It was a so-called “scandal”-filled week for the Obama administration with Benghazi, the IRS and the AP dominating the chatter in the old, new and social medias. It was all red meat for Republicans and righties everywhere are drooling.
“Nothing dissolves the bonds between the people and their government like the arrogance of power here in Washington,” Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday. “And that’s what the American people are seeing today from the Obama administration, remarkable arrogance.”
Republicans will undoubtedly be talking about these “scandals” for months. But there’s a real scandal going on in Washington right now.
Republicans in Congress voted to repeal Obamacare for the 38th time on Thursday. And of course, the vote didn’t go down without a show.
“We see this coming just like the Titanic, we see that iceberg, only it`s not just in a mist,” said Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. “Shortly in front of our eyes, we have time to turn. And that’s why we are here. We’re here to make a turn from a train wreck.”
“It is a malignant tumor metastasizing on American liberty and must be ripped out by the rules and completely repealed,” said Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa.
But the Republican-led House is taking the phrase “do nothing” to a whole new level. Out of the 138 days so far this year, Boehner’s House has been in session for only 51. And one of those precious days was wasted trying to take away your health care.
It’s estimated since Republicans took control of the House in January 2011, they’ve spent 15% of their time attempting to repeal Obamacare. But Boehner is trying to convince Americans it’s about jobs.
“These are the thousands and thousands of pages of Obamacare regulations,” Boehner said Thursday. “And if we want jobs, we need to get rid of this because this is getting in the way of employers hiring workers around the country.”
But so far this year, there has not been one vote in the House on a jobs bill. Instead, it looks like the Republican master plan for job creation is taking health care away from 30 million Americans.
Meanwhile, there is another major health care story grabbing headlines this week. After undergoing genetic testing, actress Angela Jolie learned she had an 87% chance of developing breast cancer, and a 54% chance of developing ovarian cancer. With those odds, Jolie opted to have a double mastectomy in February. At this time, it’s still unclear whether Jolie will have her ovaries removed.
Jolie is brave but also very lucky. She had the means to undergo testing and take care of the problem before it got serious. But many Americans are in desperate need of health insurance. And it is literally a matter of life and death.
On May 11, msnbc host Ed Schultz asked for a volunteer with cancer, but no health insurance, to come forward and share their experience. And he found a perfect example of why Republicans should leave Obamacare alone.
Dan Seco, 26, is a freelance sports writer. He played by the rules his whole life. He worked hard, studied hard, went to graduate school and pursued a career as a freelance sports journalist.
As soon as Dan turned 26, he lost his health care, and as a freelance writer he didn’t have the money to buy private health insurance. Then after losing his health care, through no fault of his own, Dan was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma back in February. So now Dan is facing the monumental task of figuring out how to pay for his cancer treatment.
Dan wanted to appear on The Ed Show Saturday, but he is undergoing another chemo treatment. The Ed Show offered to go to his hospital room to tape an interview, but his doctors didn’t want to risk Dan’s health (editor’s note: Dan’s brother Kyle Seco, who is raising money for Dan’s treatments, agreed to appear in his place on Saturday’s The Ed Show).
But Dan really felt it was important to tell you his story, so he called The Ed Schultz Radio Show on Friday.
“I’m currently in the hospital right now, I’m undergoing chemotherapy treatment. I’m about half way through with my current regime,” Dan told Schultz. “I had health insurance up until my 26th birthday, which was last August. I was working for a travel company and I wanted to pursue my writing career full-time. And I took a little bit of a risk by not having health insurance, but I didn’t have any options really as a writer.”
Dan says he’s applying for Medicaid and relying on charity and the good-natured spirit of other people to help him out. Meantime, he and 30 million Americans are waiting for the benefits of Obamacare to kick in.
Dan’s story is like millions of other Americans. Thirty million people are waiting for Obamacare.
“I think I’m the model case for why Obamacare needs to pass and what it can do to help people in my situation, who are pursuing what they want to do with their life,” Dan said. “And they need the care that they can’t afford. You pay out of pocket for some things like a PET Scan that shows how much cancer you have in your body, $14,000. Who has the money to pay for that?”
Dan says he’s trying to comprehend why Republicans are spending so much time trying to repeal Obamacare.
“I can’t understand why someone would work against this type of policy, which is really going to make the lives of so many people so much easier,” said Dan. “Even I find out I’m better by August, who knows that happens a year later, two years later, further down the road. The bottom line is, I need health insurance.”
To learn more about Dan and to help him in his battle against cancer, click here and give what you can.
Steve Frank
Dan Noa