Why is Dennis Kucinich likely to get re-elected in a cakewalk? Exhibit A: A new press release from Republican primary candidate Peter J. Corrigan (not the Democratic common-pleas judge of the same name), who is running to take on Kucinich in November for the 10th district congressional seat. While Corrigan rails against Kucinich’s change of heart about voting no on the health care bill, that “flip-flop” is being greeted with sighs of relief among much of his constituency.
Yet Corrgian’s statement says this:
- Corrigan
What is a Congressman’s SOUL WORTH? ONE Magical Mystery Plane Ride On Air Force One. What’s the price of admission on the magical mystery plane ride?
For CONGRESSMAN KUCINICH, it’s his principles, everything he has every stood for in his political career, a flip flop on pro-life, a vote for OBAMA’S health care reform, marriage with the insurance industry and last but not least, he betrays us!
Candidate Peter Corrigan of the 10th Congressional District wants to know, “What did they promise Dennis on his magical mystery plane ride? What could they give Congressman Kucinich to make him defy his constituents wishes and succumbs to political pressure in flip-flopping his vote on healthcare. Congressman Kucinich has built his political career on the backs of hard working Clevelanders, now turns his back on us.”
Make no mistake; Congressman Kucinich has lost touch from where he came. Mark this date, March 17, 2010, Congressman Kucinich no longer stands up for the little guy.
In fact, “the little guy” may have had more to do with Kucinich’s switch than any “magical mystery ride.” On Tuesday evening, about 50 demonstrators stood outside Kucinich’s office, ostensibly offering two opposing viewpoints. MoveOn and HCAN (Health Care for Americans Now) organized a group to urge Kucinich to vote for the bill, while SPAN (Ohio Single Payer Action Network) rallied in support of Kucinich’s longtime advocacy of single payer. But many of the SPAN bunch were quietly saying that Kucinich should vote for the bill as a first step in working toward a single-payer system. All agreed that the current health-care system isn’t working.
Rather than “defying” his “hard-working” constituents, Kucinich finally appears to have listened to them and stood up for them.
Neither Corrigan’s press release nor his website reveals his own position on health-care reform. If, like most Republicans, he believes in no reform, he’s the one that’s out of touch with the people of the 10th district. — Anastasia Pantsios
This article appears in Mar 17-23, 2010.
Sorry … I don’t agree. I am not insured and I don’t want this bill … Why should I be forced to fork my meager hard-earned money over to an insurance industry that repeatedly failed me when I DID have insurance
PS I live and work in Cuyahoga County and DK represents me. Also, none of the four adults living in this house want this bill either. We demand and opt out provision.
Sorry, but you’re dead wrong. Maybe that’s why you can’t charge anything for your paper…
This is the only thing I’ve ever read online other than ’64 And Counting… guess I’ll stay there
I’m a longtime supporter of both DK and single-payer, and I want to explode every time I hear someone say, “This bill is a small step in the right direction.” No, this is a continuation of the status quo that keeps putting insurance companies up on a pedestal and forcing us to suck their you-know-whats. The primary purpose of an insurance company is to make money, not take care of us. As long as we rely fundamentally and primarily on private insurance companies, profits will be put ahead of us.
And then this bill requires citizens to buy something from a PRIVATE company? Are you kidding me?? And don’t compare this to car insurance, because I don’t HAVE to buy a car. Bleh.
‘If, like most Republicans, he believes in no reform, he’s the one that’s out of touch with the people of the 10th district.’ — Anastasia Pantsios
i’m sorry anastasia, apparently you are out of touch with most republicans. i’m a precinct chair for the county party, a brand new ward leader, and i have yet to talk to a fellow republican who says that no reform is needed. almost all of us agree on the following reform proposals which congressman paul ryan just recently repeated and can be easily found by asking almost any republican(have you talked to any republicans?):
One, we should equalize the tax treatment of people paying for health care by ending the current discrimination against those who don’t get health insurance from their jobs—in other words, everyone paying for health care should receive the same tax benefits.
Two, we need high-risk insurance pools in the states so that those with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage that is not prohibitively expensive, and so that costs in non-high-risk pools are stabilized. To see the value of this, consider a pool of 200 people in which six have pre-existing heart disease or cancer. Rates for everyone will be through the roof. But if the six are placed in a high-risk pool and ensured coverage at an affordable rate, the risk profile of the larger pool is stabilized and coverage for the remaining 194 people is driven down.
