Shepard Smith Unloads On Blockers Of 9/11 Responders Bill: 'How Do They Sleep At Night?' (VIDEO)

Shepard Smith excoriated the Senators who are holding up the so-called "Zadroga Bill" to assist 9/11 first responders who suffer from medical problems as a result of their time at Ground Zero. The bill, which provides $7 billion for the responders, passed the House but is being held up by Republicans in the Senate.

Speaking to Fox News colleague Chris Wallace on Friday, Smith asked, "How do they sleep at night after this vote on Ground Zero first responders from 9/11? Are they going to get that done, or are we going to leave these American heroes out there to twist in the wind?"

Wallace said he agreed that the bill needed to be passed.

Smith said he had watched Jon Stewart's Thursday show, which was devoted exclusively to the bill. He called Stewart "absolutely right," and said the holdup on the bill was shameful:

"Who's going to hold these people's feet to the fire? We're able to put a 52 story building so far down there at Ground Zero, we're able to pay for tax cuts for billionaires who don't need them and it's not going to stimulate the economy. But we can't give health care to Ground Zero first responders who ran right into the fire? Went down there to save people? Do people know what this city was like that day? People were walking over bridges, they were covered in ash, they were running for their lives, they were crying, their family members were dead. And these people ran to Ground Zero to save people's lives. And we're not going to even give them medicine for the illnesses they got down there? It's disgusting, it's a national disgrace, it's a shame and everybody who voted against should have to stand up and account for himself or herself."

WATCH:

Smith continued making the comparison to the tax cuts, adding, "We spend a lot more money giving Warren Buffett his income tax refunds than we do doing anything for those people don't we?"

Comments

[Matthewpa]

08:07 PM on 01/05/2011

Did anyone else notice the line "How do they sleep at night?"? Hmmm. Aren't those the words that Jon Stewart used in the famous Crossfire takedown of Tucker Carlson?

After a comment about Stewart? Hmmm.

I'm not sayin....I'm just sayin.

[GJCO-JMH]

03:22 PM on 12/24/2010

The objections to this bill were about duplication of both services and compensation and the potential for long-term fraud and waste.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/documents/2010/12/tom-coburns-objections-to-911-first-responders-bill.php?page=1

[0u812]

01:51 PM on 12/22/2010

Praise him all you like but you will notice if you're listening that not once did he say the word "Republican". Coming out against both houses of Congress is nothing new. He still has the fallback position of "Well, it's STILL a mostly Democrat Senate and Congress".

[Matthewpa]

01:21 PM on 12/29/2010

Ou, on later broadcasts he actually calls the Republican Senators out, one by one. I've never seen that on any national news cast. I think he more than made up for it. Go watch Sheps snippets of sanity over on you tube. They're pretty amazing.

My wish is for Stewart and Smith to take over CNN so the majority of "normal" people can watch news, too without worrying if someone's trying to influence us or not.

[dourdinlives]

09:23 AM on 12/22/2010

i respect shepard smith...but it is the dereliction of duty of smith himself and other journalists and news readers that has allowed the chincanery in american life to happen. until smith and others admit the obvious that it is their and our own refusal to own up to the fact that the former 'confederate states of america' has "boll-weeviled" into the our nations life line, our political system and is and has been trying to bring it down since they were defeated in the civil war.else how on earth could we account for the likes of and the shenanigans of macconell, sugar dandy graham, john "shell-shocked" mcain anf the rest of that motley crew? these mossbacks hate the yankees, the union,.... the rest of the nation and will stop at nothing to bring it down. thus all the secessionist talk coming out of sarah and todd palin, south carolina and governor perry of texas.let the word go forth, blacks will not "go as gently into that sweet night of slavery and second class citizenship" as they once did. if sarah palin and those of she and the reformed CFA, continue on their path.

[nmaddog7]

04:42 PM on 12/25/2010

Right on!

[tropunlim]

07:04 AM on 12/22/2010

Heeyyyy! Shepard Smith did something awesome!

Fox News is calling out a Republican for underhanded dirty tactics!

Way to go Shep!

[repugnicansfearme]

12:55 AM on 12/22/2010

They count Americans denied health care coverage instead of sheep.

[oldbrowndog]

07:17 PM on 12/21/2010

Great, Shep, but I can't help but think that he's only jumping on the bandwagon after Jon Stewart dedicated an entire show to this issue last week. Where was all the outrage before that?

[hope for change]

09:52 AM on 12/22/2010

Shep is not supposed to be a pundit or commentator. He's supposed to be Fox's neutral anchor, delivering the news without revealing his personal feelings or biases. He doesn't usually break from that role, so he's in an entirely different position than Jon Stewart, whose show is all about opinion and advocacy.

[psmarc93]

05:32 PM on 12/21/2010

They found a way... make one senator take the fall for killing the bill, Sen. Coburn, and now the rest of them are free to pretend they were FOR the bill all along. Notice how Republicans are now coming out to "pass the bill" -- it's smoke and mirrors. The Republicans act in unison, Coburn is not going "rogue" but is the patsy to take the public scorn for killing a bill that all Republicans want dead.

