Democrats can say anything they want. That’s what hypocrites do. But when it comes to the bottom line, they don’t have any principles.
Let me some up the opinion of ObamaCare by a Democrat who is now going to vote for it anyway:
- “I don’t know what there is for my constituents”
- It’s “a license to just steal money from people”
- ObamaCare is a “giveaway to the insurance industry”
- This bill is “not going to protect consumers from these rapid premium increases
- It provides “no guarantees of any control over premiums”
- It is “forcing people to buy private insurance”
- It’s going to result in “five consecutive years of double-digit premium increases”
- “I just don`t see that this bill is the solution”
- “The insurance companies are the problem and we`re giving them a version of a bailout”
- “This bill doesn`t change the fact that the insurance companies are going to keep socking it to the consumer”
- It results in a “giveaway to the insurance industry”
- “You`re building on sand. There`s no structure here”
- If we pass this bill, “all we`re going to have is more poverty in this country”
- If we pass this bill, “people aren`t going to get the care that they need”
So there’s ObamaCare in a nutshell, according to one of its converts.
Democrats are touting the “yes” vote of Deniss Kucinich as a great victory. They are saying that if Dennis Kucinich can switch his vote, then no Democrat who has held out for a public option should not similarly switch votes.
In a word, bullcrap.
Dennis Kucinich is a man without integrity or credibility.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH, D-OHIO: Anytime I can support the president, I’d like to. I just — except on this bill, I signed a commitment with 77 other members of Congress, saying that if there was not robust public option in the health care bill, that was presented to the House, I wouldn’t vote for it. I kept my word.
If you don’t have a public option, the insurance companies have a license to just steal money from people.
I wish that they brought that public option back — I supported it in committee. And absent of a robust public option, I don’t know what there is for my constituents.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
Hey, Democrats, if this is what you think “I kept my word” means, can I borrow ten thousand dollars from you? I promise to pay it back.
Okay. So Dennis Kucinich says he signed a pledge, which he has broken. And he praised himself for keeping his word, but now in hindsight he broke the very promise he praised himself for keeping. he said that the very bill he is now voting for amounts to “a license to steal money” and that it offers nothing for his constituents.
And now he is breaking his faith with his fellow signers, and abandoning his constituents to vote for a bill which he himself said amounts to an act of theft.
And that is a Democrat with principles.
Here’s another exchange in which Dennis Kucinich states his principled objection to an unprincipled and fundamentally flawed bill. From MSNBC’s Countdown on March 8, 2010:
Congressman Kucinich, as we`ve discussed on this show, you`re facing a two-vote — two-stage vote process in the House. First, vote on the Senate bill as is. Then vote for a reconciliation bill to correct everything that`s wrong with the Senate bill that you just voted for.
Will you vote yes for the Senate bill?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D-OHIO), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, keep in mind I voted against the first version of the bill in the House. I told the president twice in two different meetings that I couldn`t support the bill, didn`t have a robust public option and if — at least, if it didn`t have something that was going to protect consumers from these rapid premium increases. And you know what? The White House counts me as wavering.
The fact of the matter is, I listened to the president in your news story here, and to hear the president, you`d think that he was for single- payer, at least a public option. But he`s not. This bill represents a giveaway to the insurance industry, $70 billion a year, and no guarantees of any control over premiums, forcing people to buy private insurance, five consecutive years of double-digit premium increases.
I mean, I`m sorry. I just don`t see that this bill is the solution. The insurance companies are the problem and we`re giving them a version of a bailout.
O`DONNELL: So, did we just get a “no” there, Congressman? Will you vote against the Senate bill at the first stage of this process in the House?
KUCINICH: If that sounded like a “no,” you`re correct.
O`DONNELL: OK. Will you be comfortable if it turns out you are in effect the single vote that defeats health care reform?
KUCINICH: Every vote counts. And I`m one of 435 members of the House of Representatives. The White House has known my position. It`s not a secret. Democratic leaders have known my position.
You have to remember that I carried a single-payer proposal to three Democratic national conventions, three times to the platform committee, twice as a presidential candidate.
We need health care reform. We need Medicare for all. We need to join the rest of the industrial world in being able to provide health care for our people as a basic right, but the fact is that one of every three health care dollars goes for corporate profits, stock options, executive salaries, advertising, marketing across the paperwork. This bill doesn`t change that. This bill doesn`t change the fact that the insurance companies are going to keep socking it to the consumer.
So, you know, if the White House is ready to go back and have a robust public option as Jacob Hacker iterated with 125 million people being able to negotiate and knock down the insurance premiums, then we have something to talk about. But otherwise, you know, I need some — I need to hear more about what they`re proposing. And what they proposed so far isn`t anything different than I voted against.
O`DONNELL: Do you fear for the Democratic Party if there is no health care reform bill passed? Do you think that outcome politically for the Democratic Party will be worse than passing this flawed bill?
KUCINICH: I think the Democratic Party is in political trouble right now because we have 15 million people unemployed and we have another 11 million or 12 million people under employed. The economy is stagnant. We`ve given bailouts to Wall Street. We haven`t taken care of Main Street. We got — 12 million people could lose their homes this year and a quarter of the population is under water with their mortgage.
I mean, the economy is stagnant. That`s really the key issue.
Is health care a problem? You bet it is. Would it be helpful if everyone in this country had health care? Yes it would, but not in a giveaway to the insurance industry.
If you have $70 billion a year, put it into health care. You don`t have to give the insurance industry their cut because somehow, you know, they have so much influence in the political process. This bill that`s going from the Senate to the House is just another version of Medicare Part D which was a giveaway to pharmaceutical companies.
O`DONNELL: What do you say to the president and Democrats who say, let`s get this passed and then we can build on it with future legislation?
KUCINICH: You`re building on sand. There`s no structure here. You`re building on a foundation of privatization of our health care system. That`s the problem. The insurance companies are the problem.
They`re nothing to build on. We build our hopes on the insurance companies and all we`re going to have is more poverty in this country.
And people aren`t going —
O`DONNELL: Congressman Dennis Kucinich —
KUCINICH: — people aren`t going to get the care that they need.
O`DONNELL: Go ahead.
KUCINICH: Remember, insurance companies make money not providing health care. That is a fundamental truth about our health care system.
O`DONNELL: Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Democrat of Ohio, you have been consistent throughout this debate. Many thanks for your time tonight.
KUCINICH: Thank you very much.
Here is a video of Dennis Kucinich saying the above and more:
Of course, the skinny little weasel WASN’T consistent, was he? The moment it truly mattered, he broke his faith with the people, broke his word, broke his principles, broke his commitment.
It is an amazing thing that this man is held up as a model Democrat. These people must all be cockroaches for him to be held in esteem.
Dennis Kucinich couldn’t have been more clear in his denunciation of the Senate Bill that he is now voting for. It’s not a good bill, or even a bad bill; it is a terrible, immoral bill.
But when you are an unprincipled man from an unprincipled party, what do you expect?
Start Thinking Right 