Hey, are you a senior citizen who worked and paid taxes all your life but could use some help paying for your insulin? If he had his way, GOP Representative Rob Woodall of Georgia would wish you well with your diabetes.
“Hear yourself, ma’am. Hear yourself. You want the government to take care of you, because your employer decided not to take care of you. My question is, ‘When do I decide I’m going to take care of me?'”
He has huge cojones to say this to his constituent. He works for the government. The government is taking care of him. His future pension and health plan ensures he will never have to worry about having to choose between food and medicine.
On the clip, people were cheering when he said that. Pretty easy when you’re younger and can still work. I wonder how they’ll feel when they’re older and on a fixed income.
Watch the clip, and you’ll also hear this gem:
“If you want a socialized health care program, there are lots of places to find that. But, for your children’s sake, I beg you: There aren’t many places to find the freedom to succeed by the sweat of your brow like we have here.”
Not only would he wish you well, you can move if you don’t like how things work here. What a guy.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Spinny Liberal 
May 25th, 2011 at 1:03 AM
You know the GOP was not always so against Medicare….
http://lobotero.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/repubs-defend-medicare/
May 25th, 2011 at 8:17 AM
Interesting post, lobotero! 180° turn just because they hate him.
May 25th, 2011 at 3:47 AM
Great name for a plan, isn’t it?
May 25th, 2011 at 8:18 AM
Hahaha I rather like it. 🙂
May 25th, 2011 at 5:17 AM
This is the kind of thing that enrages me and if this insipid, rotten little man were standing in front of me I would pummel him into the ground (sorry, Kendrick, even I have my limits). Sweat of the brow??? BSSSSSSSS! Woodall and thousands of conservatives like him disown hundreds of thousands of disparate and disadvantaged individuals who will never get the opportunities he’s had. The American Dream? It has become impossible for large portions of our society to even come close to the American Hankering. Geez. This makes me want to spit.
May 25th, 2011 at 8:20 AM
The sweat of the brow was so over-the-top. As a Congressman, he doesn’t know what what that is, except for when he is dodging angry constituents.
May 25th, 2011 at 10:10 PM
i’m not a violent person either, but i’d hold him down while you beat the crap out of him, sds. 🙂 (see? it’s okay, because i ended with a smiley face)
May 25th, 2011 at 5:20 AM
And these are the same members of Congress who believe that the Feds should not spend a dime in Joplin, Missouri … well, at least not without corresponding cuts.
May 25th, 2011 at 8:22 AM
Oh I read that too! There must have been a full moon or something. The comments coming from the GOP have been especially crazy lately.
May 25th, 2011 at 6:30 AM
Whatever happened to the jobs they were supposed to create? As soon as they took their oaths, and did an about face.
What happened to all this compassionate conservative, family values that they are so good at spouting off?
May 25th, 2011 at 8:23 AM
Instead of jobs, we got abortion theater and unioin busting.
That only applies to the people who vote for them, I guess.
May 25th, 2011 at 7:44 AM
The govt isnt taking care of him, its his job. Thats like saying my employer is taking care of me. Why is it so wrong to think people ought to take responsibility for their own care?
This is a rather new (entitlement) concept.
May 25th, 2011 at 8:28 AM
Of course your employer is taking care of you. Without them, how will you eat and stay warm, safe, and dry? In exchange, we work. However, as unemployment statistics show, we’re not indispensable. I’m grateful my employer takes care of me.
Thanks for reading and commenting, John.
May 25th, 2011 at 10:12 PM
and exactly how do they take responsibility when the insurance companies are allowed to change the rules whenever they want? plenty of very responsible people are up the creek without a paddle through no fault of their own. what do we do, let ’em die?
May 25th, 2011 at 8:00 AM
All these politicians who have excellent health care benefits certainly love acting like working people shouldn’t be given any kind of support or its “socialism”. Which is part of the inherent problem here. Well off people with secure health insurance get to make the policy for people in an entirely different situation. That’s problematic. As it has been frequently said, “Democracy is not three wolves and 1 lamb voting on what’s for dinner.”
May 25th, 2011 at 8:30 AM
Thank you. When he retires, for him, it’s all gravy baby.
I love that analogy. 🙂
May 25th, 2011 at 8:05 AM
The problem is 50% who contribute nothing by paying no federal income tax are voting to force the other 50% to support them.
BTW we do not live in a democracy. If we did, everyone would be poor, because eventually the money runs out.
