A Message to Republicans Who Voted Against the Children's Health Bill

My name is Paul Simon.

I earn my living by writing and singing songs. It's a very old and low-tech profession that feels increasingly age-appropriate. I am honored to have the opportunity to express my opinions concerning SCHIP.

I am the father of four healthy children, knock on wood, but if they get sick or need medical attention I don't knock on wood; I take them to a doctor whose care and attention I am, fortunately, able to afford. Millions of American children do not receive the same medical care. They are uninsured.

Twenty years ago, I co-founded The Children's Health Fund with Dr. Irwin Redlener. Our organization provides mobile medical units with doctors and staff to serve the pediatric needs of poor communities across the United States. In the twenty years since we began, we have grown incrementally, but as of last year we had recorded over 1.2 million doctor/patient visits.

In 1992, Hurricane Andrew devastated a large portion of Southern Florida. Our medical units were there to help. When Hurricane Katrina lashed the Gulf Coast with an almost Biblical force, The Children's Health Fund had units working in those communities within a week. There was very little outside help -- no FEMA, no Red Cross.

But there were scores of mini-vans and trailers loaded with food and supplies from hundreds of churches around the country. I watched with wonder and admiration as the church people opened their hearts and got to work helping people on the Gulf Coast whose lives has been destroyed. They did not debate whether they could find a compromise or alternative way of helping. They opened their hearts and started to repair a dire emergency.

The president's veto of the re-authorization of SCHIP was a heartless act.

Thanks to groups like Families USA and the Children's Health Fund, Congress is getting closer and closer to overriding the President's veto -- and children of hard working American families are getting closer to receiving affordable health care through SCHIP.

I am asking those of you who supported the veto to reexamine your conscience, to find compassion in your heart for our most vulnerable and sweetest citizens -- our children. I am asking you to change your vote. If you do, I believe it will be one of the proudest days of your life.

Thank you,

Paul Simon

To learn more about this issue and to take action, please visit www.familiesusa.org

Comments

[BeamMeUpScotty]

Mr. Simon: You are under the delusion that those who voted against SCHIP are human. This kind of inhumanity is what happens when the rich and privileged are totally detached from the real world and human suffering.

[jdnyc]

Right On Paul! Please contact me if you can make use of an MD with public sector clinical experience in 3 states and Canada who shares your sentiment.

[desertdweller]

All of us who grew up in smoke-filled households and later watched our parents die from lung cancer while fearing for our own health have no sympathy for smokers and the increased taxes they will pay to support SCHIP. The tax is regressive but fair in the sense that a significant amount of childhood illness is directly attributable to exposure to second hand smoke. If the high cost of cigarettes prevents enev one kid from starting, it will be a small victory.

[midwestvoter]

We really need to ask why the republicans would put the profits of a deadly product that kills it's own citizens over the health of our children? What kind of priorities do these heartless bottom feeders have anyway? Wonder if there is some legal action we can take to end the free healthcare for these lawmakers, paid for by us, when we can't have access to the same thing? I imagine getting tossed back into the healthcare system they force us to live in might change a few minds....

[neoconscums]

Paul, where have you been? Nice to have you back.

[Karen4]

Oh Lord. Look at the comments here as well as the Paul Simon article: demonizing. Its a public policy issue and you're throwing a tantrum because you can't have your own way. The only middle class entitlements the public supports are Social Security and Medicare because they expect to benefit. Otherwise, the feeling is that if you're middle class, you should be taking care of yourself.

[2warvet]

Well stated! Sadly you are about to get hammered because the entitlement set is in full force here today.

[Karen4]

This isn't the first time Democrats have tried this hiding behind children ploy. I remember when they were all wearing some kind of tie and it was supposed to be some statement that the Republicans were anti-children and Democrats were pro-children. Or Geraldine Ferraro's blast at Reagan in 1984 that he didn't have good morals because he wasn't for giveaway programs.

It doesn't work. The public does not support expanding middle class entitlements because its too obvious that the money to pay for the programs will come from people who have less than the beneficiaries have! I never bought a car that cost over $20,000 and the Frost family has 3 such automobiles from working "intermittently" and "part-time­." How did the Democrats put such a family forward as the poster children, I wonder. Lots of arrogance on display.

[thegirlnextdoor]

I am guessing that what you mean by "entitlement" is what I would call the social safty net. Entitlement implies spoiled brats who want want want.
A social safty net is what a government creates to ensure that all of it's citizens have access to health care regardless of their financial situation. It is a system that acknowledges that it is important for a strong society to have citizens who are safe from the most basic fears regarding, their health and their children's health and well being. It also acknowledges that a persons financial situation does not reflect their human value.
It is not entitlement, it is common sense and compassion.

