Last week I ranted to my students about Bush’s latest veto. In case you’ve had your head in the clouds for the past ten days or so, I’ll give you a brief update. Currently in America, there are nearly 9 million children who do not have health insurance. In most cases, these children’s parents don’t make a lot of money, and so they either can’t pay for the insurance that their jobs offer, or their jobs don’t offer any sort of plan for them to purchase. There has been an ongoing debate about healthcare in America, and it’s going to be and should be a hot topic for those candidates seeking the top position in our country.
Last week, the House and the Senate worked together to decide on a bill that would help to insure 3 million of those 9 million uninsured children. They proposed to increase the cigarette tax and use the additional monies from the tax to pay for the insurance. It’s not a perfect plan, but it’s a start. President Bush, who has only exercised his power to veto four times in two terms (the fewest of any president), decided to exercise his right last week. He said that the bill simply asked for too much money.
I am fortunate enough to have had jobs where health insurance was free or of little cost to me. My husband is also fortunate enough to have a job that offers good benefits, and since Katelyn has been around, we’ve found out just how great the healthcare benefits are at his job. So when I began to hear about children who died from common illnesses simply because their families couldn’t afford to take them to the doctor, I couldn’t relate. I was confused to say the least. But now, I am angry. I am angry because some lawmakers in the country tried to make a change in the system, and their top leader said that their concerns weren’t valid. And I am angry because members of Congress and Senate from this great state of Alabama also failed to sympathize with the millions who simply can’t afford, as hard as they try, to give their children the very best start. Finally, I am angry because when I wrote to an elected official and voiced concern for his actions and asked him to reconsider his position, I received an automated email response, telling me that he appreciated my note. I do not expect that these men will ever understand where the lower middle class and poor of this country come from, but because this is America, I did expect that they would stop for a few minutes and realize that sometimes taking care of the folks at home is important too.
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