Kennedy Responds To Reports That Administration Will Deny Treatment To Immigrants With Cancer

WASHINGTON, DC-- Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, released the following statement in response to this morning's New York Times story detailing Medicaid's decision to deny chemotherapy to illegal immigrants with cancer.

"It's unbelievable that in a single week the Bush Administration says it will veto health care for poor children and now will deny chemotherapy for immigrants with cancer. These are not questions of dollars and cents but of life and death affecting millions of real people. These are the decisions of an Administration utterly out of touch with the nation's values."

Comments

[tommygolstch]

11:12 AM on 09/23/2007

Good. Let Kennedy pay for all of the ILLEGAL immigrants.

[LadyXoc]

10:18 AM on 09/23/2007

I wouldn't worry overmuch. Big Pharma will make sure that they can sell chemotherapy at inflated prices via Medicaid to this cohort, too. Just wait till the lobbyists have had their say.

[osage]

09:37 AM on 09/23/2007

Why is it that this hateful and evil president has not yet been IMPEACHED? What are the Democratic leaders waiting for? Do they want to STOP HIM or are they just too COWARDLY to DO WHAT'S RIGHT because their POLITICS are more controlling than their MORALITY? How can they ALLOW him to get away with this?

[calirighty]

02:51 AM on 09/23/2007

Bravo. Finally someone on the left who can read a Bible. Too bad you don't understand what it is you just posted. Who was Jesus talking to? What was he talking about? Was he talking to individuals or was he talking to a government? Was he talking about using your OWN money and resources or was he talking about taking from tax dollars? If you don't understand the difference then you need to read the Bible again, as you apparently missed it the first time. Yes, Jesus said to take care of the poor. And the sick. And the widows. But he was speaking about INDIVIDUAL giving. Not government giving. I also find it so strange that the same people who criticize Bush for failing to take care of ILLEGALS fail to say anything about the leaders of the countries where these people come from. Let THEM pay for THEIR sick.

[lippp]

06:11 AM on 09/23/2007

So your Jesus thinks it is ok for a government to ignore helping dying people? Uh, that's, well, ignorant and stupid.

[ThomasDoubting]

02:08 AM on 09/23/2007

This reminds me of the time about 20 years ago, or so, when the Reagan administration argued that catsup was a vegetable, at least as it applied to the school lunch program (french fries and catsup, qualified as two vegetables)Beating kids out of a bunch of broccoli, or a spoon full of peas, or a tomato slice, seems representative of the Reagan administration. As bad as he was for America, this guy, Bush makes Reagan look almost compassionate. Only a Republican could be so cold, as to refuse to help a fellow human being, who is probably dying. For a government agency to pay for treating some and refuse to pay for treatment for others, who are also begging for it, sounds to me like something out of Nazi Germany. I believe that this is a natural progression of what I consider to be "Bare Knuckles Capitalism". Reagan brought us the homeless, people living in the streets, while Bush is bringing us people dying in the streets.

[maxy]

09:01 PM on 09/22/2007

Somewhere in my reading: In every sadist is a masochist. Does that mean you will willingly accept a darker race as your sadist? No. White people will only let other white people continuously abuse them like GW Bush is doing to this country. Bottom Line, you could end this nonsense if you really wanted to. Now your Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter, the congress and the lot will accept this type of abuse. This is expected, paychecks and raises, etc. I gave people credit for intelligence which I should have reserved it.

[Stokes]

08:55 PM on 09/22/2007

The fruit is filled with worms. Because of vanity. Vanity has pursued these wise-men. They look not beyond themselves. Oh but they say, "we give to the poor. We make jobs for them." But when the poor make them rich their donation is but a pittance out of their abundance. Without these poor workers the wise-men would never have abundance. Greed has taken them over. Caste it down sayeth the Lord your God or you will perish. Do you have no fear of Eternity? Who has made you think that all is well with your soul? You are white-washed sepulcres whose tongues will be on fire if you don't change your ways. Sayeth the Lord, I am coming to judge the whole earth.

[ezrider]

08:50 PM on 09/22/2007

Kinda shows and confirms what kind of man bush is doesn't it.

[accountability]

06:57 PM on 09/22/2007

SO:
He is born again, he "believes in the Bible" and he looks to a different father for guidance? Do I have that right?
What about this doesn't he understand?

Matthew 25:34-46

34 "Then the King will speak to those on his right. He will say, 'My Father has blessed you. Come and take what is yours. It is the kingdom prepared for you since the world was created. 35 I was hungry. And you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty. And you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger. And you invited me in. 36 I needed clothes. And you gave them to me. I was sick. And you took care of me. I was in prison. And you came to visit me.'

37 "Then the people who have done what is right will answer him. 'Lord,' they will ask, 'when did we see you hungry and feed you? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you as a stranger and invite you in? When did we see you needing clothes and give them to you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40 "The King will reply, 'What I'm about to tell you is true. Anything you did for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

OOPS. too many words.

