Nearly 20 days ago, I sent an email to Michele Bachmann to find out two basic things: first, if she could explain how she and the bipartisan group of supporters could compromise in order to get the SCHIP legislation passed and second, to see if she would be willing to sponsor or co-sponsor a bill increasing the SCHIP budget so that it meets the CBO estimate of $13 billion additional fund needed in order to keep the current level of coverage (as of now she supports a bill that would increase the budget by $5 billion thus kicking kids off the program that have been on it). I will give Michele the benefit of the doubt on the delay in her response given the sheer load of mail and email representatives must receive. However, the response I did get neither answered my questions directly or indirectly and recycled the same old crap she has been regurgitating over and over again. Michele doesn't have to agree with me on much of anything but I am no less a constituent than those who voted for her yet this letter demonstrates a clear lack of interest in anything those that would disagree with her would have to say.
The Response:
Dear **********,
Thank you for contacting me about the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.
As you may know, Congress is engaged in a debate about the future of healthcare in America and what should have been a proposal to extend affordable coverage for low-income children.
SCHIP is set to expire soon. This decade-old program offers states federal funding to provide health insurance for children in households that do not qualify for Medicaid, but cannot afford private coverage.
Unfortunately, the program has become politicized, and Congress recently passed legislation to expand SCHIP coverage beyond children, beyond U.S. citizens, and beyond those who are truly in need, and that is where the problem lies.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, several million SCHIP-eligible children are still uninsured. Surely, children in need should have the health insurance promised to them before expanding SCHIP further up the income ladder or using more of the program's limited resources for adults.
Here's my idea. Let's cover the kids first. Let's focus on children in need without access to health insurance, and fund SCHIP as it was meant to be. I've publicly supported legislation that would accomplish these goals and keep SCHIP moving forward to help those it was intended to help.
But some want to move SCHIP in the wrong direction. Under the bill passed by Congress and vetoed by the President, SCHIP dollars could be used to cover childless adults and more affluent families - in some cases, households earning up to $83,000 per year. It also changes current law to make it easier for illegal immigrants to get SCHIP funds.
Rather than focusing on low-income, uninsured children, a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study shows that more than 77 percent of children affected by this expansion already have personal, private health insurance. In other words, the bill creates an incentive that pushes kids out of private insurance into a government-run program.
Worse, this legislation makes SCHIP financially unstable. In order to appear fiscally sound, it gives children health insurance for 5 years, and then it cuts SCHIP funding by nearly 80 percent - a classic bait and switch that will cause millions of American children to lose their health coverage.
According to the CBO, the bill will lead to only 800,000 currently eligible-but-unenrolled children being enrolled in SCHIP by 2012. The sad fact is that it would be cheaper to give each of these kids $72,000 than it would be to enact this bill, and it would probably show healthier results.
Rather than playing politics with children's healthcare or scoring political points with radio and TV ads, I believe Congress should show the American people that we are here to solve problems, and I will continue encouraging House leaders to do the right thing by bringing up an SCHIP bill we can all support.
Once again, thank you for contacting me. Please keep in touch.
Sincerely,
Michele Bachmann
Member of Congress
Does it sound familiar? It should, it is almost identical to the press release she put out to the Star Tribune only two days ago! So, apparently Michele thinks so little of her constituents or their concerns that she would recycle press releases in the form of letters hoping they are too stupid to figure it out.
Playing politics Michele? You certainly wouldn't do any such thing now would you! Certainly you would never vote against legislation providing grants to firefighters then rush out to your district to get your photo taken presenting one of those grants, would you?
Certainly you would never have a strategically taken photo of yourself in the midst of a classroom of public school children at the same time you advocate scrapping the public education system as we know it, would you?
And certainly you would never visit a wildlife refuge whose funding you had voted against, would you?
This letter is an insult to me and it is an insult to anyone who hopes that when he/she writes or emails their representative that that person will respond with even the most basic answers whether they be in agreement or to the contrary. I recall sending several letters to Mark Kennedy and as I recall I never got something that had been released to the paper only days before. He and I rarely agreed on issues but he had the statesmanship to respond appropriately to concerns raised by his constituents. You continue to show that you are little more than a partisan hack spewing the platitudes of the far right conservative leadership. I can respect people such as Norm Coleman and Jim Ramstad despite disagreements but you madam I have little respect for as you show little respect towards anyone with whom you may disagree.
1 Response to "Recycled Crap! Is This The Best You Can Do?"
She recycled the same piece of garbage in the St Cloud Times.