Healthcare Reform in the United States was necessary. Every political party agreed on that. Is this legislation perfect? No. But, every great bill and step forward in this Country had to start somewhere. This Bill is the start, the step, toward real reform.
Sunday night, after more than a year of debate about healthcare reform, the American people were about to witness a vote which would insure 32 million more people, end discrimination against those with pre-existing conditions, bring down health care costs and finally close the Medicare "donut hole." The last year of debate has seen the far right radicals, and tea party activists screaming as loud and as disgustingly as they could against providing help to those hit by the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. They worked hard to spread lies and fear but, Sunday night, the American people prevailed.
There were many highs and lows during the several hours of floor debate leading to the vote. But one of the lowest of the lows came from Tea-Party Republican, Virginia Brown-Waite, my opponent in November, once again showed publicly that her delusions know no bounds.
In just 45 seconds she managed to spew out several of the most outrageous lies in an effort to further panic the good people of the 5th District. She used her time on the House floor to punch out falsehoods saying everything from Social Security was being raided to warning seniors their doctors were going to drop them immediately.
Her remarks, while disturbing, were not surprising. You see, our district, FL 5th, has more people on Medicare than 11 states. In the last 8 years since Virginia won the seat nary a moment has gone by, whether on the floor of the House or ordering a turkey sandwich, when she doesn’t utter the phrase "for veterans and seniors." The problem this time is that this bill will actually help seniors. It helps the 26% of our children who are on food stamps. It helps the 15% of our men and women who are unemployed.
What she did was a blatant attempt to scare the voters into thinking she was on their side. Her comments, the other night, were as disgraceful as when she wanted to dig up the servicemen and women from their graves in Normandy and as ridiculous as when she wanted the President to ask her permission before accepting the Nobel Peace Prize.
For the past 8 years this rubber-stamp Republican has proved to be on the wrong side of every important issue. As the Democratic nominee who will face her in November, I plan to hold her accountable for her lies and replace her with a new generation of common-sense leadership that values results over rhetoric and puts people above politics. No longer does the loudest yelled lie and most ignorant screams of hatred win. This is the New America and we are taking our country back.
Visit my campaign website: http://www.JimPiccillo.com
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