Why I'm Suing the Bush Administration
Somebody had to do it.
After months of negotiation and countless attempts at compromise, the Bush administration is still refusing to let New York and other states across the country expand their State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP). The president is refusing to back down from destructive new rules his Administration has imposed -- the sole purpose of which are to curb bi-partisan state efforts to insure more of our nation's children.
The reason? As the president himself put it: "I mean, people have access to health care in America. They can just go to the emergency room."
It is this politics of "not my problem" that has led to the health crisis we have today.
The bureaucratic barriers to coverage the Bush administration has imposed are not only fundamentally misguided, but also illegal...
...They conflict with the statute authorizing SCHIP. Moreover, they were issued without the opportunity for public comment, as required by federal law. Accordingly, I have joined Democratic and Republican governors from states across the country to bring a lawsuit challenging these new rules in court.
It didn't have to come to this. There is widespread bipartisan support for expanding SCHIP. Even many members of the president's own party have recognized how out-of-touch he is with the American people, and instead have chosen to support compromise legislation in Congress repealing these arbitrary rules.
Unfortunately, President Bush has repeatedly threatened to veto this bipartisan bill. In justifying his position, his administration has tapped into the politics of fear -- branding the effort as "socialism."
Of course, SCHIP has nothing to do with socialism. The government would be the payer, not the provider of care, and families would have a range of private plans from which to choose. But instead of engaging on the merits, the right wing has pulled out socialism from their parade of horribles in order to frighten the public.
The president has also said that those children who already have insurance will choose to give up their coverage in order to join the program.
If you talk to doctors, health care professionals, and state leaders across the country like I have, they know the President is flat-out wrong.
These are the facts.
In New York, we want to expand coverage to every uninsured child in our state. And even though experience at the state level has shown that few children drop their existing coverage in favor of SCHIP, we have instituted some of the most stringent protections in the country in order to both prevent any potential problem and satisfy the White House.
The Bush administration, however, refuses to compromise and work with us to cover these children.
Ultimately, the president just doesn't get it. There is a health care crisis in this country, but he continues to ignore the problem while vulnerable children without insurance "just go to the emergency room."
We all know the statistics. There are 400,000 uninsured children in New York. There are 8 million uninsured children in the United States.
These staggering figures are intolerable. On both a moral and practical level, we cannot allow this to stand. The president, however, continues to say the status quo is acceptable.
Children should not have to wait until they get sick enough to go the emergency room to receive treatment. Rather, they need preventive and primary care. Ensuring that children with health problems are diagnosed and treated in a timely manner will save money and save lives.
It is imperative that we all come together to reverse the Bush administration's attempt to override the will of Congress, the will of the states, and the needs of our children.
We will continue to defend our nation's kids - even if the President will not.
This morning I gave a speech to Fordham University students. SCHIP was among the topics. A video is available here.
Cross posted at Daily Kos.
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"Fuck the kids." "Let them eat cake."
"Not my problem."
Let's roll out the guillotine.
Screw the kids.
Nothing for them until EVERYONE has access to care.
They can suffer along with the rest of us that can not afford coverage.
Kids are far, far, far less likely to die for lack of medical care than someone who is in their 40's or 50's who has a family history of heart disease (inherited trait) or cancer or other critical illnesses.
Kids are the cheapest to insure because they need the LEAST amount of medical care.
Want to start somewhere? Start with the people who most need coverage because of their health.
18,000 people die every year because they can't afford medical care or insurance to pay for care. Less than 1/4 of 1% are under 18.
Do something for the other 99.75% who really need help FIRST!
U'R NOT THINKING OF THE LOW INCOME FAMILY SUCH AS US. I ALMOST LOST MY 11 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER WITH NO INSURANCE. IT'S NOT BY CHOICE. 1200 A MONTH DON'T CUT. WHAT COMES AROUND GOES AROUND. THEY'LL TAKE SOMETHING FROM YOU AND SOME SELFISH SELF CENTERED PERSON WILL COME ALONG AND MAKE HARD FOR YOU. YOU SAID IT:Kids are the cheapest to insure because they need the LEAST amount of medical care. SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM. I PAY TAXES. DON'T TELL ME HOW TO SPEND MY MONEY
Since you caused Wall St to examine the salary of Dick Grasso when you were NYS Attny Gen, W might find it better to grant your requests, Gov Spitzer. I do hope that the Senators Clinton & Schumer encourage you in your quest.
You are one of the few politicians who stands up to the president.