Three, we need to unlock existing health care monopolies by letting people purchase health insurance across state lines—just as they do car insurance and other goods and services. This is a simple and obvious way to reduce costs.
Four, we need to establish transparency in terms of costs and quality of health care. In Milwaukee, an MRI can cost between $400 and $4,000, and a bypass surgery between $4,700 and $100,000. Unless the consumer is able to compare prices and quality of services—and unless he has an incentive to base choices on that information, as he does in purchasing other goods and services—there is not really a free market. It would go a long way to solve our health care problems to recreate one.
These four measures would empower consumers and force providers—insurers, doctors, and hospitals—to compete against each other for business. This works in other sectors of our economy, and it will work with health care.
the democrats love calling themselves the party of choice; but when the topic comes to schooling, taxation, health, etc.; they’re anything BUT the party of choice; in fact, the only choice i see them supporting is the abortion choice(but not for the fathers of course). republicans are much more the party of free choices, and i love us for that 🙂
let me quote paul ryan, for you:
‘Everyone understands that health care in our country has grown needlessly expensive, and that some who want coverage cannot afford it. The ongoing debate over health care, then, is not about whether there should be reform; it is about what the principle of that reform ought to be.’
please research your topics before writing, and you can ask me anytime for the republican perspective if you choose. i’d be happy to talk with you. thanks for your time and have a good one, and it’s not too late for you to support corrigan! 🙂 rick spiritshiva@yahoo.com
‘If, like most Republicans, he believes in no reform, he’s the one that’s out of touch with the people of the 10th district.’ — Anastasia Pantsios
i’m sorry anastasia, apparently you are out of touch with most republicans. i’m a precinct chair for the county party, a brand new ward leader, and i have yet to talk to a fellow republican who says that no reform is needed. almost all of us agree on the following reform proposals which congressman paul ryan just recently repeated and can be easily found by asking almost any republican(have you talked to any republicans?):
One, we should equalize the tax treatment of people paying for health care by ending the current discrimination against those who don’t get health insurance from their jobs—in other words, everyone paying for health care should receive the same tax benefits.
Two, we need high-risk insurance pools in the states so that those with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage that is not prohibitively expensive, and so that costs in non-high-risk pools are stabilized. To see the value of this, consider a pool of 200 people in which six have pre-existing heart disease or cancer. Rates for everyone will be through the roof. But if the six are placed in a high-risk pool and ensured coverage at an affordable rate, the risk profile of the larger pool is stabilized and coverage for the remaining 194 people is driven down.
Three, we need to unlock existing health care monopolies by letting people purchase health insurance across state lines—just as they do car insurance and other goods and services. This is a simple and obvious way to reduce costs.
Four, we need to establish transparency in terms of costs and quality of health care. In Milwaukee, an MRI can cost between $400 and $4,000, and a bypass surgery between $4,700 and $100,000. Unless the consumer is able to compare prices and quality of services—and unless he has an incentive to base choices on that information, as he does in purchasing other goods and services—there is not really a free market. It would go a long way to solve our health care problems to recreate one.
These four measures would empower consumers and force providers—insurers, doctors, and hospitals—to compete against each other for business. This works in other sectors of our economy, and it will work with health care.
the democrats love calling themselves the party of choice; but when the topic comes to schooling, taxation, health, etc.; they’re anything BUT the party of choice; in fact, the only choice i see them supporting is the abortion choice(but not for the fathers of course). republicans are much more the party of free choices, and i love us for that 🙂
let me quote paul ryan, for you:
‘Everyone understands that health care in our country has grown needlessly expensive, and that some who want coverage cannot afford it. The ongoing debate over health care, then, is not about whether there should be reform; it is about what the principle of that reform ought to be.’
please research your topics before writing, and you can ask me anytime for the republican perspective if you choose. i’d be happy to talk with you. thanks for your time and have a good one, and it’s not too late for you to support corrigan! 🙂 rick spiritshiva@yahoo.com
Anastasia,
I found the following on Peter Corrigan’s website (http://corriganforcongress.com/press.php) regarding healthcare (under press releases => positions);
V.HEALTH CARE
Health Care – No one disagrees that we should have a safety net for the uninsured, but stripping the entire system from its effectiveness is not a solution. At the proposed penalty levels for not maintaining private insurance (8%), most businesses will gladly immediately eliminate their private coverage, adding hugely to the government burden. And we will bankrupt ourselves within years, not decades. Instead, the system needs to be addressed in pieces, from increasing insurance competition across state lines, to addressing patient outcomes and providing for pre-existing conditions, to preventing overcapitalization of scarce resources, to streamlining administration, to tort reform. All of these should be under consideration separately. I support strengthening the existing private market system with policies that will drive down costs and make it easier for people to purchase affordable insurance. The health care legislation that is under consideration in Congress does not accomplish these aims. We need a system that will not increase government spending and will not dilute the quality of care, especially for elders on Medicare. We can find solutions to the current problems faced by health care without overhauling the entire system and turning the keys over to government.
