"The fault lies at the doorstep of the White House, the floor of the U.S. Congress, and with the leadership of both political parties," Kucinich said. "In fact," he added, "the Democratic Party itself must bear a large part of the responsibility for this national crisis, and the Democratic candidates for President have a moral obligation to be honest and direct with the voters about how they plan to deal with this issue -- something they have failed to do so far." He singled out front-running Democratic candidates, U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton, U.S. Senator Barack Obama, and former U.S. Senator John Edwards for "their failure to exhibit the kind of leadership on this issue that the American people deserve from someone seeking the Presidency."
This is particularly noteworthy because the President has vowed to veto legislation that the House and Senate passed (in different versions) that would resume progress in this area and shrink the number of uninsured children by 3 to 4 million.
In addition, on August 17, the Administration unveiled a controversial new policy that would force many states to cut back their SCHIP programs, forcing up to several hundred thousand more children into the ranks of the uninsured.
Joseph Heyman, M.D., an American Medical Association Board Member said, "Recent congressional action to renew the federal health care program for kids is a critical step to ensure that parents who work hard, but aren't able to afford health insurance, are able to get their kids health care coverage."
In a report released on Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau data revealed that the number of uninsured Americans has skyrocketed from 44.8 million in 2005 to 47.0 million in 2006. In addition to that high figure the Census Bureau reported that the number of full-time workers without health insurance rose from 20.8 million 22.0 million in 2006, and the number of uninsured children jumped more than 600,000 to reach 8.6 million after five years of steady decline.
Kucinich in a statement singled out the three Democratic candidates currently leading in national polls -- Clinton, Obama, and Edwards. "As the candidates currently drawing the most media attention, they have the greatest opportunity to use that bully pulpit to advocate sweeping reforms. Instead, for a variety of reasons that beg much closer scrutiny, their plans protect and preserve the roles of private, for-profit companies; and, in some cases, open the door for even greater profits at the expense of taxpayers and everyday Americans."
Kucinich's lawmaking history shows that he actually co-authored and co-sponsored legislation (H.R. 676) to establish a national, not-for-profit health insurance plan that would cover the medical needs of all Americans without premiums, deductibles, or co-payments.
The new Census Burea figures are the graphic evidence that the economic growth of the past few years hasn't been even. Apparently the figures show that the gains are concentrated among the highest-income Americans. While a staggering amount of low- and middle-income families are not sharing in the gains.