[MSaldana]

Oh, Karen4...

How in the world do you call Social Security and Medicare entitlements, when they're paid for by the taxes of the people who actually benefit from them???

I guess you're just one of those people(?) without a heart... Poetic justice would be for YOU to be struck by a Katrina-like calamity, but I couldn't stoop to your level and wish it on you!

-MS

[castlerider]

Besides being completely inaccurate by believing what she says just because she says it,( while she 's actually sounding like an idiot, a la Rushbo), I'm sure Karen is way elite above the middle class, so how would she know what the hell we go through?

[1stsgtbill]

The problem is the middle class as you so call it is defined by this administration. If an actual reevualuation of the cost versus income was done using real world dollars and not wall street dollars, the so called middle class of today would be below poverty.It must be nice to go up wealthy and never have to worry about medical care? I see that the rich are trying to revert back to old european class structures. Never happen as long as I and people like me are alive! Go back to Europe.

[tomrowe125]

Today's Europe wouldn't have them. Western Europe today is FAR more progressive than we will probably ever be. Nice sentiment, though!

[Opus007]

Corportate America gets handout after handout from the Bush Administration. Big Oil, Pharma, the big HMO's. Don't forget to include them in the "entitlement crowd" . Don't take my word for it just type "Corporate Handouts Bush Administration" into Google and you will get pages and pages... I would rather have my hard earned tax dollars help sick children than freebies for tax evading corporations.

[bimplebean]

Karen: You're wrong when you say 'The only middle class entitlements the public supports are Social Security and Medicare.'

From the March 2 Edition of the New York Times:

"A majority of Americans say the federal government should guarantee health insurance to every American, especially children, and are willing to pay higher taxes to do it, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

"While the war in Iraq remains the overarching issue in the early stages of the 2008 campaign, access to affordable health care is at the top of the public’s domestic agenda, ranked far more important than immigration, cutting taxes or promoting traditional values.

"Only 24 percent said they were satisfied with President Bush’s handling of the health insurance issue, despite his recent initiatives, and 62 percent said the Democrats were more likely to improve the health care system."

You're just plain wrong.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/02/washington/02poll.html

[areacode631]

There you have it...You totally blew your argument by citing the New York Times. The Times is the most disingenuous paper that was ever printed. The proof of that is there falling circulation numbers. The Times is an anti-America open borders news rag which deserves no respect. They make up their own polls and results

[MJJ]

Dear, sweet man. You assume that these bastards have a conscience. Sadly, they do not. I live in Tom Reynold's district and send him nasty-grams at least twice a month. I've also participated in a few rallies outside his local office. I don't believe the man has ever strayed from the Bush course and I doubt that he ever will. I know my voice is not heard by this man. I cannot wait for next year, when it is my ardent hope that Jonathan Powers will win this district that has been in Republican hands for my entire life. I hope that this is the issue that will finally get through to the voters here.

[abbiehoffmansghost]

I don't smoke but why is it that smokers have to pay for this? The tobacco companies, through advertising and addicting additives have made junkies out of smokers. Why not make them pay right off of the top in one big lump sum and then legislate that they may not increase the price any more than the inflation rate. Fuck 'em.

[2warvet]

Great point. What happens when the price of cigerettes are so expensive that no one is buying them? Who pays then?

Also do any of you compassionate libs realize that if cigerette taxes increase that it will hurt the middle class the most?

[Libsrule]

That doesn't even make sense. JUST STOP SMOKING, and you pay no extra!

Simple solution. I know quiting smoking is difficult but my brother quit when the doctors finally explained the facts of life (or lack therein if he didn't). It took him two weeks.

THEN he realized he was saving close to THREE THOUSAND BUCKS a year or more.

Easy solution.

AND yes why not make smokers pay for it?

They cause much medical distress as well continue to support an idustry that has one outcome, severe addiction.

So as far as I am concerned, charge them even more!

[Bern]

The public health money saved when smokers no longer smoke will MORE than pay for this.

[tandrmcdonald]

Note to 2warvet;
Bull.
Gramma Rose

[transendentilist]

Oh, so it's just the middle class that smokes??? Or do you think only dems and liberals smoke????? You are too bright are you?

[Helminski]

abbiehofmansghost asked: why is it that smokers have to pay for this?

Simple. While the tobacco companies made the cigarettes­.The smokers made the smoke. It's the smoke that kills, not the cigarettes.

