EJ Dionne; stop beating this child
Since the SCHIP bill was vetoed last week by an astute (finally) President and I had my say about the wisdom in halting irresponsible spending, I stepped out of the fight and deferred to much more capable bloggers who tore the Democrats’ to pieces. Bloggers like Michele Malkin, and Chickenhawk Express and Freeper ICWHATUDO who tore down the Democrats attempt to use a twelve-year-old boy as a poster child for President Bush’s veto.
Well, this morning, I got my hackles up when I read Washington Post’s EJ Dionne’s “Meanies and Hypocrits” Dionne wrote:
Okay, the Democrats are “fair game,” but a 12-year-old? No wonder nobody talks about compassionate conservatism anymore.
Um, show me one blog where anyone attacked “a 12-year-old”? You can find plenty of examples where bloggers attacked his parents who apparently spent their money “keeping up with the Joneses” instead of paying for health insurance – but no one has gone after the boy.
I made choices in my life that had to do with putting my children first while my own desires took a back seat. The major reason I stayed in the military after I became a father was to protect my family’s health, but the Army didn’t provide dental coverage for my family, so I paid for a dental plan. Know why? Cuz I just figured that it was my responsibility to my family. And I think people who don’t consider health insurance for their kids are just as guilty of child abuse as anyone else – and it’s not the responsibility of the federal government to parent for children.
I wish I could remember what blog had it – but someone listed the States that had like 40% of Schip recipients who were childless. What’s the “C” stand for again?
But Dionne continues along the child abuse vein;
The real issue here is whether uninsured families with earnings similar to the Frosts’ need government help to buy health coverage. With the average family policy in employer-provided plans now costing more than $12,000 annually — the price is usually higher for families trying to buy it on their own — the answer is plainly yes. All the conservative attacks on a boy from Baltimore who dared to speak out will not make this issue go away.
Maybe potential parents should take the cost of health insurance into account before they start a family – huh? I beat this into my son-in-law’s head after he married my daughter – it took some time, but he finally got it. Just before they got pregnant. Now they’re not destitute paying hospital bills for her difficult pregnancy – thanks to Gramps. Maybe there needs to be more people who aren’t afraid to coerce their family members into doing the responsible thing.
Again, EJ, we’re not attacking the child – we’re trying to impress upon parents that protecting their child is their responsibilty – not ours. It takes a village to point out the local idiots.
This is great.
“we’re trying to impress upon parents that protecting their child is their responsibilty – not ours. It takes a village to point out the local idiots.” Very well said.
By the way, do people really pay $12,000 a year for health insurance? Who? Right now we’ve got the most expensive we’ve ever had and it’s about $57/week. That’s less than 3K which I happily claim on my Schedule A.
I heard a guy on foxnews sunday saying that families pay $20,000 a year for health care. What numbers are they manipulating- or are they just making them up?
Jonn wrote: I’ve wondered about that, too. I don’t think I ever paid more than $300/month for health insurance.