“U.S. Senate failed nation's ground zero heroes - San Francisco Gate” plus 1 more |
| U.S. Senate failed nation's ground zero heroes - San Francisco Gate Posted: 18 Dec 2010 06:15 AM PST The U.S. Senate has failed at many things during this lame-duck session. But few of those failures could be more shameful than its rejection of health care and compensation benefits to the tens of thousands of Americans who risked their lives to help others at New York's ground zero after 9/11. The House passed a version of the 9/11 health bill back in September. Republican senators blocked their house's version earlier this month. Their reasons were flimsy - they said that they would approve nothing until the Bush tax cuts had been extended, and that they were also concerned about finding the money to pay for the $7.4 billion measure. The logic doesn't hold. The Bush tax cuts for the wealthy - which those same Senate Republicans are adamant about extending - will cost this country $70 billion every year. The vote was a slap in the face to these dedicated emergency workers and volunteers, many of whom have suffered debilitating illnesses after spending days or weeks breathing in the toxic dust, fumes, and smoke at the site of the World Trade Center attack. The idea that their lives are not as important as the economic comfort of this nation's wealthy is an affront to this country's values. New York officials are rightly furious about the denial, but all Americans should be outraged. The 9/11 attacks weren't just an attack on New York City, they were an attack on all of us. They changed the course of this country's history. New York City's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, was right to chastise Senate Republicans the way that he did in a statement issued after they refused to put the matter up for a vote. "We have a collective responsibility to care for the heroes, from all 50 states, who answered the call of duty, saved lives and helped our nation recover." The particular history of this bill - and the fact that regular citizens lobbied for more than five years to make it happen - merely underscores the Senate's reckless irresponsibility. The bill's backers still hope to get the bill passed before a new Congress convenes on Jan. 1. There is some hope. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has promised to bring it up for another vote, and two Republican senators (Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska) have indicated that they may be open to changing their minds. Perhaps the blowback they received - heat from both Republican and Democratic politicians as well as a visit from a group of 9/11 responders, who went to Washington and personally lobbied Collins' staff - helped them realize that they were doing the wrong thing for the country. They need to remember what's right when Reid brings the bill back for another vote next week. This article appeared on page A - 11 of the San Francisco Chronicle This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Heroes For Hire TV ads help our Wounded Warriors seek employment - Monsters and Critics Posted: 15 Dec 2010 09:53 AM PST  This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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