15 replies to this topic

[NittanyLion]

This is ridiculous...

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/1..._in_5742_v.html

9/11 health bill fails first test, Senate Republicans filibuster measure in 57-42 vote

BY Michael Mcauliff
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU

Originally Published:Thursday, December 9th 2010, 1:24 PM
Updated: Thursday, December 9th 2010, 2:58 PM

Politics over patriotism?


WASHINGTON - Compassion took a back seat to politics Thursday as Senate Republicans blocked a bill to help sick 9/11 heroes.

"The United States Senate embarrassed itself. It made a mockery of the political system that we believe in - and they failed us," said John Feal, a disgusted Ground Zero construction worker.

"I'm gonna buy 42 red noses, 84 big red shoes and 42 tri-colored wigs for all the Republicans," said Feal, who lost half his foot on The Pile.

The $7.4 billion James Zadroga Health and Compensation Act won a large majority, 57-42, but failed because it was short of the 60 votes needed under Senate rules.

The vote was strictly on party lines, although Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) ultimately voted "No" to reserve the right to bring the measure back.

Even some Republicans who might have backed 9/11's emergency workers gave them the thumbs-down, sticking to a party pledge to block anything until they get a tax deal extending the Bush-era cuts for the wealthy.

Bloomberg hammered the filibuster as "a devastating indictment of Washington politics, a tragic example of partisan politics trumping patriotism."

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) lashed out at the notion the GOP would wait on the tax deal while 9/11 responders are sick and dying.

"The idea that tax cuts for millionaires would derail this legislation is simply outrageous and offensive," she said, calling the justification of the opposition "one of the most cynical reasons I can imagine."

Gillibrand said she'll press the Republicans who said they might back the bill after they get the tax breaks, including Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.). who flip-flopped on a pledge to back the legislation in favor of the tax stand.

Her senior colleague, Sen. Chuck Schumer, suggested the GOP might just be stringing responders along, though.

Republicans keep raising new, phony objections - the tax issue being the latest, he charged.

"One can come up with reason after reason after reason why not to vote for this bill, and we've heard many, and the reasons keep changing," Schumer said. "But one fact doesn't change: There are those who need help, who deserve our help."

House Democrats are working on a last-ditch plan to rescue the bill if the Senate fails, asking Speaker Nancy Pelosi to tack it onto the tax deal when the House writes its version.

A leadership source said the idea was possible, "but it would be difficult," after Manhattan Democratic Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler got 59 members to request the Zadroga add-on. The White House, which is brokering the tax deal, declined to say if it would support the plan.





The Daily Show rips them apart:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/...0-mike-huckabee

[devilsfan0405]

So why don't they vote for it now? The tax cut extension was passed last week.

I'm not going to even try and defend this at face value. I don't see how anyone could be against helping those who put their lives on the line on 9/11. Unless the Democrats are playing games as well and have added goodies to the bill. What exactly is the GOP objecting to? The cost? Is there something else at play here that the media isn't reporting?

[weatherbowl]

devilsfan0405, on Dec 21 2010, 09:48 AM, said:

So why don't they vote for it now? The tax cut extension was passed last week.

I'm not going to even try and defend this at face value. I don't see how anyone could be against helping those who put their lives on the line on 9/11. Unless the Democrats are playing games as well and have added goodies to the bill. What exactly is the GOP objecting to? The cost? Is there something else at play here that the media isn't reporting?

It's hard to believe that those who voted against it are so evil and heartless they just don't care. If they are then shame on them. I would not be surprised, however, if there is more to the story. This is definitly a political football that can make you look great or horrible and politics may be raising its ugly head.

[Ehop]

What is the reason to vote against?
Is there one.
Worked downtown after 9/11 and would love work almost every day with a headache.
These guys have a legit case, especially since it was the govt who told them it was safe.

[weatherbowl]

Ehop, on Dec 21 2010, 10:03 AM, said:

What is the reason to vote against?Is there one.
Worked downtown after 9/11 and would love work almost every day with a headache.
These guys have a legit case, especially since it was the govt who told them it was safe.

There wouldn't seem to be a reason to vote against it, that's for sure. Is it one of those bills everyone wants passed but not as written?

[weatherbowl]

Did some quick research and came up with this. Don't know its accuracy but did read this in a few places.

While Republicans quietly snuffed out efforts to compensate 9/11 heroes, they were aided by a quiet lobbying campaign by the powerful lobbying front - the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber fought to help kill the 9/11 compensation bill because it was funded by ending a special tax loophole exploited by foreign corporations doing business in the United States.

