This just seems crazy to me. Gloucester Times:
The state’s full congressional delegation, with the exception of Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, has written to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services backing a Massachusetts Fishing Partnership application for a three-year, $4 million grant for a project aimed at helping fishermen find their best fit for health insurance….
Brown declined due to the program’s funding source — “Obamacare,” Brown’s press secretary, John Donnelly, told the Times on Thursday…. According to Fishing Partnership statistics, the community outreach-based model and collective prevention efforts — whose “navigators” include Angela Sanfilippo of the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association — has helped reduce the rate of uninsured fishermen from 43 percent to 13 percent.
Yeah, it sure would be terrible to get Obamacare-tainted money to find health insurance for fishermen. Because God knows those guys are living high on the hog these days without a care in the world. Thank goodness we’ve got Scott Brown to stand on principle on things like this.
From Brown’s Facebook page.
I posted this in rebuttal, but who knows how long it will remain there.
Seattle Times
I hope Elizabeth Warren takes note and makes a major statement blasting Brown on issues related to the fisheries industry. The fishermen had a powerful advocate in Ted Kennedy. Scott is more of a show boat than a working boat.
…or try to take credit for and advantage of money from a law he didn’t support? I ask because many on our side have called out as hypocrites those who for example voted against the stimulus, but then brag about how they got stimulus money that was so important to their own states or districts.
Now we can use this to batter him in the North Shore, which went heavy for him last time around. This is him flipping off his base and we need to remind them he did this.
I would think the fishermen would appreciate Mr Brown’s efforts on their behalf with respect NOAA.
He can vote against jobs bills, health care reform, and effective regulation of Wall Street all he wants, but once the voting is done, he should accept the laws that are in place and do his best for Massachusetts. His grandstanding won’t change the law, all it will do is hurt people in Gloucester who could use help with health insurance.
$ 4 million to help fishermen FIND THE BEST FIT ??? Seems to me the money would be better spent providing the fishermen with health insurance. Just another waste of money. In my business we are contacted every year by many knowledgeable agents who help us find the best fit…no grant, no government, no problem.
Is it possible that things are different for fishermen?
…but four million dollars to “find the best fit”. Fishermen are human beings, so are the employees where I work, how different can their needs be compared to ours regarding health insurance? Isn’t that what “The Connector” is all about, finding the right policy, the right “fit”.
IMO it’s a waste of four million which could be better spent.
Fisherman do not work for companies but are independent contractors tasked with finding their own health care, thus under both Romneycare and Obamacare getting them help to find affordable insurance is essential.
What about painters, or dentists, or plumbers, or any of the numerous other independent contractors who require health insurance. Should we spend four million on every vocation which is populated by independent contractors?
Again I ask…isn’t that what exactly what “The Connector” is for?