Health Bill For 911 Personel

1. 59

   hottopicsposted 13 years ago

   
   APPAULING!!! I could use a lot of different words, but will settle for that one. So let’s understand, a genius  in congress tacked on an amendment to the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 (H.R. 847), called the Zadroga Act or Zadroga Bill. The amendment requires that ALL the heroes of 9/11 must submit that their names, places of birth, addresses, government ID numbers and other personal data must be run through the FBI’s terrorism watch list. Any of the responders who are not compared to the database of suspected terrorists would be barred from getting treatment for the numerous, worsening ailments that the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Law was passed to address. Rep Cliff Stearns (Fla), WHAT WERE YOU THINKING OF?  This is absurd .It’s silly. It’s stupid. It’s asinine. It’s comical at best, and it’s an insult to everyone who worked on The Pile and is sick and suffering from 9/11.
   
   Why is the bill important? At the World Trade Center site, the massive cloud of dust created by the collapse of the Twin Towers contained toxins including asbestos, mercury, lead, silica and polyvinyl chloride. While the full extent of the health consequences of exposure to the WTC dust is unknown, potential health effects include Obstructive Airway Diseases such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema or Obstructive Lung Defects such as Reactive Airways Dysfunction Syndrome (RADS), occupational asthma (WTC Cough), Sarcoidosis, Silicosis and Asbestosis. Various cancers including Mesothelioma may also develop from exposure to these toxins.  To date over 1,000 people have died from the effects of the 9/11 dust. When enacted, the Zadroga Act will provide $4.3 billion in funding, establishes the World Trade Center Health Program to monitor and provide medical care to people who develop health conditions caused by 9/11 toxic exposure, orders research of 9/11 related diseases. This law was passed in December 2010 and will go into effect in July 2011.
   
   As with Obama care this continues to show that the current administration wants to control all health care issues. This amendment must be repealed before July 2011.
   
   So if we allow this to occur, where will this end. Will the men and women of our armed forces have to submit their names before their wounds or rehab be covered; will all the responders and clean up personal from the BP disaster in the Gulf have to submit their name to be searched before receiving health care; will someone in a car accident need to submit their name; how about Americans who suffer losses from nature like flooding, earthquakes, forest fires, hurricanes have to submit their name before the government helps them? We do not ask criminals or illegal immigrants to submit their names to the FBI terrorism watch list. So why would Congress and President Obama who signed it into law make our heroes do this? We are better people than this.

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2. 76

   lovemychrisposted 13 years ago

   Why do you blame Obama?
   Stearns is a Republican, and it has been Republicans who have been blocking this bill in the first place!
   
   My geuss?
   This guy thinks some of the firefighters might be muslim!
   
   You word this as of Obama is behind this, he's NOT.
   DEMS are not either!
   
   It's the Repubs who should get your outrage.
   
   THEY are the majority in Congress now.....THEY are setting this agenda.

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3. 76

   lovemychrisposted 13 years ago

   I wonder if Stearns is one of the same ones who are making it harder to register to vote in Fla too????
   
   Maddow did a segment on it....sounds like this could be the guy.

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   1. 59

      hottopicsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Could be. But lets clear things up. While Stearns introduced the amendment he actually voted against it, as did most Repubs. Stearns caught greif from fellow Repubs it was a bad idea.  Dems however were for it and voted to keep it in. That was one of the reasons the Repubs voted no. As far as Muslims being firefighters, that would be highly unlikely. You see, you cannot be a NY firefighter without a birth certificate, cannot get a NY driver’s license either which is also a requirement to be a firefighter.
      HOUSE VOTE
      H.R. 847 [111th]: James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010
      