Why this is nice that everyone is concerned with children's healthcare, let me restate something Michael Moore said. Well children need well parents to take care of them. Where is the concern for the uninsured adults in this country. I am 57 and uninsured. Myinsurance was linked to a job I no longer have. I cannot afford the ridiculous premiums the insurance robbers charge. I am at the time where I probably need preventive care more than a child. My son who is 17 has never had a sick day in his life. He did get care, his baby shots and he had insurance. I never had to use it for him. BUt I could use some health care, where do I go? To the poorfarm? Young adults do not need insurance as much as older adults. But we shouldn't have to decide this. Everybody should have some form of healthcare. Me included. I worked 30 years, for what?
You worked for the profit of a corporation. You are no longer useful to them and are therefore expendable. On the scrap heap. Bush and his ilk are hoping you will die soon and be less of a nuisance.
yes, thank you republicans!
Mr. Spitzer has cued in on the linchpin of opposition to SCHIP: that it is "socialism
http://www
"[A]nyone who goes around the country, or reads carefully the public opinion surveys over the past decade, can see that huge numbers of Americans agree on what should be the fundamental elements of a decent society: guaranteed food, housing, medical care for everyone; bread and butter as better guarantees of "national security" than guns and bombs; democratic control of corporate power; equal rights for all races, genders, and sexual orientations; a recognition of the rights of immigrants as the unrecognized counterparts of our parents and grandparents; the rejection of war and violence as solutions for tyranny and injustice.
Gov Spitzer, you're a champ. We need more politicians, like yourself, to stand up and talk truth to power to these criminals ( and they are indeed criminals). This, I believe, may be a way we can take our country back. It can be men like you, Mr, Spitzer, who when you stand up to bullies in our government,like you have, you give hope and energy, to those of us in the trenches, who've needed our faith rejuvenated.
Be that more prominent people, were to step forward, we would be able to face the criminal
element down, with the type of leadership we've been longing for.
Spitzer in '16.
Not only are you having NY join in the lawsuit, but you are telling it on Huffpo and cross posting to Daily Kos!
Style, Substance and Chutzpa! Thanks!!!!
It takes this kind of leadership to keep the ball moving down the field. I appreciate your effort and intelligent action.
I applaud your efforts, Governor, but if postal workers can't be sued for going "postal" what hope do you really have with your lawsuit?
Why don't you sue them for the Iraq war instead? If they weren't so busy flushing
hundreds of billions down an olive-green
toilet every couple of months, then there
wouldn't be an issue with properly financing
hospitals.
I'd say beware of publicly traded HMO's, too
much potential there for the taxpayer revenue
stream to be diverted to shareholder dividends.
With the same message I left for Jon Corzine across the Hudson, thank you, Eliot!! The train wreck of the Bush presidency just increases in scale. Thankfully, the leadership vacuum is being filled by others like you who are interested in producing results for their constituents instead of just adhering to fear- and greed-based notions of conservatism that are long outdated.
David M. Traversi
http://www
Thank you Governor Spitzer for your post and your tenacity on this issue. It is amazing how out of touch this supposed "Evangelical President" is.
Go for it!
It will take the combined efforts of people of power and position joining together, to be able to move the juggernaut of Imperialist money that supports Bush.
Hopefully you will prevail, but it is certainly taking many steps in the right direction.
Good for you, Governor! Now, can we all file a class action lawsuit against him? Including the forty million adults who don't have access to healthcare?
I guess someone needs to remind W that all of the future soldiers for his unending wars will not make it through childhood without health coverage. He only cares about the military, the mercenaries, and big business. Perhaps if he understands that his policy will provide a diminishing return for his dreams of a future religious war everywhere in the Middle East, it might make a difference.
Bush hopes that unemployment and poverty will solve the army recruiting problem.
Soldiers are re enlisting for $20,000 so because they know that they will not be allowed to leave anyway. Did slavery end in 1886 ?
The government pays $20,ooo bonus to solders that enlist,...
Black Water people get $90,000 for six months. What do you think that does to the morale of the troops?
There are not enough votes in Congress, I fear, to override his veto. The SCHIP law will fail and continue to fail so long as the case plods its way through the courts, maybe for years, in spite of the governors' best intentions. Plenty long enough for chldren to be very sick and die. It would be nice if someone were keeping track of how many children are suffering because of W. We can add that to the list of things he'll be tried for at the Hague.
Good on you Governor!
I think more people should sue the Bu$h administration for a myriad of issues.
Hey count me in on that class action suit!
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