Blue Mass Group

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Ogonowski calls on Bush & Congress to Draft and Sign Responsible SCHIP legislation

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I received a press release today on Jim Ogonowski’s response to President Bush’s veto of SCHIP reauthorization legislation today.  In the release Ogonowski reiterates that he is not opposed to SCHIP but opposed to the loophole that does not prevent illegal immigrants from abusing the system when they are not eligible.  Yes Section 605 says that federal funds shall not be used. But there is no enforcement mechanism or mandatory identification requirement.  It is a section with no teeth.  Here is the press release.

OGONOWSKI TO BUSH AND CONGRESS: GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD, FIX SCHIP

Chelmsford, MA – Jim Ogonowski, a candidate for congress in the 5th district of Massachusetts, calls on President Bush, Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, and Harry Reid to go back to the drawing board and fix their mess on SCHIP so it actually helps the kids who need it most.

Jim Ogonowski said, “The current version of SCHIP is a bad bill. It actually hurts the same poor kids it’s supposed to help. This never should have gotten this far. Congress and the President should have done it right the first time. The current bill takes money away from poor kids and gives it to illegal immigrants or anyone else who wants to abuse the program. That is just wrong. Under this current bill no one is minding the store.”

One of the provisions in the current version of SCHIP would remove requirements to show identification or proof of being a US citizen.

Ogonowski continued, “I support SCHIP, but Congress screwed it up.  That’s typical of Washington and I call on Niki to stand with me and demand an SCHIP that actually helps disadvantaged children.”

The current fight over SCHIP is typical of the way Washington has failed us.  While the current version is a bad bill, the president’s reason for vetoing was all wrong – we must cover the most vulnerable in society.

Let’s stop this partisan bickering and let’s make sure disadvantaged children get the coverage they deserve.  Government can work for the people again.

Jim Ogonowski added, “Let’s expand coverage, let’s make sure that we cover all those kids who need it most, but let’s make sure we are not giving away the keys to the cash register when we do so.  If we want good government, there needs to be some accountability.”

“I am calling on President Bush and both parties in Congress to go back to the drawing board, work together, and give the American people an SCHIP bill that actually does what it is supposed to do – help poor children.” Jim Ogonowski concluded.

The Congress and President Bush must work with Congress to find a solution that covers children but does not open the program up for abuse.

This is the problem with the way Washington does business; everything is this or that, left or right, or Republican or Democrat. Politicians in Washington have now made children the victims of a broken system.  Congress is not working for us.

The politicians who do not support this program because they don’t want to cover every disadvantaged child are wrong and every politician who does not support protecting the program from abuse by opening it up to illegal immigrants is wrong as well.

It seems as though good government is a secondary thought in Washington these days. That is not what the American people want.

It’s time we change Washington as we know it. We have a Congress that is too controlled by special interests, plagued by scandal and focused on partisanship before people. Congress and the President should have done it right the first time.  Unfortunately, this is how Washington does business. For instance, earlier this year, Congress wasted our time when they tried to pass the same Amnesty Bill twice, despite the overwhelming objection of the American people.

Jim Ogonowski is not a partisan politician. It’s not how he thinks. It’s not how he operates. To Jim it’s only an issue of whether it is a good idea or bad idea for America and the people of this district. Jim will work with the Republicans and the Democrats to turn the best ideas into good legislation. This is the way government is supposed to be – working together to find real solutions.

Jim Ogonowski is running for Congress because he wants to change business as usual in Washington DC.

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Comments

  1. …because the child of an illegal immigrant might attend and become educated. Clearly, American born children should suffer and be denied an education because there is no enforcement mechanism for punishing illegal immigrants for enrolling their kids in school.

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    Let’s also cut the fire departments’ budgets. God forbid they put out a fire of a car or a home that belongs to an illegal immigrant.

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    The argument that Americans should be denied assistance because there is no provision to punish an illegal immigrant who might brake the law and enroll a child in SCHIP is asinine.

    • Because illegals do not deserve to feel the sun on their face.  I find it simply insane that this is how some conservatives think:  They rend their clothes and tear their hair out in anguish over the prospect that God's blessing may also fall upon the lowly or undeserved.

      At the end of the day, is it really worth all the ripped clothing and baldness? 

  2. From this article emphasis mine:

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    The worst, given voice by former speaker Dennis Hastert, a Republican from Illinois, among others, was the charge that the Democrats were opening the program to illegal immigrants. The National Republican Congressional Committee distributed that distortion wholesale across the country in a flurry of news releases playing to the same kind of nativist prejudice that sank the immigration reform bill. In fact, governors of both parties support the certification system included in the bill for assuring that families meet citizenship requirements; the governors know that too many legal residents have been wrongly disqualified because they could not locate their birth certificates.

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    Governors know it’s a fake issue, it’s just a disguised means of sinking SCHIP.  Nice to see Ogonowski and his minions using Karl Rove’s NRCC playbook to it’s fullest use.  Here’s an example:

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    Washington- Nancy Boyda today voted to make it easier for illegal immigrants to receive federal benefits under the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). By voting yes on House Roll Call 787, Boyda voted to reverse legislation put in place by the Republican Congress that would ensure only United States citizens could receive benefits under SCHIP.

    Not only does this legislation allow illegal immigrants access to government benefits, it also raises taxes on hard working Americans and drastically cuts Medicare for seniors to help pay for the expanded entitlement program.

    “It is irresponsible for the Democrats to put the burden of paying for the health care of illegal immigrants on the backs of seniors and hardworking American citizens. This approach will tie up funds needed to help U.S. citizens and our nation’s most needy children, and could eventually destroy our healthcare system,” NRCC Communications Director Jessica Boulanger said.

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    Sound familiar?

    • Governors know it’s a fake issue, it’s just a disguised means of sinking SCHIP.

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      The alternative Bush proposal expands SCHIP.  How is that “sinking it”?

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      A compromise bill is just what’s needed. 

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      Yum, you gotta love gridlock. 

      • The money is not there, like every other promise.  You can’t buy a car with a shiny penny.

  3. So he was against SCHIP before he was for it.

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    This says all I need to know about this candidate.  He is against health care coverage for children, but he makes an exception when the life of the candidate is in jeopardy.

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    Sad

    • He’s been against gutting requirements that would protect children and the program against illegals.  Those requirements were in the original SCHIP bill passed in the 1990s and have been removed now. 

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      It really is that simple.

      • Ogonowski was initially against it because it was Big Government, now he wants to expand it.  I make a post hopefully in the afternoon.

          • It was the FEMA post, and his discussion of big government:

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            SCHIP was originally intended to help poor children. Instead Congress worked to expand another big-government program that actually harms those working class children and families it was supposed to help. We all support helping poor children and families, but government seems unable to help those who need us. When I helped organize the largest airlift of aid in New Hampshire National Guard history to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, I saw firsthand how big government programs like FEMA don’t work for the American people.

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            In Eabo’s post he discusses wanting to expand coverage.

      • Are you afraid that if SCHIP passed as is that immigrants will be snaking into kids rooms at night and stealing babies?

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        Saying that Ogo is against SCHIP because he wants to protect children from illegal immigrants is retarded thought.

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