How is it six Senators from states that don’t have even 10 million people tell the people of the United States of more than 300 million that they can’t have the kind of health care they need?
Why are these Democrats and Republicans able to get away with this?
Sen. Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, a state with fewer than 1 million people, has given us an inferior health reform bill with no public option.
He may as well go work for the insurance industry now. Actually, he is.
The so-called six Senators of the Senate Finance Committee – not all even in favor – have produced an unacceptable health reform bill. The three Republicans apparently can’t go for even this weak bill.
Here are the Senators and the populations of the states they serve: Baucus, Montana, some 900,000; Chuck Grassley, Iowa. 2.9 million; Mike Enzi, Wyoming, some half a million; Olympia Snowe, Maine, 1.3 million; Kent Conrad, N. Dakota, some 630,000; Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico, 1.9 million.
United States of America: 304 million population. State of Ohio: 11.4 million population, more than all six of these Senators who are making this decision.
And let’s bring race into it, too. Because everything has the racial factor now.
Here are the figures for the number of blacks in the states represented by these six disappointing Senators:
Maine, 6,760; Montana, 2,692; Iowa, 61,853; North Dakota, 3,916; New Mexico, 34,343; Wyoming 3,711.
Essentially, white-dominated populations.
Ohio’s black population: 1.3 million; USA black population: 36.2 million.
Where is the rationale and reasonable representation in drafting a reasonable health care bill?
You won’t find it Wyoming, that’s for sure.
Links:
[1] http://li326-157.members.linode.com/content/another-abatement-turned-down-and-here
[2] http://li326-157.members.linode.com/content/roldo-bartimole-0
[3] http://li326-157.members.linode.com/content/any-pd-officials-rocking-politicians