[tandrmcdonald]

Helminski;
You didn't quite close your circular logic fantasy. The smoke comes from the cigarettes, Spud. You get the same health consequences if you eat tobacco, or shove a pinch between your teeth and your gums.
Gramma Rose

[transendentilist]

Paul, now more than ever, your song, "The Sounds of Silence, is more relevant than ever before.

It should be played in public squares all over the U.S.! LOUDLY

[hmmmmmer]

I am still upset by the fact that people going after the Frost kid haven't really had to make any adjustments in their comments. And to say that some Republicans have a conscience is, well, really lame. The ones voting against this bill will have to face the voters at some time, I am just hoping the voters have a conscience, but people like Limbaugh and Malkin have proven beyond a doubt that they and their listeners are completely heartless.

[antigone2]

I get a lot of emails about this issue from concerned parties, but it would help mightily to be given a list of Republicans in the House who are supporting the veto WITH TELEPHONE NUMBERS so that I can just buzz them in Washington continually about this. As a Democrat, I NEVER get their numbers, just my Dem. Reps.

[Karen4]

We don't have the facts about the Frost family and until they provide documentation, they should be viewed as partisans. The gist of the argument is that the program should have asset tests, not just income tests, so that it cannot be gamed by people with family wealth at their disposal. The Frost story has too many holes --- Three expensive (over $20,000) automobiles; a commercial property; working "intermittently" or "part time," private schools for all 4 children. (Why would anyone believe that a posh private school has a policy of giving full scholarships to raid the Baltimore public schools of middle class white children??? I want the Dean of that school on record about that or I'm going to believe that story is bogus.)

[secondharmonic]

1) Why is it any of your business what a private school director thinks? Perhaps the child is gifted, perhaps the director is just compassionate.
2) Who died and made you Queen? Or the Supreme Arbiter of Morality and Justiciar of das Amerikanische Volk?

[tomrowe125]

So a family has to be completely destitute, out on the streets, and near death before they're eligible for any help? Sounds like you subscribe to the RepubliKKKan mantra of "I've got mine, screw you!" Or as Barney Frank once quipped,"R­epublicans believe life begins at conception and ends at birth." And the Frosts' circumstances have been completely vetted, McConnell's slimeball tactics notwithstanding. Sucks he's from my state.

[CatSea]

Karen4, I'm not familiar with the story of "the Frost kid" because I've ignored it - it's a diversion from the real issues - something the Republicans would desperately love to waste time on.

But hearing about it from you makes me recall Reagan's Welfare Queen myths, and the happy-go-lucky "bums" that just like the free-wheeling lifestyle of sleeping under bridges. Fairy tales for those lacking compassion.

Got anymore chimeras or straw men?

[tandrmcdonald]

Another note to Karen4;
Look who's talking about partisans.
Who's this "we" you're talking about?
Who are you to demand documentation from anyone?
How much are you being paid to spew the neocon propaganda? Maybe "we" should demand some assets tests from you to make sure you aren't being subsidized by the "we hate kids" people.
You have a lot of nerve. Who in the hell gave you the right to demand anything from the dean of the kids' school?
You also have an overabundance of ego to assume that anyone with a brain gives a rat's ass about what you believe or not.
A lot of "posh private schools" give out scholarships. Helping people out is not the same thing as raiding the public schools.
Why are you so focused on white kids, middle class or otherwise? Your elitist prejudices are showing.
Gramma Rose

[newpantaloons]

Karen4, why don't you just cram it? Holes?? No, no it doesn't. The facts are that it is impossible to pay for private catastrophic health insurance unless you are rich or in an employee insurance plan. Many of us are in the same boat. Why do we pay for Congress people and government workers to have universal health care?? Is that OK with you? The Frost story put out by the right wing dittoheads, of which I am sure you are a member, is discredited by the fact that you all came out with another attack on a little two year old, born with a hole in her heart and her family who is even in more dire staits than the Frost family. Why can't you just accept that the middle class in this country (not just the "poor" families) cannot afford the health care they need or deserve? Why don't you mean spirited jackels attack 'Big Pharma or the Insurance Companies' for pricing health care out of ordinary people's hands? The real problem with 'you people' is that you just cannot stand the idea of being your brother's keeper. The idea that we all have the obligation to help out others less fortunate than we are. I would imagine that you have health care and it is not a private policy. One catastrophic illness is all it takes and then, your meager savings is wiped out, your home is gone, and you are in bankruptcy and/or on the street. As far as I can see, the only "holes" in this whole tragic story is the ones in all your right wing hearts.

