GOP Threaten to Fillibuster 9-11 1st Responder HC Bill...

[Ritterin Sophia]

...and the 'Liberal Media' outlets fail to cover it at all.

Mediamatters.org

It was kind of a big deal.

The bill is officially known as the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 and is named after a first responder who died from a respiratory disease attributed to his rescue efforts on the morning of the Sept. 11 terror attack. The bill easily passed the House in September with a rare bout of bipartisan support. The bill's backers expected passage in the Senate, as well.

But yesterday, every Republican senator voted against the bill. The action was part of the GOP's obstructionist strategy of not allowing any senate action to proceed until the chamber votes on a bill that will continue to Bush era tax cuts, including those for the very wealthy.

The fact that the 9/-11-related legislation was defeated was news. Period. The fact that it was defeated as part of the larger Republican strategy to tie the Senate in knots made yesterday's vote even more newsworthy.

But not at ABC, CBS or NBC. Last night, all three evening newscasts failed to report on the fact that Republicans had voted down a previously bipartisan bill designed to provide medical coverage for Sept. 11 emergency workers. At the major networks, that development was not considered newsworthy.

That's pretty remarkable. But the larger point here is that Republicans are now practicing an unprecedented brand of obstructionism and they're doing without having to pay much of a political price. Why? Because the press is giving them a pass. The press is pretending what Republicans are doing is normal and everyday. It's not. It's radical.

UPDATED: Guess which show last night did cover the fact that Republicans voted down the 9/11 first responders bill? The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.

My disgust with the Republican Party and the so-called 'Liberals' has hit a new low.

[open_sketchbook]

How the fuck do these republitard assholes even justify this to themselves? I can't even imagine the thought process here. It's like imagining how an alien thinks. The only way this actually makes any sense to me is if these people are actually, actively evil in the black hat and monocle sense of the word. I just can't see how doing this can be even remotely considered "right".

[D.Turtle]

You know whats even better?

Fox News covered this, blasting the Senate for failing to help these "american heroes" in a nice little segment underlaid with music and everything.

The only thing they didn't mention? That it was all the GOP Senators opposing it that caused it to fail.

Here is the post on Media Matters about it, including the video.

[wautd]

But the larger point here is that Republicans are now practicing an unprecedented brand of obstructionism and they're doing without having to pay much of a political price.

That's the worst of it. It SHOULD be political suicide for these assholes, but if the media isn't doing their job they get carte blanche

[JME2]

How the fuck do these republitard assholes even justify this to themselves? I can't even imagine the thought process here. It's like imagining how an alien thinks. The only way this actually makes any sense to me is if these people are actually, actively evil in the black hat and monocle sense of the word. I just can't see how doing this can be even remotely considered "right".

As I've said before, the GOP is reminding me more and more of the Goa'uld from Stargate, i.e. posturing egomaniacs driven by an insatiable lust for power.

[CaptJodan]

Last night's Daily Show pretty much reamed both the press for not covering this and the Republicans for doing what they were doing. You could tell that Stewart was visibly angry about this. So much so that he brought in some ill first responders to comment on the Senate's filibuster.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/1 ... 98114.html

Thursday night marked the final "Daily Show" of the year -- and the decade -- so it's fitting that Jon Stewart spent its entirety discussing something both near to his heart and tied an event that happened nearly 10 years ago: the 9/11 First Responders Bill.

Stewart has probably spent more segments this year on the legislation known as the Zadroga bill than any other topic. The bill would provide $7 billion in benefits for those who first responded on 9/11 and are now experiencing subsequent health problems such as cancer and respiratory disease. While it has passed in the House, Senate Republicans are filibustering it so that it doesn't pass in the Senate.

However, Congress did just agree on and pass the controversial tax cut bill that will give tax cuts to everyone including the very rich.

"Yes!" Stewart exclaimed. "That is astoundingly good news for firefighters who make over $200,000 a year."

