SUCKERS

Gosh, I hate politics.   By “hate” I really mean “love”.   On the surface that may sound a bit contradictory, but both feelings so innately passionate to the human heart are often times indiscernable.

I’ve been doing a lot of research on the web trying to find some details about the the 9/11 First Responders Bill and I’m having a devil of a time.   What i really need is to see the history of first responder health and punitive compensation:  how much has already been spent, how has it been allocated, who actually gets the money, how much do lawyers get, etc.   Maybe some solid medical science detailing pathology and causality relating to WTC dust illnesses.   And perhaps a layman’s understanding of how the moneys in this particular bill are to be allocated with accountability.   But I haven’t been able to find much.   All there seems to be is politiking by lawmakers, pundits, and muck-rakers.

99% of the vilification seems to land squarely on the shoulders of the feckless party out of power – the Republicans.   Evidently, they’ve been able to thwart the passage of the 7+billion dollar version of the bill for two years.   When you look back at what’s happened legislatively in that time it ought to make you wonder why this Bill wasn’t a priority for the Democrats.   If I were a skeptic I might think they saved the fight – complete with procedural hijinx – for the months and weeks prior to the 2010 elections.

I mean, come on, 7 billion?   That is such chump change compared to the TRILLIONS of deficit “stimulus” spending that occurred while this bill withered on the vine.   Appropriating a few billion here and there for such a noble cause should not have been difficult.

Me, I’m not buying the rhetoric that some politicians want to help sick first responders and some don’t.   It is such over-the-top character assasination as not to be believed.   Rather, I would suggest that NONE of them really care a hoot about any of the first responders and are playing them like they play everyone and every opportunity to gain a leg up in election year politics.

And what do we end up with usually?  Waste, fraud and abuse.

The bill that finally passed is only 4.3 billion.   What happened to the “need” for the billions excised from the original legislation?   Is there something more here than meets the eye or the smell test?   I suspect so.   Why would this be any different than any other spending program the government creates?

If you’re one of those people who’ve condemned Republicans for obstructing this bill, you owe them an apology.   The bill passed.   If you condemned them for not passing it, you must now commend them for its subsequent passage.    Yes?

What’s your complaint now?   Maybe you’d like to join me in a complaint against the media for not illuminating more of the content and process instead of choosing sides and shoving microphones in front of blustery, miscreant politicians bent on diddling our heart strings.

Accountability anyone?