Not only is Ross stabbing all of us in the back, but he is stabbing many of his own constituents in the back by his shameless shilling for the opponents of Progressive Healthcare Reform in this country.
Indeed, in his own district there are many Americans who need reform the most:
Rep. Mike Ross, who grew up in this town of 3,600, about 100 miles southwest of Little Rock, represents residents such as 62-year-old Sandy Barham, a restaurant owner with a heart ailment who can't afford health insurance for herself or her employees.
"I can't tell you the stress of living on the edge, just wondering, 'Am I going to get sick?'" she said in an interview at the Broadway Railroad Cafe, where fried catfish with hush puppies is a popular feature. "I feel embarrassed, almost, when I go to the doctors and tell them I don't have insurance."
Many people here can't afford insurance, and the battered economy has made it harder for employers to provide coverage for workers. They're looking to Washington for help, and Ross, a conservative Democrat with a strong voice in the debate over health care legislation, says he's on their side.
Yet Ross stands ready to try to block passage of a House bill that, its supporters say, would provide exactly what Arkansas needs: guaranteed insurance and a wider choice of coverage at competitive prices.
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Ross definately has taken a page from the Republican playbook. He says he is supporting his constituents, but in the end he is fighting against reforming a system that is crippling his district. He uses the excuse of the budget deficit to shield himself, but even in that regard his hypocrisy is quite astounding:
"What we're talking about is containing the cost, slowing the rate of growth of health care down where it can grow at the rate of inflation," Ross said in an interview, "because if we don't, it's going to bankrupt this country."
Unless changes are made, Ross and six other Blue Dog members of the Energy and Commerce Committee say they'll vote against the bill this week, bucking party leaders eager for House passage by the end of July. The Blue Dogs are demanding guarantees that the legislation won't add to the federal budget deficit and would shield small businesses from a costly requirement to provide insurance.
Yet at the same time, the Blue Dogs also are seeking changes in the way rural hospitals and doctors are reimbursed for their services, which could substantially drive up Medicare and Medicaid expenditures.
So, Ross and his Blue Dogs want to make us believe that they are opposed to real reform because of cost, but behind closed doors do all they can to drive costs through the roof. Mitch McConnell and John Boehner would be proud of such a hypocritical, heartless tactic.
One cannot serve two masters and it is pretty easy to see who Ross really cares about over the suffering of his own constituents:
An array of politically powerful interests in Arkansas oppose the House bill.
Blue Cross Blue Shield, the dominant insurer with 75 percent of the state market, objects to a proposed government-run plan to compete with private insurers. The Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce also opposes this so-called public option and another feature that requires employers to provide coverage to workers or pay a stiff penalty.
Ross generally agrees with their positions, but has to decide how far he can go without alienating Democratic leaders and many constituents who likely would benefit from access to subsidized health insurance and an expansion of Medicaid, the state-federal program for the poor.
While Ross worries plenty about these groups who pay him handsomely to maintain the status-quo, the sad fact is that he is completely ignoring the citizens and small businesses in his own district, which has been suffering to shamelessly fight for those who would profit from the defeat of reform:
Ross' 4th congressional district covers the southern half of the state outside of Little Rock, with a third of it rural and the remainder dotted by towns including Hot Springs, Magnolia, Texarkana and Hope, the nearest town to Prescott with a hospital. Ross' 660,000 constituents have a median income of $29,675.
Prescott calls itself "The City of Progress," but the government seat of Nevada County is barely hanging on. Vacant storefronts dot the streetscape. Workers are losing employer-provided health insurance or paying more for it. An average of two in 10 residents have no health care insurance, and those who have coverage have seen their premiums skyrocket by 80 percent since 2000, according to data compiled by Ross' office.
Locally owned J.D. and Billy Hines Trucking Inc. has had to raise the deductible on its family policy to $2,000 to keep premiums, now $336 a month for employees, from rising faster. At her restaurant, Barham sometimes hears patrons talking about how they're going to afford prescriptions. "They'll say, 'I'm going to get half my medication," she said.
Of course, with his own healthcare provided by the taxpayers that he is so ready to cast aside Ross simply does not have to worry as much as the voters in his district whose incomes are down and whose health insurance costs are through the roof. He simply cannot approve of a bill that sets a goal of providing millions of folks who cannot afford it health insurance, even if they are within his own district. Unfortunately these folks cannot pay what the Lobbyists can, and we all know you gotta pay for the pleasure of a Blue Dog's company!! Yes, he himself sums it up quite nicely:
These issues worry Ross, 47, a five-term House member who's a former pharmacy owner and the grandson of a nurse. He said they're not fully addressed in the House of Representatives legislation, with its focus on providing insurance for millions of Americans.
"We are very committed to health care reform and making health insurance affordable and accessible," he said. "But we just think the Democratic leadership has gone about this the wrong way."
Really Mr. Ross?? Yes, it would have been so much better if the Democratic leadership would have taken a bundle from the very interests that profit from the status-quo and stabbed everyone else in the back. Fortunately not everyone is worried about how they can profit from pain like you. Your actions against your own constituents are the worst kind of hypocrisy imaginable and put you right in league with the very worst kind of Republican.
With friends like Mike Ross, who needs the Republicans?? It is very easy to see who Ross supports, and it sure is not his own constituents who need him to fight for them. Mr. Ross, your constituents need you, and your own greed is hurting the very people who are depending on you the most. I hope that makes you proud because no matter what letter is behind your name you are merely a Republican in sheep's clothing.
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