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Isn’t it
funny how eight years can make a difference in your life? In 1999, the
economy was strong; the federal budget showed the greatest surplus in
history and the jobless rate was down. Fast forward eight years and we
find a totally different picture. The economy teeters on the brink of
collapse, we now have the greatest deficit in history and jobs are hard
to find.
Working class Americans have seen an all out assault during President
Bush’s tenure in the White House. Real wages are down, health care
cost is up, energy costs have gone through the roof and opportunities
for working class virtually evaporated. The Department of Labor has been
transformed from an agency that looks out for the welfare of workers,
to another cog in the corporate machine attacking workers. Republicans
shout about how Democrats “tax and spend.” Well, the President
and his ill advised tax cuts to the wealthy and his war in Iraq have emptied
the coffers in Washington. As a result, the availability of services from
the government has virtually disappeared. 
Recently Bush once again cast a blow to working class families with the
veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program bill. This
bipartisan bill is a joint state-federal effort that subsidizes health
coverage for 6.6 million people, mostly children, from families that earn
too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford their own private
coverage.
Bush cast the veto under the pretence that it moves our country toward
socialized medicine and pushes the cost of the program to high. The legislation
would cost $35 billion over four years and add four more million children
to the program. The bill passed the Senate by enough votes to override
a veto, but the House was 15 votes short. Of the 43 million Americans
who are uninsured, over six million or nine percent are under the age
of 18.
While the President insists the veto is his detest for the thought of
governmental backed medical coverage for all. However, the truth could
be a darker reason. In 2000 tobacco interest pumped $6.7 million into
the Republican Party’s 2000 campaign and another $2.6 million in
2006.
What does that have to do with it you may ask? The plan for funding the
program is where the problem lay. The bill called for a dollar a pack
tax increase on cigarettes to cover the cost of the program. This tax
would most certainly impact sales of cigarettes.
The President had said he would support a bill that cost $5 billion, but
not the $35 billion price tag on this proposal. The cost of the program
would cost about $20 per U.S. citizen, per year. This was a program that
was widely supported by the American public that Bush is sais no to. For
comparison, the War in Iraq which has little public support is averaging
$400 per citizen, per year. While the President refuses $35 billion over
five years for State Children’s Health Insurance Program, he is
willing to spend $120 billion PER YEAR on a war this country’s citizens
overwhelmingly don’t want.
Estimates conclude that EVERY DAY we spend enough money in Iraq to insure
200,000 children for a year.
Another thing to consider is that every child covered by a governmental
health care program is one less child on the roles of an insurance company.
70 years ago private insurance plans didn’t even exist and today
they are one of the most profitable enterprises around. Insurance companies
exclude anyone with a preexisting condition, reducing their liabilities
while raising profits. Studies show that each year 18,000 Americans die
because they can’t afford quality health care. That is a sobering
number.
A good portion of the profits made on health insurance is spent in political
action to insure continued returns through legislation that benefits these
companies. Reports show insurance companies spend about $87 million a
year in lobbying, with 69% of that going to Republicans.
A loophole in the tax codes that allows billionaires in the hedge fund
industry to pay just 15% on the income could more than pay for the plan.
The bulk of these hedge fund moguls income is the result of capital gains
so they only pay 15% income tax while we working class folks are taxed
between 28 and 35% for our income. The rational behind a lower tax code
for capital gains is this is money made off of investments that people
have already paid taxes on. But, if your entire income is based on capital
gains then you pay half the tax rates that average working class folks
pay. If hedge fund managers were required to pay the standard rate on
their income, it would result in six billion dollars more taxes collected.
This could pay for health care for children, build schools, fund training
programs for those who have lost their job through the failed economic
policies of the past or be used to provide services to the millions of
Americans who are currently struggling to survive under the current administration.
While the current Republican candidates are trying to distance themselves
from the President, they are still working out of the same play book.
They oppose any type of governmental supplemented health care, feel that
Social Security should be stopped, oppose public schools and are interested
in escalating this war in the Middle East that most Americans oppose.
For the working class to survive, a change of direction is needed now.
We must elect candidates that will represent our interest in Washington.
The rich already have enough friends there.
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