Massachusetts Democratic Representative Joe Kennedy III, on Thursday, from the House floor heartfully put forth his arguments against the American Health Care Act, the Republican repeal and replacement for Obamacare. Like his great-uncle Senator Ted Kennedy, Joe Kennedy III, also a privileged American, politically represents and speaks for the nations unprivileged.
Here’s what Kennedy said prior to the House passing the American Health Care Act:
“What this legislation does on its surface is very clear. It makes health care more expensive. And the more you need it -- the sicker or older or poorer you are -- the further out of reach it will be. That’s why doctors and hospitals and nurses and the mental health community and patients have spoken up and spoken out against this bill.
“But this bill doesn’t just cut coverage and hike premiums all for a tax cut for the wealthy. It codifies a worldview by this administration that is dead set on dividing America along the lines of the God of your prayers, who you love, where you come from, or your fate and fortune.
“We see it in their tax plan. In their budget cuts and immigration policy. And now in health care.
“It is a worldview that scapegoats the struggling and suffering. That sees fault in illness. That rejects the most basic universal truth of the human existence, that every single one of us one day will be brought to our knees. By a diagnosis we didn’t expect, a phone call we can’t imagine, and a loss we cannot endure.
“So we take care of each other, because but for the grace of God there go I one day. And we hope that we will be shown that mercy too. It is the ultimate test of the character of this country confronting our chamber today. Not the power we give the strong but the strength with which we embrace the weak.”
Kennedy, as well as so many others, including MIT’s Professor Emeritus Noam Chomsky, speaking on climate change and foreign policy, said “ has there ever been an organization in human history that is dedicated, with such commitment, to the destruction of organized human life on Earth? Not that I’m aware of. Is the Republican organization . . . committed to that? Overwhelmingly. There isn’t even any question about it.”
“We [also] see it in their tax plan. In their budget cuts and immigration policy. And now in health care.”
By Joe Kennedy III