          Totals    Democrats    Republicans    Independents    All Votes
      
                  Needed To Win                
      Yea:    255    (59%)       
          243    12    0   
      Nay:    159    (37%)        4    155    0   
      Present:    0    (0%)        0    0    0   
      Not Voting:    18    (4%)        7    11    0   
      Required:     2/3 of 414 votes (=276 votes)
      (Vacancies in Congress will affect vote totals.)                  
      More information: Aye versus Yea Explained
      SENATE VOTE
      H.R. 847 [111th]: James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010
      
          Totals    Democrats    Republicans    Independents    All Votes
      
                  Needed To Win                
      Yea:    57    (57%)       
          55    0    2   
      Nay:    42    (42%)        1    41    0   
      Present:    0    (0%)        0    0    0   
      Not Voting:    1    (1%)        0    1    0   
      Required:     3/5 of 100 votes (=60 votes)
      (Vacancies in Congress will affect vote totals.)                  
      More information: Aye versus Yea Explained

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4. 76

   lovemychrisposted 13 years ago

   Ahhhhhh, a bagger. No wonder you blame Obama and the Dems...even though the House is Repub. If they didn't want this to go through, it wouldn't have. Dems don't have the votes to overide...unlike the Pubs in the Senate do.
   
   It is a majority Republican House.
   Dems can't beat Repubs.
   
   This went through because it was proposed by a Republican, and passed by Republicans.

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5. 76

   lovemychrisposted 13 years ago

   Funny how you didn't mention Stearns was an R in your OP.....
   
   In fact, you just plum blamed Obama.
   
   Now, is that honest?

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6. 76

   lovemychrisposted 13 years ago

   Well, no wonder. Now, it's coming back to me.
   
   "a bill was proposed to serve them as they had served us. It was to be called the James Zadroga 9/11 Health And Compensation Law, named for a NY City detective who died from a respiratory illness he contracted at ground zero.
   
   How did the Republicans respond? Did they rush to the floor of the House and the Senate ensuring swift passage?
   
   Absolutely not. First, they framed the bill as an "entitlement". The firefighters and law enforcement officers who we had been told represented everything that was noble in our culture were portrayed as looking for a handout.
   
   As the mess spiraled and everyone from Shepard Smith to Jon Stewart heaped much deserved scorn on their machinations, the Republicans played games with the lives of our most selfless citizens. They held them hostage to the extension of the W Tax Cuts. After the back door deals were done, the legislation finally passed. As it turns out, there was an interesting caveat in the law and it came from the office of Rep. Cliff Stearns.
   
   "The provision was added in an amendment by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) during the heated debate over the bill in the House Energy and Commerce Committee last May.
   
   Sept. 11 responders in the committee room at the time mostly shook their heads at the move, which Democrats accepted on a voice vote after battling to bar other amendments on abortion and immigration that might have killed the bill.
   
   But suddenly the point is no longer just a strategic concession to get a law passed.
   
   As doctors and administrators begin acting on the federal instructions, participants in the 9/11 treatment and monitoring programs will soon be told that their names, places of birth, addresses, government ID numbers and other personal data will be provided to the FBI to ensure they are not terrorists."
   
   There's the truth. And I remember that too---Everybody is a bum to Rebaglicans except rich people.

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7. 61

   dutchman1951posted 13 years ago

   The point of this should be that "ANY" Politician adding an admendment like this should be thrown out.
   
   Rep. or Dem. they need to be removed from the office.
   One is as bad as the other, and we are being taken, while we argue pointless as to which party is worse...they both are
   
   WE ARE BEING HAD people....forget party line
   
   and please think,
   Obama does not have line veto, so he signed it because he "is" in favor of those folks getting treatment. It was the only way to get the thing done.
   
   lets not turn this into a Franz Kofka novel..!
   (Sureal distortion) we have a Congress and Senate already pulling that kind of crap on us now guys. Don't fall in the trappings.

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   1. 76

      lovemychrisposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Please tell me how Dems are "having us".