The "U.S." part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a misnomer. As ThinkProgress reported, the Chamber represents dozens of foreign businesses in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, Bahrain, India, Brazil, and other countries. An investigation of the Chamber turned up recent fundraising documents from the Chamber soliciting foreign contributions to the Chamber's 501©(6), the tax entity the Chamber used to run nasty campaign ads against Democrats earlier this year.

In September, the Chamber sent a letter officially opposing the 9/11 first responders bill, called the "James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010." The Chamber warned that ending the tax loophole would "damage U.S. relationships with major trading partners" and "aggravate already unsettled financial markets." A lobbying disclosure filed with the Senate confirms the Chamber contacted lawmakers to help kill the bill.

[FreezingDrizzle]

weatherbowl, on Dec 21 2010, 08:56 AM, said:

It's hard to believe that those who voted against it are so evil and heartless they just don't care. If they are then shame on them. I would not be surprised, however, if there is more to the story. This is definitly a political football that can make you look great or horrible and politics may be raising its ugly head.

WB, I haven't followed this issue, but the title and opening line of the posted article raises red flags for me because it is really an opinion article under the guise of a news article. The writer doesn't give the full background and the opposing side doesn't get to share their viewpoint.

[weatherbowl]

FreezingDrizzle, on Dec 21 2010, 12:08 PM, said:

WB, I haven't followed this issue, but the title and opening line of the posted article raises red flags for me because it is really an opinion article under the guise of a news article. The writer doesn't give the full background and the opposing side doesn't get to share their viewpoint.

That's the problem with political views. About the only thing I am sure of with political views, both the die-hard democrats and republicans are going to say what makes them look good and the other side look bad and the only facts used will be ones used to enhance their viewpoint.

[devilsfan0405]

weatherbowl, on Dec 21 2010, 11:18 AM, said:

That's the problem with political views. About the only thing I am sure of with political views, both the die-hard democrats and republicans are going to say what makes them look good and the other side look bad and the only facts used will be ones used to enhance their viewpoint.

Exactly. You never get straight reporting anymore. Both sides take things out of context and spin stories constantly.

[NittanyLion]

weatherbowl, on Dec 21 2010, 11:18 AM, said:

That's the problem with political views. About the only thing I am sure of with political views, both the die-hard democrats and republicans are going to say what makes them look good and the other side look bad and the only facts used will be ones used to enhance their viewpoint.

devilsfan0405, on Dec 21 2010, 11:27 AM, said:

Exactly. You never get straight reporting anymore. Both sides take things out of context and spin stories constantly.

This actually hasn't gotten much media attention. I didn't even hear about it until the Daily Show did a segment on it. At that point, the Republicans were going to filibuster this until the tax cuts got passed (because taxes are somehow more important than the health of our heroes). But now that the taxes are passed, they want it pushed back until after New Years because they don't want to work between the holidays.

[NittanyLion]

Story Just Posted:


http://www.cbsnews.c...317-503544.html
Coburn Moves to Block 9/11 First Responders Bill as Some Republicans Urge its Passage
Posted by Lucy Madison Leave Comment


Amid mounting pressure from Democrats and a growing handful of Republicans to pass a bill that would provide health care benefits to first responders who were at the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn announced on Monday his intentions to block passage of the legislation.

He tells Politico that he "wouldn't allow the bill to move quickly" due to "problems with parts of the bill and the process Democrats are employing" to pass it.

Coburn defended his position in a Tuesday morning interview on Fox News, arguing that "this is a bill that's been drawn up and forced through Congress at the end of the year on a basis to solve a problem that we didn't have time to solve and we didn't get done."

Coburn also argued that the bill, entitled the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, was a rush bill that "hasn't even been through a committee." (That appears to be incorrect: ThinkProgress notes that on June 29, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions - on which Coburn sits - held a hearing on the bill.)


Meanwhile, a growing chorus of Republican commentators has begun to pressure GOP senators to revise their positions, arguing that the health of first responders is a sensitive national issue - and that opposing it could be politically unwise.


"Why wouldn't we take care of their health care?" wondered the conservative-leaning talk show host Joe Scarborough during his MSNBC show "Morning Joe" on Tuesday. "It's just like taking care of veterans' health care... It can't be a good move for Republicans to oppose a bill for the firefighters and the cops on 9/11."


Scarborough also questioned the argument - posited by some of those opposing the bill - that health care for 9/11 first responders should be covered by New York residents. "How did this become a New York issue?" Scarborough wondered. "That is like Pearl Harbor becoming a Hawaii issue in 1951. It's ridiculous."


Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee of Arkansas has already made public his opinion that "every Republican" should support the bill - but in a Fox News appearance on Monday night, he plead his case further. "There are people who need medical care right now, and frankly, the clock is running out on them," he said. "Their lives are fading away, even as we sit here talking about it."


Shep Smith, the host of Fox News' "Studio B," individually targeted Republicans who refused to discuss the issue with him on the air.

"We called a lot of Republicans today who are in office at the moment," he said on Monday. "These are the ones who told us 'no': Senators Alexander, Barrasso, Cornyn, Crapo, DeMint, Enzi, Grassley, Kyl, McConnell, Sessions, Baucus, Gregg, and Inhofe. No response from Bunning, Coburn, Ensign, Graham, Hatch, and McCain."

"Why does no one want to talk about this?" he continued.


New York's Democratic Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer have made a slew of recent television appearances urging support for the bill - and now they say they have the votes to pass it.


But even if the bill secures the necessary 60 votes to get past a filibuster in the Senate, the House would have to approve any changes to its version of the bill before the end of the 2010 session - and a time-delaying procedural blockage by Coburn could derail efforts to do so as the lame duck Congress draws to an end.


House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has urged the Senate to take the bill up as soon as possible in order for the House to have time to approve the revised version.


"My plea to Senator Reid is that if you're going to send us anything that we need to deal with, send it, frankly, by [Tuesday]," Hoyer told The Hill on Monday. "I don't think that's possible, but my members want to get home for Christmas, and I think bringing them back between Christmas and New Years -- hopefully, I'd like to avoid that."


"Obviously the closer we get to Christmas the less likelihood there is of members being willing to stay to finish business that may or may not come from the Senate," Hoyer told reporters today, adding that he was "hopeful that we can deal with it tonight."


Hoyer said he not yet made a decision on whether or not he would be willing to bring Congress back after Christmas to pass the bill if necessary.


In a press briefing this afternoon, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs emphasized the president's continuous support for the legislation -- and took Republicans to task for standing in its way.


"It seems at the end of a long year around the holiday season a pretty awful thing to play politics about," he said. "But that's a decision that 42 Republican senators will have to make."

[NittanyLion]

Shephard Smith Video at the bottom of the page. Good interview with Pataki as well.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/fox-hos...esponders-bill/

[devilsfan0405]

So they're worried about getting home for Christmas? What a bunch of babies; I'm sure cops, firefighters and EMT workers would love to be home for the holidays too. Ditto for people who work in hospitals. Sorry, can't help you with that heart attack today; gotta run home to open my presents. Please. Suck it up and start doing your freakin' jobs. And they wonder why the country is so disgusted with them?

[NittanyLion]

Good news. The bill was passed unanimously today.

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/12/22/se...rst-responders/

[NittanyLion]

NittanyLion, on Dec 22 2010, 06:40 PM, said:

Good news. The bill was passed unanimously today.

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/12/22/se...rst-responders/

Bad news. Came out recently that the only way that the bill would pass would be if it left out cancer...so they don't get cancer treatments under coverage.

[NittanyLion]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/31/groun...test=latestnews


Ground Zero Worker Receives Compensation Check for Zero Dollars

Published July 31, 2011


New York – Cancer-stricken Ground Zero worker Edgar Galvis has finally received a compensation check -- for zero dollars, the New York Post reported Sunday.

The 51-year-old Queens man, who suffered sinus problems and then throat cancer after months of removing toxic debris from the World Financial Center, was relieved to get a check in the mail for his court settlement with Merrill Lynch, whose offices he had cleaned.

But he was stunned when he saw the amount: $0.00.

His award had been $10,005, but his lawyers at the firm Worby, Groner, Edelman & Napoli Bern lopped off $2,579 for unitemized legal expenses. Then they took a 33.3 percent fee of $2,124. They also subtracted $352, a fee to the lawyer who referred him.

The remaining $4,950 was withheld for unspecified "liens," the letter says. Galvis thinks this was repayment of workers' compensation for aid.

"I have hit rock bottom," said Galvis, who is jobless and $30,000 in debt. "I was expecting a check, and you can imagine how I felt when I opened it. I couldn't believe it. I thought it was a joke."

The father of two, who lives in Glendale with his fiancee and her two kids, said he had to sell his car and relies on relatives for rent. "I get collection agencies whenever I open the mail. What little credit I had I don't have anymore," he said.