As I noted earlier this month, GT joined 158 of his Republican colleagues to defeat a bill which created a fund for the 9/11 emergency responders who have health problems due to the toxic environment created by the collapse of the World Trade Center. At the time, GT hadn't explained his vote and I wondered which Clown Caucus approved talking point GT would point to if he was asked to justify his vote. This week at a townhall meeting in Philipsburg we got an answer to that question.
The fact is that the bill is very clear on both where the money is going and what it pays for. Both geographic and temporal eligibility requirement for receiving the money from the fund are clearly spelled out and a detailed list of health conditions which are covered by the fund are given. The one open area is cancer which takes a longtime to develop. Hence at this time there is no epidemiological evidence to tie 9/11 to cancer risks. You can learn more from this CBO report on the bill and the bill itself.
By the way,
Thompson said he understands what first responders experience in a situation, as he is a licensed Emergency Medical Technician and a volunteer firefighter.That's pretty fucking vague. And it looks like GT didn't do his homework on this one, since his excuse is not on the the list of Clown Caucus approved talking points (PDF). The closest item on that approved list of reasons not to vote for the bill is item #3. It must be tough remembering all those rationales for voting no.
He said he understands the emotional and physical trauma experienced but also said that the bill was not well crafted and he was concerned about where the money was going and what it paid for, which was not clear to him in the bill.
The fact is that the bill is very clear on both where the money is going and what it pays for. Both geographic and temporal eligibility requirement for receiving the money from the fund are clearly spelled out and a detailed list of health conditions which are covered by the fund are given. The one open area is cancer which takes a longtime to develop. Hence at this time there is no epidemiological evidence to tie 9/11 to cancer risks. You can learn more from this CBO report on the bill and the bill itself.
By the way,
...Thompson also briefly talked about the controversial mosque and community center proposed to be build in New York City near ground zero. He said that it is a local decision of the city and the federal government doesn't have jurisdiction over it. However, he also said that he didn't think those involved were respecting the pain and suffering that is still occurring there and that should have been taken into consideration.GT has a funny way of respecting the pain and suffering of those 9/11 emergency responders.