[accountability]

06:58 PM on 09/22/2007

section 2

41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'You are cursed! Go away from me into the fire that burns forever. It has been prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 I was hungry. But you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty. But you gave me nothing to drink. 43 I was a stranger. But you did not invite me in. I needed clothes. But you did not give me any. I was sick and in prison. But you did not take care of me.'

44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty and not help you? When did we see you as a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison and not help you?'

45 "He will reply, 'What I'm about to tell you is true. Anything you didn't do for one of the least important of these, you didn't do for me.'

46 "Then they will go away to be punished forever. But those who have done what is right will receive eternal life."
=======================================
Seems damn clear to me!

I'm not big on the hell fire and eternal damnation part... It wasn't really a part of the Jewish tradition that Jesus sprang up from. It was only added later (from what I remember) I am assuming for control purposes. YET... I find myself thinking well maybe it is true for those who believe it. Like if you are the criminal, you say you believe this stuff, so if you go against the very thing you profess, maybe you will experience hell. just a thought. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy!
This teaching is the crux of all of it. Just this. Pretty frigging simple. What doesn't he comprehend?

[roxie]

06:48 PM on 09/22/2007

To deny any one the health care they need in order to live is not christian . The meaning of christian is Christ like. Does any one seriouly consider this administration Christ like.

[accountability]

06:25 PM on 09/22/2007

What kind of Christian is he? What scriptures does he read?
Who the hell wrote his bible? What sect does he belong too?
Does he understand one thing about who he professes to believe in and what he was about?
There is not a day that goes by that we aren't assailed with even more to be aghast at.
This is scary to say, but I remember Buddhist monks setting themselves on fire to protest the Vietnam war back then. I was always so horrified and in some odd way fascinated... what did they see, experience that would bring them to the point of self-sacrifice to make the point, to hope that the vision of their immolation would somehow make a positive impact . I could not understand how someone could do it... besides my thinking it was nutsw, the courage it took to sit there, light the match and continue sitting while burning is beyond comprehension.

But I understand the desire now.
It started after Katrina... Thinking that there is nothing we can do to touch these people, what? what act would make them understand how sick they are, their policies are and I flashed on those monks. And I got it. Since there is not one thing that could be done, since for all intents and purposes we are powerless, held captive by mad men... what can make a statement big enough?

Nothing. Nothing can move someone this sick.

I used to say... way back that he, cheney, and rummy were the anti-christ in 3 part human form.
I become more convinced.

[mikep]

05:26 PM on 09/22/2007

"Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee"

Someone should point out that since Kennedy has been chairman of this committee no areas of the country have gotten worse than health, education, labor and pensions. All of these areas are in abysmal shape, and it is, IMHO, a direct result of his management. He is the most incompetent member of Congress by far. 45 years in congress and he has done nothing but mouth endless platitudes. Absolutely nothing. What a wretch. The fact is that he isn't even remotely capable of holding down the office he's in, and the one and only reason that he's there is because of his family name and money.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

03:16 PM on 09/22/2007

"Kennedy Responds: "Unbelievable""

Of course he can't believe it. He's a lace curtain Irish whose policies of favoring a greater flood illegal immigrants to drive down wages is at odds with the reality that there are not enough U.S. workers with sufficient income to pay for the unlimited health care of 37 million illegal aliens.

Although the MSM has long touted that there are supposedly 11 to 20 million illegal aliens, that range of numbers is an old one. It's continued to climb year after year.

Senator Kennedy, if you want someone to pay for health care of illegal aliens, send the bills to Mexico and any other country which has sent them here.

In the meantime, give them some of your money.

[Ravenlea]

04:52 PM on 09/22/2007

Lace curtain Irish? You sound like a bigot from another century. Kennedy, who has his faults, has none-the-less spent his career helping those of us in the lower economic rungs of society.

Bush and co, have done everything they can to feed the richest among us while making life harder and harder for those less fortunate.

I personally think health care should be available to absolutely everyone in this country, no questions asked. That's called compassion, decency. Do unto others. If you want to go religious (and most people who worship Bush seem to think of themselves as Christians) then remember that Jesus said: "Even as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Doesn't get much clearer than that.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

06:08 PM on 09/22/2007

Limousine liberal!

Your turn.

[LadyXoc]

10:13 AM on 09/23/2007

We ARE giving these illegals some of our money - for mowing our lawns, delivering our pizzas, cleaning our homes and working in construction.
Of course they're working or they wouldn't be here. Imagine what everything would cost if Americans were doing this work.

[patanderson]

01:07 PM on 09/22/2007

Well there are 2 other lies Bush has told repeatedly.

1. Conservative....bigger government, bigger debt that ALL Presidents combined.

2. Compassionate....read story.

[DasBoot]

12:38 PM on 09/22/2007

Remember compassionate conservatism? Oh wait, that was just a campaign slogan. Forgot that for a second. Silly me.

No, Jesus would certainly deny chemotherapy to illegal immigrants. No doubt.

[accountability]

06:59 PM on 09/22/2007

that's right.
Unfortunately he believes he is compassionate.
He has the most public twisted mind I can recall ever...
EVER.