So last night, we learned that the Republican party fought against equal pay, regardless of race, gender, age, etc., and fought against using college grants as an incentive to encourage community involvement and volunteerism. What else are they against? Let's take a look at the other pieces of legislation that the Obama administration has passed and how the Republican party feels about them.
On February 4th, 2009, Obama signed into law the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009, better known as the State Children's Health Insurance Program or SCHIP, which continued coverage for six to seven million children and increased that coverage to four million more. Republicans rallied against this legislation, stating that an expansion would “fund benefits for illegal immigrants,” not “cover poor children” and “push children with private insurance into state insurance.” However, illegal immigrants have always been inellegable for SCHIP, and expanding it did not open the door for them to be covered. In addition, experts stated that the rising cost of healthcare and the stangant payrate for most Americans means that people who are above the threshold for SCHIP are now unable to afford Employment Sponsored Healthcare, if they are even offered it, since many companies found it difficult to continue offering healthcare and stopped. Therefore, many more children have been placed in the space between qualifying for SCHIP and being able to afford insurance. This bill was the first step in the Obama administrations push to allow affordable, quality healthcare for all children, and ultimately, all Americans.
Then the Obama administration passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The US General Services Administration describes the act as follows: "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009. It is an unprecedented effort to jumpstart our economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so our country can thrive in the 21st century. The Act is an extraordinary response to a crisis unlike any since the Great Depression, and includes measures to modernize our nation's infrastructure, enhance energy independence, expand educational opportunities, preserve and improve affordable health care, provide tax relief, and protect those in greatest need." Below, I will post a link that allows taxpayers to see exactly where the funds have gone and what has been accomplished. But first, let's look at the Republican stance on ARRA: No House Republicans voted for this bill and only three Republican Senators voted for it. The biggest issue Republicans have with this is the amount of spending, especially considering the current deficit that the US is running under. However, economic experts have stated that without spending on our infrastructure, job creation, education, etc., we won't be able to work on lowering the deficit because our economy will continue to decline. It's the old saying, "you have to spend money to make money."
There are many more to come! I think posting 2 pieces of legislation at a time is enough! There's a lot of information out there and it's important to do the research before assuming that something is either wonderful or awful! Here are some links that may help in your own search. And later, I'll post more legislation.
US General Services Administration
recovery.gov
wonkroom.thinkprogress.org
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=56675
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