Mr. Obama Should Appeal To Non-Evil Coalition To Get To 60 Votes In Senate—Help For Unemployed Stripped From Stimulus

The Huffington Post is reporting that provisions helping  unemployed people maintain and acquire health insurance have been stripped from the Senate version of the stimulus bill.

From the report— ….law professor and health care author Timothy Jost noticed that the Senate had removed the House provision that would allow people 55 and over who are laid off to continue COBRA coverage at a subsidized rate until they’re 65 and eligible for Medicare. The House version also made folks who were laid off temporarily eligible for Medicaid; the Senate version strips that out, Jost found. Every one percent increase in unemployment throws more than a million people into the ranks of the uninsured.

It does not surprise me that Republicans want this taken out. (Or that maybe a few Democrats have also signed on with this idea.) I have no expectations of Republicans in Washington. Many are not decent people. I’m not interested in compromising with most of them. I’m not sure why our President wants to talk to them. Though I guess if Mr. Obama feels we should talk to Iran, a view I support, I suppose we can also talk to these persons as well.

If we can’t get health insurance for unemployed people in the middle of an economic disaster, when are we going to make progress on universal coverage? Are we just going to get nowhere on this issue for all time?

Since my Texas Senators are cold-hearted and do not represent me in any meaningful way, I called the office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and asked that these protections for unemployed people be kept in the stimulus bill. Mr. Reid’s office can be reached at 202-224-3542. I figure since Mr. Reid is a national leader that any American can give him a call.

I think people who kick other people when they are down are evil.  

I also called the White House comment line at 202-456-1111. I said I hoped President Obama would make sure that health insurance for the unemployed would be part of the final bill. I also said I don’t understand why he is trying to compromise with bad people.  

With 58 Democrats in the Senate, plus Al Franken when he is finally seated, and with Senate Republicans who retain some humanity,  maybe there is a non-evil coalition in the Senate that can help get the President to 60 votes on the big issues.

It’s more complex when talking about rank-and-file voters. People are often a muddle of good and ill. But many of these elected Republicans in Washington are just plain and simple bad folks. They gather up all the rotten thoughts and ideas people have, and bring them to the front and center. They filter out any decent thoughts that voters have.

If we can’t work around these people now, when will we ever be able to do so?