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Rose Garden Colored Glasses
There's setting the bar low, then there's changing the game entirely.
Earlier this week, the administration tried again to justify its astonishing veto of the popular SCHIP bill. Although the bipartisan bill will make healthcare benefits available to about 10 million children, the White House thinks we would be helping the wrong kids.
Now I confess that when we're talking about making sure children can get routine check ups, dental care and emergency medical treatment, I am not sure how to identify the right kids from the wrong.
However, if you share the president's belief that we should only consider protecting the health of the children at the very, very bottom, there's a silver lining. According to the official White House Oct. 23 press release on the SCHIP veto, "Over half the families in America are not poor."
That's right. There's a high standard for you.
Straight from the folks who thought Brownie did "a heck of a job," we now can take comfort in the fact that according to the White House, "There are a lot of things you can say about half the families in America. Half of them aren't poor."
It's hard not interpret this as another sign of an administration that is profoundly out of touch with the lives of working people all around this country. But maybe what we've got here is a glass-half full kind of guy celebrating his milestones where he can find them. After all - a little cockeyed optimism at the White House probably brightens some of the darker headlines these days.
So donning our Rose Garden colored glasses, here's some other good news from the Bush administration:
* More than half of all the homes in this country have not been foreclosed on--yet.
* More than half of the residents of New Orleans were not permanently displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
* More than half of Halliburton executives haven't been indicted.
* More than half of the polar ice caps are still in place.
* More than half of Americans who don't have health insurance probably won't get sick today.
* More than half of college graduates won't have to declare bankruptcy immediately because of their student loan debt.
* More than half of oil company executives can still afford to fill their cars' gas tanks
* More than half the nations of the world still return our phone calls.
With this kind of good news, it's no surprise that well more than half of Americans are counting the days until the Bush administration is no more.
Andy Stern is the president of the 1.9 million member Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the fastest-growing union in North America
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More than half of our Presidents could pronounce 'nuclear', could leave a group without demanding that 'God bless'us and our inane policies, did not believe we were founded as a Christian nation, or that our undereducated young people should be used as cannon fodder for the benefit of multi-nationals.
Another Bush Half-Ass-imilation... Half of the teens in America aren't sexually active by the time they leave high school so there should be no requirement to teach about correct condom use and birth control.
Well Andy I've got news for you; less than half of organized labor has a clue of what to do about Bush's criminal activities. Depending on an electoral system that is full of corruption, well that's kind of like hoping that the good Lord will send rains to quench the fires in California!
I support unions and I detest Bush. However our labor leaders must recognize that Bush does not play by the rules and we must stop depending on politicians in office to save us. We must save ourselves!
I am a social worker by profession and I am somewhat fammiliar with the old saying; "Insanity is repeatedly doing the same
thing that has failed, hoping that there will a different outcome" That brother Stern is what our political system is all about; repeated behaviors, with NO change in outcomes!
If it were possible to combine bush and cheeny you still would not get half a man.Adding rove would not make any difference either. Also this bunch does not make me half sick. They make me very sick.
If the press would be just a tad more inquisitive and creative in there questioning of politicians during their briefings we would be amazed at just how much more information and truth we could get from our politicians. We may have even avoided the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had they not just acted as court stenographers and cheerleaders for the administration. As politicians the only thing we can expect from them is to watch out for their own interests and to lie.
So this is what we have been reduced to: taking a line out of context from a White House press release in a lame attempt to belittle Bush. Sigh... Andy, if this kind of thinking is representative of the union leaders in this country I can see why our unions are in decline. The Democratic congress that we elected in 2006 has proven to be totally incompetent, so it is no surprise that Bush is ramming SCHIP back down their throats. If you really care about poor kids you will pull your head out of the donkey's ass and get the Democratic majority in Congress to quit playing political games with America's poor children and propose an SCHIP bill that they can get passed.
Obviously Mikie nor Mr. Bush has read the Bill.
If you follow the link to the White House page.
The official stand is exactly what this bill provides. How lame is the argument that the states don't have a high enough number enrolled in Medicaid? So now we should all be in the 200% class?
I'd like to say that more than half of your post was coherent, but I can't.
How can you possibly blame the Democrats for SCHIP? You are basically saying that it is the Democrats fault for not passing the bill that Bush wants. Why not just keep Bill Frist as Majority Leader if that's the kind of Democratic Congress you want?
I don't want Joe Lieberman running the Senate, thank you very much!
More than half the constitution is still in place...........for now.
And the glass is half full, or half empty, or, oops, shattered.
I think you are wrong. I do not think over half the nations of the world still return our phone calls.
More than one half of Bush's head is full of cobwebs.
Hmmm, I was thinking of something besides cobwebs.
President Bush is a "glass is half-full kinda guy". It's good to know that less than half of the people of the United States of America are poor. You're doing a heck of a job, Bushie.
I wish the House of Representatives would IMPEACH him and the Vice-President. But that's too unrealistic. What we're doing now makes so much more sense.
I can think of a word that is better than cobwebs---hehehehe--- beginning with an S and ending in T.
Who says more than half of all Democrats don't want to vote for Hillary? Betcha over half of Republican and Democrat women will vote for her. It is hard for me to understand why so many Democrats have jumped on the Republican bandwagon that has been against Hillary since 1993. Oh, well, some people just like kool aid.
Half are Illegal?
Most of the Republican base is composed of wealthy and poor families, both of which already receive health care, either private or public. None of these people want to pay more so that the middle class can afford health care as well.
As for half of American families not being poor, I wonder whether this is before or after the $1,000+ per month for private health insurance. For a middle class family, this represents two radically different standards of living.
When the median household income is $30,000, Bush is correct, half of us are poor. And 99% of these people have no no no benefits and at least 50% are trying to raise children....
Bush's head is still up his AXX looking for WMD...
Little George pretends to care about half the population - that's what "small government" is all about!
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