The Party of No

I get politics. I really do. There's a ebb and a flow to what politicians will support at a given time.

I especially get the minority party's attempts to slow down or block legislation the majority party wants to pass.

This might be particularly true during a lame duck session in which the minority party is about to become the majority party.

But blocking the 9/11 First Responders Bill? Why? What's the purpose?


The GOP has stood on the shoulders of 9/11 for 9+ years - strong on terror, counterinsurgency, strengthen our borders, more and more blank checks for our military ... but they can't approve of legislation to help pay the health care costs to the heroes of 9/11? Those selfless individuals who risked their lives to rescue those trapped in the buildings and sifting rubble afterward to look for survivors?

I realize Jon Stewart has done a piece on this that's better than anything I could do, but I want to point out the duplicity. The legislation would set up a $7.4B trust fund to pay the health care expenditures for the first responders. That's about what we spend for 40 days in Afghanistan.

And Republican Senators are actively filibustering this piece of legislation, which is completely paid for by closing a corporate tax loophole. Oh wait. I think I might have just hit on something there. Corporate.