Nearly pulling his hair out at one point, Stewart expressed his annoyance at "the party that turned 9/11 into a catchphrase" now blocking legislation to help its heroes. Adding to his frustration, none of the three major networks have covered the story in over two months. Surprisingly, Stewart realized this was a actually a job for Fox News, "the nation's leading source of 9/11-based outrage."

But how does the conservative network feel about Republicans blocking the bill? As Stewart showed, Fox news hasn't gotten one 9/11 first responder to talk about why they need the Zadroga Bill. in fact, only one network actually picked up the story in a meaningful way: Al Jazeera.

"Our networks were scooped with a sympathetic Zadroga Bill story by the same network Osama bin Laden sends his mix-tapes to!" Stewart said with frustration. "This is insane!"

In the following segment, which you can watch below, Stewart interviewed four real 9/11 first responders and heard their response to the fillibuster. Things get emotional, but it is a must-watch for anyone who cares to hear how Congress's actions are affecting the heroes of 9/11.
Story continues below

WATCH:Stewart's segment on the Zadroga Bill

I hope someone's listening. It's truly unconscionable.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Just to be perfectly clear, here; and please by all means correct me if I'm wrong...

Everybody's favorite bunch of spineless weak-as-water good-for-nothing Democratic donkey-hide doormats did go ahead and vote for tax cuts for the rich...

But, instead of actually playing their own filthy ball-game and voting on things like they said they would, the GOP is shouting "Neener neener, we said we wouldn't let anything go through if you didn't give us tax cuts for the rich, we never actually said we would if you did!"?


Why...

The FUCK...

Are they not being CRUCIFIED in the media?!


This shit just makes me want to fucking cry.

[spartasman]

It's fucking shameful that the first place most Americans hear the truth these days is from a show on Comedy Central.

[JME2]

This shit just makes me want to fucking cry.

I've become more and more certain that this country has jumped the shark and I fear for its future if insanity like this is allowed to continue.

[Thanas]

So Obama got essentially nothing on the tax "compromise". Not even this.

[ShadowDragon8685]

If this really was the "best deal possible," then we should've taken the worst deal possible and said "hey, pal, fuck you!" to the GOP and told them to take their tax cuts for the rich and cram them where the sun never shone.

[Lord Relvenous]

Man, this is fucked up. Jesus, this is ridiculous. My respect for Jon Stewart grows daily.

Maybe I can use this and how horrible it is to demonstrate to my parents that the Republican party is not what they want to be voting for. Really, I don't know who to vote for, as this is shit all around, but definitely not Republicans.

[lance]

Did the tax cuts get completely through? I thought it still had to go through the house and be sighned into law by the pres

[Soontir C'boath]

Did the tax cuts get completely through? I thought it still had to go through the house and be sighned into law by the pres

Yes, it was passed by the House this morning and we all know Obama will sign it.

[The Spartan]

According to Yahoo news he already has.

[Chardok]

Can a fillibuster be fillibustered?

[General Zod]

Can a fillibuster be fillibustered?

Not without 60 votes.

[Channel72]

I'm not even outraged with the Republicans. Really - at this point, this is the sort of sociopathic behavior I've come to expect from the GOP.

Rather, this story just makes me more angry, and more dissapointed, with the whole Democratic party and their infinite levels of incompetence and uselessness. Once again, they've basically been handed a situation which they can easily tap for huge quantities of political capital. And once again... they fail miserably to take advantage of it. Why isn't this story making headlines on MSNBC and CNN, the "liberal" networks? The Democrats seem to have no ability whatsoever when it comes to PR.

[Gandalf]

So, what's the point of this from the GOP? Is the idea that nothing positive is allowed to occur under Obama's watch?

Would any of the resident Republicans like to explain this?

[SirNitram]

So, what's the point of this from the GOP? Is the idea that nothing positive is allowed to occur under Obama's watch?

Would any of the resident Republicans like to explain this?

ANYTHING good that might happen for the next two years will make Obama look better. And they have declared their intention to make him a one-term president. Even with this disasterous tax deal, the majority of the voting public would still re-elect him.