[LiberalLee]

02:07 PM on 12/22/2010

Yeah Cob urn. the so-called Doctor. The guy willing to step between a patient and her doctors over life-support when her brain has essentially liquified.

What's wrong with these some of these southerners? All that bible-bleating and no christian compassion at all.

[hang319]

05:08 PM on 12/21/2010

I can't imagine why he doesn't just ask them as they pass through the Fox studio every day all day long; or certainly his network as more access to those nutwads than any other -- call them!

[Jessica Sandberg]

10:57 AM on 12/21/2010

Please remember, there are those people who are victims and are of "Cause Stalking"...Please look this up on google, or books about it on amazon.com. You might not like to hear this, but Fire Departments and EMTs are known to do this all the time. When they stop being involved in Cause Stalking/Gang Stalking, I'll give a damn about them. Just because you put on a uniform does not mean you can stalk citizens. This is real. I heartily encourage every American Citizen and Those who are also heroic journalists to investigate this.

[proudtohaveserved]

04:40 PM on 12/21/2010

plus, police pofficers, fire fighters are republican

[LiberalLee]

02:12 PM on 12/22/2010

So let everyone of them suffer and die for the actions of a small minority.
Well aren't you the sweetheart. Why shouldn't we paint all journalists with the Geraldo Rivera-Jerry Springer brush if you want to do that to the men and women who risk their lives for people like you?
You ever SEE what happened there? Other than on the news? Ever smell the burning of your friends? Ever walk through the murk that was still there for months? I'll never forget that smell or the 19 friends and co-workers my husband and I lost.
I still have to use an inhaler dating from then.
Stop trying to condemn the many for a few bad apples.

[Jessica Sandberg]

02:39 PM on 12/22/2010

Not a bad Bill Maher imitation...If you work at it, you might get as good as him or Harlan Ellison. You're not special Liberal Lee, you're just another person who scans posts by others and looks to shoot them down without intellect or compassion. It's all a boring show. Sharp words will not change the fact that thousands of Americans are hurt by cause stalking. It's filthy. It should be stopped. Period. Now go on your way, dear. Scan some posts, slather them with replies using an old, hackneyed writing style, keep it up and maybe someone will have you on a tv show someday, then you'll be special. After all, it's not about talent or intellect anymore, just about snap and sass, in other words: Nothing.

[MMorgenster]

05:30 AM on 12/21/2010

Somehow, Shep seems to be immune to the kool aid laced with GOP talking points that Fox News makes its staff drink.

[proudtohaveserved]

04:41 PM on 12/21/2010

let's start abet and see who guesses how long he will be at faux

[astroblower]

02:24 AM on 12/21/2010

How do they sleep at night, you ask?

Hanging upside down.

[Hoopers X]

05:51 AM on 12/21/2010

If I cant add a link to my site, please tell me before you delete my account. I tried to say what was on my mind here but it took too many words. So I started a blog where I could say what I wanted. Again, PLEASE, if I can't add a link to my site, let me know. I will comply. Please don't delete my account first.

[proudtohaveserved]

04:43 PM on 12/21/2010

you have no freedom of speach here

[proudtohaveserved]

04:45 PM on 12/21/2010

I wander if I say condoms here. Will they shoot me down.

[zatonoichi]

12:56 AM on 12/21/2010

The GOP obstruction on this issue is very easy to explain. There were no corporate CEO's or major stockholders sifting through the rubble at ground zero, and also, there is nothing in this bill that gives a financial payout to the uber-rich.

[gfab415]

12:50 AM on 12/21/2010

sorry shep, you're not getting any sympathy from me- i agree with you but you're part of the republican party, and these are YOUR guys. You dont even say that republicans are the one's holding up the bill? shameful much? how do you expect viewers to know the issues. And what, do you just delete the emails sent from above to act like global warming is a hoax? Or the mass emails telling you to never say the words public option cause it seems too friendly? You seem to be the hoax shep, you should be just as mad at yourself

[hope for change]

09:53 AM on 12/22/2010

I highly doubt Shep is a Repub.

[cbwHouston]

11:44 PM on 12/20/2010

Wow, not even "9/11"... long a Republican “emblem of great pride” worn as their signature “Arc de Triomphe,” appears anymore sacrosanct. How else can one explain the following recent action by senators McCain, Kyl, McConnell, Graham, and Cornyn:

• They voted "Yea" for "$133-Billion dollars" of "Deficit-Spent" "Budget-Busting" Bush tax-cuts for the ultra-wealthy few who neither needed nor deserved them.

• They voted "Nay" against "$7-Billion dollars" to provide for healthcare coverage for 14,000-plus NYC 9/11 First Responders [benefits desperately needed and deserved]… those who volunteered on 9/11 to brave carcinogen-replete contaminants airborne during the clean-up and recovery at Ground Zero.

Old and set-in-their-ways, such actions by this cabal of senate-obstructionists desperately on January 5th 2011… “Filibuster Reform,” need to go the way of the Dinosaurs: total extinction!

[proudtohaveserved]

04:47 PM on 12/21/2010

I just shot down because profilactics. however ariana can say it and that is ok