Why Do Republicans Hate Heroes?

We all remember that life changing day, September 11, 2001. Fire fighters, policemen and other first responders, all put their lives on the line to help save Americans who suffered the worst terrorist attack in world history.

Hundreds of first responders made the ultimate sacrifice. Others suffered immediate injury, while many, over time, have developed rare illnesses, due in large part to the toxic chemicals they were exposed to in the air and on their skin after the collapse of the Twin Towers that day.

Many of these heroes of 9/11 were at the mercy of for-profit insurance companies, which limited or denied payment for their care or limited the amount of treatment they could get. This not only threatened their ability to be a productive citizen, but their very lives as well.

Early in 2009, the Democrats decided to help the 9/11 responders by putting together a bill to fund health care for first responders. After all their sacrifice, the Democratic representatives believed that the health insurance companies were wrongly denying care, and this was the least we, as a grateful nation, could do to say thank you.

When this bill finally came up for a vote in December, 2010, the Republicans filibustered the bill. They claimed that the $7.4 billion bill was too expensive and needed to be paid for through spending cuts. However spending cuts were written into the bill.
“The $7.4 billion would be covered by eliminating a loophole in the tax code that allows foreign corporations to use a tax break that was intended for U.S. companies only.” * **

But apparently the Republicans didn’t want foreign corporations to have to give up one of their tax loopholes just to pay for health care for our 9/11 first responders.

Eventually the bill did pass, but the amount had to be reduced to $4.2 billion before the Republicans would support it.

Why is it that when Republicans want to spend trillions of dollars on a war, we don’t have to find a way to pay for it?

Why is it that Republicans give a tax cut to large corporations, costing us hundreds of billions of dollars, they don’t worry about finding a way to pay for it?

Do Republicans really put more value on protecting their wealthy special interests, than protecting average Americans, like the people who risked their lives on 9/11? Sadly I think the answer is perfectly clear.