Iowa Defense Alliance

An alliance of Iowans determined to defend traditional Iowa values.

Senator Harkin Dismisses the “Small Stuff”

This morning I awoke to find that Iowa Senator Tom Harkin has once again demonstrated the elitism that he has cultivated during his career in the US Senate. In an interview on CBS this morning Senator Harkin defended the intensely unpopular health reform legislation moving through the US Congress. Even more disgusting was his defense of the use of taxpayer money to bribe skeptical Senators into supporting bad legislation. If there was ever a demonstration of the problems plaguing our government this was it. If you haven’t had the opportunity to watch the interview please take the time to do so now.

It was just days ago that Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson capitulated in what has become widely known as the Cornhusker Kickback. This was a deal that provided the state of Nebraska with millions in taxpayer funded earmarks in exchange for his support of the Senate version of the health reform bill. With this acquiescence Senator Nelson became the latest in a long list of sell outs that put their political well being ahead of the nations well being.

I did a little poking around to find out what is included in this bill. In my search I found an unlikely ally in my desire to kill this bill, the liberals at the Huffington Post. And in actuality I can agree with some of their complaints about the bill. For instance if this bill were to make it into law Americans may have to pay up to 8% of their income on insurance, even if they do not want to. If an American refuses to purchase insurance they could be fined up to 2% of their annual income. The plan would be funded by taxes on middle class insurance plans effectively causing more hardships than they would save. Or how about the fact that if the bill passes the taxes would start now, but the plan itself wouldn’t start until 2014.

And despite the widespread discontent with this impending disaster, the elitists like Harkin continue their pathetic attempts to peddle the bill as a “Christmas present” for the country. The attitudes of Harkin and his career politician cohorts are emblematic of the problems infesting Washington DC. We must do everything within our power to kill this bill if we are to preserve some semblance of the free nation we once were.

December 22, 2009 - Posted by Al Bregar | Abregar, Politics | , , , , ,

8 Comments »

  1. FROM TOM HARKIN:
    “What we are buying here is a modest home, not a mansion. What we are getting here is a starter home. It’s got a good foundation: 30 million Americans are covered. It’s got a good roof: A lot of protections from abuses by insurance companies. It’s got a lot of nice stuff in there for prevention and wellness. But, we can build additions as we go along in the future. It is a starter home. Think about it in that way.”

    “A lot of nice stuff”… and as this “stuff” becomes public
    knowledge more and more people will find out how truly DISGUSTING the bill really is.

    America needs protection from the abuses being heaped upon us by greedy and self serving Senators like Iowas own Tom Harkin.

    Comment by callmecrusader | December 22, 2009 | Reply

  2. Huffington Post is a great blog, no?

    I wonder if Nelson’s deal will be unconstitutional as a violation of equal protection of the laws. I hope so. I think I agree with Lindsey Graham about that.

    But Harkin’s right—it’s really not much different from other log-rolling that goes on. Remember when DeLay kept the House roll call going for 3 hours one night while he cut deals to get the last vote he needed? That was also about expanding health insurance—Bush’s Medicare drug coverage known as Part D

    Comment by Jerry | December 23, 2009 | Reply

    • The Huffington Post certainly does not lack for competent and talented writers. What they do lack for the most part is common sense.

      Comment by Al Bregar | December 23, 2009 | Reply

  3. ‘Legislative Assiphexholes’

    http://lwdewhirst.wordpress.com

    Comment by lwdewhirst | December 23, 2009 | Reply

  4. I would like just one liberal to show me where in the Constitution it says that health care is a right.

    Comment by conservative dad | December 23, 2009 | Reply

    • It’s not a Constitutional right. It ought to be a human right. Many other nations seem to think so. They take care of each other better than we do.

      Maybe that’s because they can afford to do it and we can’t since we spend all our wealth on militarism and they don’t.

      Comment by Jerry | December 23, 2009 | Reply

  5. Jerry every individual has access to the best health care in the world. The problem is that far too many people value personal luxury items such as big screen TV’s and fancy cars than they do their own health.

    And I don’t know if you have done much research on the subject, but the founders of our nation laid the rights that we have as citizen’s of the United States. They felt that these rights were natural rights. Health care is not a natural right. It is a privilege to be earned.

    Comment by Al Bregar | December 23, 2009 | Reply

  6. You are contradicting yourself, saying both that everyone “has access” and that it’s a “privilege to be earned.”

    If one lacks the money, one lacks access under your view. I lack access to Warren Buffet, for example.

    Back when the nation was founded health care was a subject for quacks and witches, not doctors. Modern health care began after bacteria was discovered in 1880s. So the founders were clueless about this.

    Nowadays we mostly believe health care is a human right. It’s in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights we signed in 1948:
    “Article 25
    Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”

    Comment by Jerry | December 24, 2009 | Reply


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