[shsofahs]

I have an idea for a way to pay for SCHIP as well as for programs to help adults who lack health insurance. Legalize sports betting on a nationwide basis. People are doing it anyway, so you can't say it will be something new and nefarious to lure those stupid enough to gamble their money away. I would think we should be able to raise billions of dollars annually through legalized sports betting. By the way, I know the rich should be paying a hell of a lot more in taxes than they do, but this is something that could be done just in case the taxes on those greedy bastards are never raised back to the paltry levels they were at under Clinton.

[bassnman]

Can I ask how much is enough? Should we tax them at 70 to 80% of what they make? What do we do when they quit working because taxes get to high.
My question is why are we not going after people like Ted Kennedy & George Sourros who are richer than all get out and don't pay any income taxes at all.

I also agree, why do those in congress get the best benefits and retirement programs we will never ever see. We don't get retirement benefits after four to six years on the job. They should get no better benefits than the average American.

[arkansawtravler]

What is really hypocritical is the complete silence by the so called christian right, ya know the ones who howl about abortion, have more kids, blah blah blah...dod­son, robertson, the falwell ilk. But then we already know they are just as heartless and power hungry as the repugs. Besides it would not be good politics, cause gawd only helps those who help themselves, please make your donations payable to......

[tomrowe125]

I consider myself an atheist, and I have far more compassion than these clowns appear to have. I hear now they're going after a 2-year-old's family who appeared in a pro-SCHIP ad. Bushco. and the Repugs have no shame.

[jennmce]

The only religious group to speak out on this issue is the Catholic Church, and they have wholeheartedly condemmed Bush's veto of SCHIP and are calling on Congress to override it. As for the rest of the religious right...yo­u're correct. It's awfully quiet over there. Nice how they love the unborn child and oppose abortion so much, but they won't help the kids that are actually here.

[bythePeopleforthePeople]

The sweetest citizen to the repigs are the citizens who will line their pockets...­.

[lwaldmann]

Few issues catch my attention like the denial of health care to those who are unable to help themselves. The American military goes to great lengths and at great expense to try and help save the lives of Iraqi children caught up in the garburator that is Iraq. Yet here at home his Excellency, he who must be obeyed, the great decider, turns his back on the paper boy. I just don't get it, never have, but I am beginning to see a shred of evidence that there may be some sanity and compassion returning to the Republican nit wits that vote blindly for this President. By the way did you see the Darth Vader Frontline on PBS last night? Couldn't help but notice that there did not seem to be any sponsorship at all. I guess Darth really is a scary guy. The sooner his pacemaker blows a circuit the better, and I am not generally cruel to small defenceless animals!

Lary Waldman

[inthenitemare]

I wonder what Bush might say to one of his "Snowflake" children if say one of them may need this program some day?

[tandrmcdonald]

Okay, I know it's a stupid question, but I'm not up to date on the Republican euphemism machine. What are "Snowflake" children?
Gramma Rose

[chinohillster]

Greetings, tandrmcdonald,

"Snowflake" children are those born from frozen embryos stored in fertility clinics. Some stem-cell researchers have sought to use these extra embryos in their research, but many religious leaders have cited this as immoral, being that these embryos do have the potential, once implanted, to develop.

Many families with these convictions have had these embryos implanted, and have adopted the children born.

[newpantaloons]

Why, he would say nothing. Because, you see, he just USES them, he doesn't really CARE about them.

[cruisepuppy7452a]

To anyone who voted against this bill, let me ask you this, what if those people were your family? Would you want to see them suffer for a lousy buck? Could you sleep at night, knowing you could have made thier little lives a little better? Can you honestly look them in the eyes and say thier health and well being doesn't matter to you? Of course you can't and wouldn't. Very simply put, that is what you have done. People who have never had to go without, have no idea how the rest of us live.
Every day is a new struggle, everytime we get sick, we have to choose, do we pay for food, heat, clothing, rent, or pay out the ass for healthcare for our kids? You chose to fund a war over this, a war about oil, greed, not safety, not fighting terrorism, oil. For once, show the world a lousy vote doesn't matter, a lousy buck in your pocket isn't worth seeing a small child die needlessly when he or she could have been saved. I have no idea where your priorities are, but you need to go back and ask yourselves why you became politicans. It wasn't suppose to be for personal gains, rather, it was to make sure, the American people, all of us were fairly represented. You failed, and now have failed kids. What a sad, pathetic group you all must be. This has nothing to do with politics, its about our kids.

[tandrmcdonald]

Note to cruisepuppy452a;
I understand where you're coming from, but unfortunately, the people you're talking to don't speak the language. There is nothing more important than the buck in their pocket, lousy or otherwise.
Gramma Rose