes is less than 4% of the $190 billion the Pentagon asked for in fiscal 2008 to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s also a drop in the bucket compared with what Congress has been secretly sneaking into its annual appropriations bills. Which, by the way, may be the reason why Jo Bonner refused to discuss his ‘earmark’ activity with a journalist during a recent interview.
“No matter how they try to explain it away, Bonner’s vote and the President’s veto against children’s healthcare simply boggle the mind. Regardless of their new-found fiscal sanctimony, trying to make political points at the expense of poor children is just plain unconscionable.”
Lodmell declared his candidacy for the Democratic Party’s nomination early last month. Raised in Huntsville, Lodmell describes himself as the people’s representative. “When it comes to the people’s money, I’m an anti-special interest fiscal conservative,” he said. “Beyond that, I’m a pragmatic, independent-thinker with a social conscience that can bridge the ideological extremes that often get in the way of getting the people’s business done in Congress.”
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