Democratic Talk Radio Blog

SENATOR PUTS POLITICAL FUNDRAISER AHEAD OF S-CHIP VOTE

Less than two weeks after President Bush vetoed funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program [S-CHIP] that would have provided much-needed funding for the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, Senator Lamar Alexander overlooked the insult by inviting Bush to the Bluff City to headline a $10,000 photo-op.

“It’s a slap in the face to Memphis to bring President Bush to town for a high-dollar fundraiser on the heels of vetoing S-CHIP legislation that would have helped to stabilize the Med and other TennCare providers,” said Tennessee Democratic Party spokesperson Wade Munday. “It’s clear that Lamar Alexander is more interested in raising political dollars and cozying up to the President than he is in working to gather the necessary support in Washington to override a monumentally foolish veto.

“It’s yet another example of how Lamar Alexander and George Bush walk hand-in-hand. Whether we’re talking about health insurance or the war in Iraq, Senator Alexander unfortunately has become the Bush Administration’s house organ in Tennesseee. He ought to spend more time standing up to the SCHIP veto, and less time schmoozing with the President at political fundraisers.

“For $10,000, donors can take a picture with George Bush. I imagine a photo with both the President and Senator Alexander would cost an arm and a leg, but I also imagine those donors have health insurance,” Munday said.

WAR SPENDING SPREE IGNORES KIDS’ CARE by Vice-Chair Elisa Parker
The Bush administration, or what’s left of it, is set to receive another blank check for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008. I am stunned by the spending.

Our military defense should be a priority, but while President Bush waxes poetic about the global war on terror, he wanes philosophically on the priorities of our military.

I cannot fathom that without a clear exit strategy and with our troops overextended on deployments, that the administration would remain so stubborn.

Now, let us reason together:

Arguments can be heard from both sides of the aisle, a bipartisan group of sound-minded individuals, asserting that the war in Iraq is actually increasing terrorist forces in that region and giving al-Qaida and other terrorist groups reason to fight.

Some Republicans would reason that we’re winning the war in Iraq, but I wonder how measurable that is. We were told that the war was “won.”

In 2008, the solution to Iraq — a quagmire that has resulted in 3,800 soldiers’ deaths — is not throwing billions of dollars at it.

Wait a minute: We would be throwing nearly $1 trillion at it in 2008: $140 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan; $510 billion for other defense related spending; $263 billion for veterans care and interest on the national debt; $46.4 billion for the Department of Homeland Security; and $48 billion for the intelligence budget.

The blank check that is being sent to the president for our military will not make him change a thing, and that’s a bad precedent.

The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) increase looks modest — $6 billion a year — compared to these numbers. Bush vetoed the S-CHIP bill, denying 54,000 children in Tennessee access to health insurance that their parents could not have previously acquired.

While hard-working Tennesseans try to make the most of their salaries, Bush goes on a $1 trillion spending spree without question.

The Bush plan is not the solution to Iraq.

While he inappropriately calls into question the patriotism of his opponents, he is also avoiding the possible solutions.

The next Democratic president will address the Bush administration’s failed foreign policy and turn their attention back to domestic issues.

As a family of four worries about how they will provide health insurance for their children when small businesses cannot provide health care for their employees, Bush and the Republicans polish their sound bites and carry on as if they weren’t ignoring the most compelling numbers of all: the majority of Americans who voted for a Democratic-controlled House and Senate in 2006.

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From The Tennessee Democratic Party
The Munday Message by Wade Munday

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 7:22 am and is filed under Democratic Politics, Healthcare, Republican. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.