May 25th, 2011 at 9:32 AM
Hmm. Interesting. In 2008, the top 1% paid 40% of all income taxes. They also own the 40% of the country’s wealth. With that kind of money, they can hire some really smart accountants who can use every loophole to make them pay less.
May 25th, 2011 at 10:16 AM
but look at how skewed that is, 1% paying 40%. That 40 isnt what they were supposed to pay then they were able to reduce it through “loopholes” (code word for legal tax deduction), they paid 40%.
But why begrudge people their money? Its not like the stole it from you or me. It didnt used to be mine and somehow it ended up in their accounts. The wealthy have a lot of time, money, energy, education, and experience backing their wealth. Few people just have money.
May 25th, 2011 at 10:17 AM
What’s your solution?
May 25th, 2011 at 11:23 AM
50% who don’t pay any income tax is a high number. What’s your source on that? Besides they do pay sales tax on everything they buy so it’s not as if they’re deadbeats. Most of these people work to but they just happen to work for people who can’t or won’t pay them a livable wage.
Some of those people who don’t pay taxes anymore are the elderly who have already contributed to their share for the social programs they benefit from. Even if they wanted a job who would hire somebody over 60 and pay them enough to meet the needs of their high medical bills along with everything else?
You have rather a skewered view of what it costs to live on low and fixed incomes with goods and services rising faster that than benefits or wages.
May 26th, 2011 at 3:52 AM
“You have rather a skewered view of what it costs to live on low and fixed incomes with goods and services rising faster that than benefits or wages”
Frankly, you have no idea what I’ve been through. I’ve lost my job and been out of work for 2 years, that was 6 years ago. I have a family of 4 to support, my hand didnt go out. I had a mortgage, 2 kids, 2 car payments. Ive been there, and I know of that which I speak.
Don’t look down your nose at me like I’ve just been living with my silver spoon.
May 26th, 2011 at 9:11 AM
No unemployment benefits? That must have been hard.
May 25th, 2011 at 10:32 AM
My solution is employing the addage “give a man a fish…” We need to stop making poverty comfortable. We need to stop the hand outs and let people work and survive. Lets stop treating adults like dependant children.
I wrote on this not long ago, but I dont know you well enough to link to my page.
May 25th, 2011 at 10:41 AM
Would you end Social Security and Medicare? Or are you talking welfare?
May 25th, 2011 at 10:44 AM
I’m all for grandfathering in those currently elligable right now for those, but major reform is needed. Health savings accounts, and privatized SS similar to 401Ks.
The biggest problem with SS is people think its supposed to be some kind of retirement plan. It was never intended to be, and it used to be set right around the avg life expectancy. People were not envisioned to be collecting SS for 15-20 years.
May 25th, 2011 at 10:46 AM
I dont view health insurance as a right btw.
May 25th, 2011 at 3:14 PM
Sorry, but I don’t buy your crap. You seem to live in a delusional world just like the right wing loons, that are in Washington and on the air waves.
Privatize SS? If that happened it would go into the tank so quick, just like the 401s did.
May 25th, 2011 at 3:16 PM
Health insurance is not a right? You’d rather see people suffer and die in the streets? Get real.
May 25th, 2011 at 10:48 AM
Would this privatized SS be subject to market fluctuations?
May 25th, 2011 at 10:50 AM
it could, but doesn’t need to be tied to the stock market. It could be just earning interest in an account. I’m not a financial planner, but I know something could be done
May 25th, 2011 at 11:00 AM
OK. A lot of people have done the right thing and contributed to their 401Ks. When the economy tanked, so did their portfolios. Is it OK to look to SS for help then?
May 25th, 2011 at 11:12 AM
No, it isn’t ok to look for SS to supliment retirement, that is not its intended use. And because that has been it’s sought after use, people blame the system rather than their own financial shortcommings.
Many people lost a lot of money in the market, they lost because they sold in panics, save a few whose companies folded, but for the most part people paniced. The market will always rise long term. Sure, there are a lot of people who don’t have time to wait for it to grow again.
I know it sounds tremendously cold-hearted of me, but those are the unfortunaties (it’s a Barronism, ie words that don’t exist, but should) of life. There is a chasm of difference between propping someone up from a disaster, and continued abuse of a system. Welfare “loopholes” need more closing than do tax “loopholes”, in my opinion.
May 25th, 2011 at 11:26 AM
Sure, there are a lot of people who don’t have time to wait for it to grow again.
And until then (their death)? I think they can look toward SS because they paid into it – paying for the last generation, as we are paying for those on it now. It’s fine with me because someone has to take care of our elders.
May 25th, 2011 at 11:14 AM
BTW, my father lost over $1M worth of value between the housing and market crash, and we agree on these points.