The Republicans will do anything to stop Obama. Shutting down the government(Probably to the tune of billions of dollars.. Again...) for no reason, preventing the treaty to allow us to continue to inspect, monitor, and secure Russian nukes, not funding the military(IN THE MIDDLE OF TWO WARS!)... These are just things they can do. Even shitting on the heroes of 9/11, who they attached, limpet-like, to a decade ago, is acceptable.

It's not like the news networks would report it. Corporations run those, and they like Republicans.(To be fair, Countdown reported on this tonight.)

[kouchpotato]

I talked to a conservative about this before, his justification was that the money was federal. Pretty fucking dumb in my opinion, but there you guy.

[Gandalf]

ANYTHING good that might happen for the next two years will make Obama look better. And they have declared their intention to make him a one-term president. Even with this disasterous tax deal, the majority of the voting public would still re-elect him.

The Republicans will do anything to stop Obama. Shutting down the government(Probably to the tune of billions of dollars.. Again...) for no reason, preventing the treaty to allow us to continue to inspect, monitor, and secure Russian nukes, not funding the military(IN THE MIDDLE OF TWO WARS!)... These are just things they can do. Even shitting on the heroes of 9/11, who they attached, limpet-like, to a decade ago, is acceptable.

I can understand the propaganda line taken against tax policy, foreign policy, and other similar things. They can lie and bluster their way through just about any legislative debate. But how do you defend denying rights to "America's Heroes"? These are the people that the GOP spent the better part of a decade deifying.

Now it's a really bizarre political act of sacrifice, wherein the health of the first responders is traded for a better shot in 2012. But if they aren't seen to be hurting the first responders, the cost isn't really paid.

(To be fair, Countdown reported on this tonight.)

Yeah, after Jon Stewart spent the last week making noise about it. Way to go media!

[Haruko]

Did anybody see that ABC did a segment on this tonight and quoted/showed a clip from The Daily Show? It only took 2 1/2 months plus a segment from a comedy show to get that to happen, it seems.

[Jim Raynor]

Man, why are the Republicans so much better at playing this game than everyone who's supposed to oppose them? I mean, what the fuck! It truly is amazing how single-minded the GOP has gotten with its anti-tax stance, to the point where it's willing to turn its back on everything else that it supposedly stood for. Like morals, supporting America's heroes, and national security. The obstructionism is so blatant and babyish that it can't be believed. And somehow, people LET them get away with it.

The Right has spent the last two years portraying Obama as a weak-willed pussy on defense issues at best, and a Muslim/Commie/Nazi (who's also black!) Manchurian candidate at worst. Yet here they are, playing games with a fucking nuclear weapons treaty and he practically says NOTHING against them.

Remember during the 2008 election, when they took Biden's quote about how the world was going to "test" Obama with a "manufactured crisis" out of context, and used that as the basis for attack ads? Yet just recently Putin has said that Russia might build up its nukes if the START treaty doesn't pass. Of course Putin wants the treaty, and basically handed Obama a perfect piece of rhetoric. Yet he STILL didn't seize upon that shit.

Remember all that hope and change, and how 2008 showed the new generation taking over and rejecting Republican ideals and blah blah blah? Well the GOP turned things around real fast, didn't they? And it'll only get WORSE when the swarm of new Teabaggers take office next year. Fuck.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Man, why are the Republicans so much better at playing this game than everyone who's supposed to oppose them?

Because the GOP are a party of rabid, mangy curs and the democrats are a part of doormats and rabid, mangy curs with doormats slung over their backs that say "Hey, I'm a (D)oormat!") Nobody actually is opposing the Republitard party.

Remember all that hope and change, and how 2008 showed the new generation taking over and rejecting Republican ideals and blah blah blah? Well the GOP turned things around real fast, didn't they? And it'll only get WORSE when the swarm of new Teabaggers take office next year. Fuck.

The wind kind of got taken out of its sails when it turned out that not only was there nobody who actually was representing ideals and stances that people like me want, but those closest too it aren't actually even representing ideals and stances that they claimed to support.