Showing posts with label 9/11 Responders Bill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 9/11 Responders Bill. Show all posts
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
GOP Senator Tom Coburn To Block 9/11 Responders Bill
Tuesday, December 21, 2010 by Huffington Post
by Nick Wing
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) plans to block legislation that would provide additional aid to cover the health care costs of 9/11 first responders, one of the senator's aides told The Wall Street Journal Tuesday morning.
Senate Republicans have opposed the measure, also called the Zadroga bill, first over concerns that it would take precedence over a plan to extend the Bush tax cuts -- a deal that has since been reached -- and now due to issues with the cost-control measures and $7.4 billion cost of the legislation. That money would go toward covering the medical bills of 9/11 emergency workers who have suffered from health complications following the inhalation of toxic chemicals at Ground Zero.
The current offset proposal would enact three small taxes and fees that are meant to target companies that rely on outsourcing jobs in order to provide goods and services. Coburn said Tuesday, however, that he wants the offsets to come through spending cuts, and would prefer to see the legislation reach a floor vote through committee, rather than being fast-tracked, an action that has been taken to allow a vote on the bill to come before the end of the session.
Support for the measure had apparently been growing before Coburn's announcement. New York Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, two of the bill's sponsors, both claimed Monday that the bill finally had the votes to pass. That contention appeared to be supported by the recent comments of a some of key Republicans who had encouraged a Senate détente in order to send the package through to the President.
On Tuesday, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani became the latest name on that list.
"This should not be seen as a Democratic or Republican issue. It shouldn't even been seen as a fiscal issue. This is a matter of morality, it's a matter of obligation," Giuliani said on an appearance on a local Fox affiliate.
And last week, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said that "every Republican should vote for this bill."
Current New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent, also urged the Senate to reach an agreement, saying Monday that the "time for excuses is over."
by Nick Wing
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) plans to block legislation that would provide additional aid to cover the health care costs of 9/11 first responders, one of the senator's aides told The Wall Street Journal Tuesday morning.
Senate Republicans have opposed the measure, also called the Zadroga bill, first over concerns that it would take precedence over a plan to extend the Bush tax cuts -- a deal that has since been reached -- and now due to issues with the cost-control measures and $7.4 billion cost of the legislation. That money would go toward covering the medical bills of 9/11 emergency workers who have suffered from health complications following the inhalation of toxic chemicals at Ground Zero.
The current offset proposal would enact three small taxes and fees that are meant to target companies that rely on outsourcing jobs in order to provide goods and services. Coburn said Tuesday, however, that he wants the offsets to come through spending cuts, and would prefer to see the legislation reach a floor vote through committee, rather than being fast-tracked, an action that has been taken to allow a vote on the bill to come before the end of the session.
Support for the measure had apparently been growing before Coburn's announcement. New York Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, two of the bill's sponsors, both claimed Monday that the bill finally had the votes to pass. That contention appeared to be supported by the recent comments of a some of key Republicans who had encouraged a Senate détente in order to send the package through to the President.
On Tuesday, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani became the latest name on that list.
"This should not be seen as a Democratic or Republican issue. It shouldn't even been seen as a fiscal issue. This is a matter of morality, it's a matter of obligation," Giuliani said on an appearance on a local Fox affiliate.
And last week, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said that "every Republican should vote for this bill."
Current New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent, also urged the Senate to reach an agreement, saying Monday that the "time for excuses is over."
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Fox News Won't Admit That Republicans Voted Against 9/11 Rescue Workers
Leslie Savan - December 13, 2010
On Fox & Friends this morning, Fox News legal analyst Peter Johnson Jr. launched into a passionate attack on “Congress” and “the US Senate” for killing health benefits for 9/11 rescue workers. “Last week, Congress told them they could drop dead,” Johnson said, to the mournful chords of September Song. “Shame, embarrassment, outrage, anger—all the proper reactions to the conduct of our senators who…have turned their back on American heroes.” Worse, they’ve been betrayed by the same “politicians who couldn’t take enough pictures with them.” Right on, Peter.
But in his three-and-a-half-minute rant, Johnson didn’t once mention who in Congress could be such heartless hypocrites. The 57-to-42 vote was three short needed to break a filibuster, as every Republican voted against even bringing the bill to a vote, and every Democrat but one voted in favor (Harry Reid had to switch his vote for arcane procedural reasons). “People like me on TV are sometimes practiced at outrage,” Johnson said (in a rare bit that described Fox’s basic technique), “but the injustice of this makes words hard to come by.”
Especially the word “Republican.” For anyone working at the Roger Ailes–led media arm of the GOP and Tea Party, speaking that word in such a negative context would be like shouting “Voldemort” in the halls of the Ministry of Magic. Better to let viewers assume that both parties are equally guilty—or even that Republicans, whom Fox has so thoroughly associated with American heroes, are innocent. And for that, the proper reaction to Fox News’s conduct is shame, embarrassment, outrage, anger.
You can watch the performance here.
On Fox & Friends this morning, Fox News legal analyst Peter Johnson Jr. launched into a passionate attack on “Congress” and “the US Senate” for killing health benefits for 9/11 rescue workers. “Last week, Congress told them they could drop dead,” Johnson said, to the mournful chords of September Song. “Shame, embarrassment, outrage, anger—all the proper reactions to the conduct of our senators who…have turned their back on American heroes.” Worse, they’ve been betrayed by the same “politicians who couldn’t take enough pictures with them.” Right on, Peter.
But in his three-and-a-half-minute rant, Johnson didn’t once mention who in Congress could be such heartless hypocrites. The 57-to-42 vote was three short needed to break a filibuster, as every Republican voted against even bringing the bill to a vote, and every Democrat but one voted in favor (Harry Reid had to switch his vote for arcane procedural reasons). “People like me on TV are sometimes practiced at outrage,” Johnson said (in a rare bit that described Fox’s basic technique), “but the injustice of this makes words hard to come by.”
Especially the word “Republican.” For anyone working at the Roger Ailes–led media arm of the GOP and Tea Party, speaking that word in such a negative context would be like shouting “Voldemort” in the halls of the Ministry of Magic. Better to let viewers assume that both parties are equally guilty—or even that Republicans, whom Fox has so thoroughly associated with American heroes, are innocent. And for that, the proper reaction to Fox News’s conduct is shame, embarrassment, outrage, anger.
You can watch the performance here.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Lame-as-Fuck Lame Duck Congress Screws 9-11 Responders
Led by the Republicans--the party that truly understands 9-11? The bit at the end, the last minute or so is brilliant.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
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