Thursday, August 2, 2007

Talk about hypocrisy!


Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert got his undies in a bundle the other day at the mere thought that his colleagues might pass legislation that would expand federal health insurance for children of the working poor.

"It's government-paid health care," sniffed Hastert. "It's a bad bill..."

This is the same Dennis Hastert who, as a member of Congress, enjoys government-paid health coverage that provides for unlimited doctor visits, no deductibles and no co-pays. Oh, wait. The government doesn't pay the whole tab. Hastert has to come up with $35 a month.

The bill Hastert so strenuously opposed passed the House 225-204 on a vote that was mostly along party lines.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why do elected government officials also get lucrative pensions when just about all private businesses have done away with them? If members of congress and the state legislature are serious about serving the people and cutting government deficits, this should be item one. But I haven't heard one word about it. Abboud should challenge Manzullo on this. Then we'd really see how much of a "taxpayer's friend" the incumbent is. Of course Manzullo might just support doing away with pensions during the campaign and then change his mind once re-elected. Sound familiar?

The Rascal said...

Hey, did you see my post of a day or two ago about the buzz that Manzullo might not run again? Supposedly, there was something about it on RollCall.com, but I don't have a subscription to that site.

Henry said...

It always grinds me when I hear Republican politicians rail against 'socialized medicine'. It is such an old saying, as if this was 30 years ago when 'socialized' meant the same thing as 'communist'. And if you believed in something 'socialized' then you had to be a communist. I'm not sure how many federal, state and local government employees there are in this country, but it's got to be in the millions, and they are covered by government paid insurance. It's not as if this system doesn't already exist. What the hell is wrong with Republicans. I don't see how anyone could be against health care for poor kids? Oops, I forgot, it's 'socialized'.

The Rascal said...

Henry: It reminds me of what someone (I forget who) once said about "socialism for the deserving rich and free enterprise for the undeserving poor."

The Rascal said...

By the way, Mr. Baseball, it would take too long to explain what happened, but your response to my mention here of the rumor about Manzullo perhaps not running again can be found in the comments on my post of Wed., Aug. 1, headlined: "Might Manzullo not run again?" It would be too much bother to replicate your reply here. Sorry.