Dennis has always regarded money as something that people give to you because your poor. He has no concept of earned income and feels the govt at all levels exists to look for people who need money and give them. No one is poor because they are at fault, it’s always someone else’s fault There is a real difference between compassion for those in need and largess bestowed on someone because it is their “right”.
Those who have supported Dennis in the past will be disillusioned when they find that $500 Billion has been pulled from Medicare and their local Dr. has retired rather than fight with the new government bureaucracy.
Peter Corrigan, on the other hand, appears to be much more balanced in his outlook of our society. A first time candidate for public office, he has already made his mark in business and in the church and community. The key word is BALANCE. Any single issue candidate is an invitation to disaster as we have seen with Dennis, who is an embarrassment to many and makes our district the laughing stock of the media.
I didn’t want the bill and I’m in the 10 th district. I even voted for Dennis– that was the last time.
Anastasia Pantsios – Out of curiosity, are you a card-carrying member of Socialist Democrats Of America, like Comrade Kucinich? (True Dat: Look it up…)
If so, what motivates a US citizen to become a Socialist? Why do you hate freedom and love gubmint??
Is it an inability to earn a living wage? Simple class envy?? Or a failure of the education system (e.g. people such as yourself have no understanding of the US Constitution and what should be the LIMITED powers of the centralized federal gubmint)???
At any rate, watch what happens to Dennis! at the polls next November. He’s not weaseling out of this one. Seems as if you’re going to be even more shocked than Kucinich.
I’m guessing we’ll be treated to many more pro-Dennis! articles over the next eight months. Whistling in the graveyard is fun.
wow, republicans don’t like this. maybe you should not have tried to rape this country in every way possible. now we have information right at our fingertips and your propaghanda is no longer effective to the majority. you want to fight this. bring it on. 1% vs 99%. it sucks when no one listens doesn’t it. your time is over. i suggest you disappear because its just going to get worse. trials WILL be held and the people of this nation WILL hold those responsible for the lies that have resulted in our crashing economy, illegal war, and the division of our people. we cannot be broken, you cannot take anymore from us, and we are coming for you. so organize those skeletons and dust out those closets. every day another piece of evidence is found and another violent act is committed by your “followers”. what happens when your own start turning against you. we no longer desire the carrot. now we want answers, truth, and most of all, accountability. don’t worry, its coming.
What a joke you are. You’re trying to tell me that fifty demontrators outside Kucinich’s office provides a mandate for him to flipflop and vote for the healthcare debacle? At the time of the vote on healthcare, depending on the poll, between 65 and 70 percent of the American people opposed this excuse for “reform”. Dennis rode Air Force One, received some type of bribe, and spit in the face of that 65-70%. This free spending socialist has to go. It’s about time the Republicans fielded a credible candidate. Those in opposition to Obama’s healthcare have many ideas, but the media refuses to publicize them or enable a debate. They just rubber stamp anything Obama says he wants.
You also said, “On Tuesday evening, about 50 demonstrators stood outside Kucinich’s office, ostensibly offering two opposing viewpoints. MoveOn and HCAN (Health Care for Americans Now) organized a group to urge Kucinich to vote for the bill, while SPAN (Ohio Single Payer Action Network) rallied in support of Kucinich’s longtime advocacy of single payer.” This shows just how much of a left leaning extremist you are. How you can call these two organization, one of them very left leaning, the other very very very left leaning as two opposing viewpoints is beyond comprehension. One group loved Obama’s plan, the other felt it didn’t go far enough into socialism, and you consider this the two opposing viewpoints. Only someone as far left on the political spectrum as you are, could see this as two opposing viewpoints. Now you’d like me to believe that people opposed to the bill should have been standing around Kucinich’s office making a nuisance of themselves, or they had no opinion.