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      1. 59

         hottopicsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         First, I am not a bagger or a Repub. I belonged to the union as a firefighter. I was the rep for my battalion. So do not make assuptions about someone you know nothing about. I believe in Honor and Honesty, that is why my writings are backed by facts and despite shoing you the facts you just spew you opinion, not facts. Once before you and I talked about an issue. I showed you facts backed by Gov.org. You based your facts on a newpaper article. Well, you did it again. Claiming you now rememberwhen all you did was cut and paste an article from a newspaper. You continue to claim that this law was passed by Repubs despite me posting the actual vote of the House and Senate from Gov.org. Gov.org also shows the vote for each member. It clearly shows Stearns vote NO. It is the Presidents job to not sign a bill that is terrible. But he did sign it. I know you blame the Repubs but it takes 2/3 majority to override a veto. There is no way a veto could have been overridden. The Repubs do not have enough votes even though you wrote they did.
         As to the issue of Muslims in the FD, it is highly unlikely. You must show a proper birth certificate and a NY drivers license which also would not be issued without a proper birth certificate. To head off you response, birther docs are not accepted in NY.( I am so happy that issue will die now)
         
         Dutch. You are right about the line item, but the line item cannot be used in laws. It only exists for the budget. Maybe the line item should be able to be used by the President to eliminate stupid issues attached to bills. But the easiest way to cure this problem is to make it impossible to add amendments to any bill. Each issue must stand alone and be voted on seperatly.

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8. 56

   C.J. Wrightposted 13 years ago

   First:
   The whole idea of a "Watch List" should scare the hell out of us all. Things like that often start with the best of intentions and end up being a civil rights nightmare. NO ONE, NOT EVEN THE GOVERNMENT CAN GARANTEE YOUR SAFETY, HEALTH OR WELFARE.
   
   Second:
   
   Why on earth would this need so much Federal Funding so long after the attack? What is NY doing? What is your Union doing?
   Workmans Comp? Health Insurance? SSI? How manytimes are you and I going to pay for this?
   
   I know this sounds harsh. Consider this, the US has nearly 1 Million Iraqi/Afghanistan Vets. Approximately 25% will return and be eligible for disability. We are already in a financial crunch across the Country. It's going to get worse.

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   1. 59

      hottopicsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Cj
      
      I agree, It should scare people. Problem is it does not effect many people so noone cares. Make all Americans submit to this before they can get health care and see what happens then. As for funding so long after the attack, as for me I did not develop the reswertory problems I have now right away. It got worse overtime but the doctors show that my lungs are very infected with toxins. And that was diagnosed before they knew I breathed the toxins from 911. There are many other cancers and lung illneses that take time to develop from the toxins. So far since 911 over 1000 firefighters who were thare have died from various illnesses cauced by the toxins. That does not count anyone else that was there.
      
      As for the union, they are not health care providers but they are strongly representing us to get help. SSI at this time will not recognize it as a disbility. They state there are not enough studies supporting what is happening to us. As for health insurance, I hit my lifetime cap so they will not pay anymore and I cannot get anyone else to insure me. I went broke financially having to pay for health service on my own. Now I am stuck with medicaid, trust me the system sucks. I cannot get good health care with Medicaid. They deny almost everything.
      
      I am not looking for a guaentee for my safety. If I was I never would have been a firefighter. Knowing what I know now, and all the health problems that have devloped, I would do it all again and not even blink an eye. I am honored to have served with all my brothers and sisters. I never had a problem knowing that I could have died at anytime while on duty. None of us want to die but we do our job with honor and accept our fate.
      
      I do not only honor the 343 we lost that day but everyone we lost that day as well as all the men and women in our armed services.

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      1. 56

         C.J. Wrightposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         That's a shame. How many derilicts are collecting SSI while the First Responders of NY get the run around. Wonder what Charlie Rangle and Hillary have to say about this? Wonder why the answer is to set up yet another Gov't bureaucracy? Clearly the long term health dangers of foriegn particles becoming trapped in the lungs have been known for years. Just look at the OSHA regs. What a shame.

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