May 25th, 2011 at 11:16 AM
Millionaires and billionaires don’t earn theirs by the sweat of their brow anymore. They earn it from the sweat of others. The same goes for the investor class that are lucky enough to hit the stock market right on enough good days while sitting at the computer in their jammies.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:15 PM
That pretty much sums it up.
May 25th, 2011 at 4:44 PM
It’s not that I’d like to see people die in the streets, I’d like people to stop being so used to others paying for their bills.
Democrats have created a “where’s my free stuff?” attitude, and now liberals have gone from gratitute to expectence. As if I owe some hand-out seeking loser my hard earned money. As if there are people who deserve my money more than I do.
May 25th, 2011 at 5:11 PM
John – Must be difficult holding that GIANT brush that you paint all Democrats with. A lot of your points have some basis in sound reasoning, but it sure slams the door on conversation when you start blasting the entire nation of Democrats and liberals. A lot of people are where they are right now simply due to a lousy economy brought on by the GREED of Wall Street and the stupid deregulation of the government loan agencies Fannie and Freddie. Things spiraled out of control, health care costs continued to rise, people lost their jobs. An economy that has a large number of unemployed, impoverished, underinsured, non insured citizens is not a healthy one. It’s in all of our best interest to stop being so damn partisan about the problems and start fixing them.
May 25th, 2011 at 5:54 PM
I realize I am generalizing to a point. However I have yet to meet a Democrat or a liberal who thought there were too many hand-outs. I have never met a Democrat or a liberal who didn’t think we shouldn’t increase degree and the scope of the welfare programs.
Now unless I just happen to meet only those who are in favor of hand outs, or my generalization, though broad, is accurate. Before people ask with an accusing whine, “how many liberals do you know?” I work in a very liberal democrat union job. In a station with 60 or so workers, I know of 3 conservatives. The rest are very outspoken and vocal about politics. I am openly referred to as the “piece of shit fucking scum-bag union hating republican”. I am not speculating.
May 25th, 2011 at 7:54 PM
Those who are extreme one way or the other have a tendency to slam the door. It’s OK and expected.
ETA: What they don’t realize when they’re doing that is they miss an opportunity to hear from people who might have ideas similar to their own. I believe that welfare should be a springboard and should be limited to about 2 years. 3rd and 4th generation welfare is unacceptable. I would love to see more welfare to work programs. Not exactly a liberal standpoint.
May 25th, 2011 at 6:40 PM
Don’t start insulting the Democrats and the Liberals intelligence. You talk about hand outs, how about all the millions the government gives the big oil companies in subsidies and tax breaks. Think about that. Stop denigrating the pour with your Republican rubbish.
May 25th, 2011 at 6:44 PM
“Don’t start insulting the Democrats and the Liberals intelligence”
C’mon, we both know that’s not possible.
May 25th, 2011 at 7:48 PM
Does it make you feel better about yourself to put an entire group of people down? If so, I won’t stand in the way of you bolstering your self-esteem.
May 25th, 2011 at 7:55 PM
With all due respect, I did not begin the barage of insults. I hope you don’t selectively chastize conservatives her.
May 25th, 2011 at 8:00 PM
That I do not. However, I did not see anyone here insult your intelligence.
May 25th, 2011 at 10:19 PM
i didn’t see any intelligence to insult. 😉
p.s. john barron, if you have the urge to respond to me, knock your lights out. however, be forewarned that there won’t be a reply, at least not from me.
May 26th, 2011 at 8:28 AM
Now, now my love. No more fuel to the fire, por favor. 🙂
May 26th, 2011 at 6:33 AM
Good to see you all making friends.
May 26th, 2011 at 8:39 AM
Of course. We have a big sandbox here.
May 26th, 2011 at 8:47 AM
I chose not to play this time. I didn’t want any sand in the eye.
May 26th, 2011 at 8:50 AM
Good call. 😛
ETA: Usually, if anyone gets sand in their eyes here, it’s retaliation. 😀
May 25th, 2011 at 11:19 PM
Spinny, thanks for sharing this. Rep. Woodall’s remarks are unbelievable and, when juxtaposed to the reality you point out, that Woodall will have a nice government pension and will never have to worry about food, medicine, etc, well, his comments become downright obscene. Mr. Congressman, WE take care of you, and you serve at our pleasure. And that pension? You’re welcome.
May 26th, 2011 at 8:29 AM
Yup we take care of them. I think he’s completely forgotten about that. Thanks for visiting, Chris! Great to see you again.