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Wayne Besen
PO Box 25491
Brooklyn, NY 11202
By a two-to-one margin, the House voted Friday to bar Medicaid and Medicare, the government insurance programs for the poor and elderly, from paying for Viagra and other medicines that treat sexual impotence in men.
"We provide drugs through Medicare and Medicaid that are lifesaving drugs; we don't pay for lifestyle drugs," Representative Steve King, Republican of Iowa, the chief sponsor of the measure said in The New York Times. Mr. King also said it was wrong to tell taxpayers that "we're going to take the money you earned on overtime to pay for Grandpa's Viagra."
Well, guess what? Grandpa votes. This is not an issue that many people will be vocal about, particularly in Red States. After all, few people besides Bob Dole have the courage to openly discuss such an issue.
However, Viagra has been a welcome lifeline to countless men across America. It has allowed them to reinvigorate their flaccid sex lives and restored intimacy in their limp marriages. This could really backfire on the GOP, as many hardcore Republicans secretly soften their support in the privacy of the voting booth. This certainly won't play well in the key swing state of Florida, where the average age is 175, and Viagra is more common than oranges and sunshine.
I find it ironic that family values politicians who want to preserve marriages are so quick to cut off a marriage-saver like Viagra. Following the Terri Schiavo debacle, I think the public really may soon wake up and realize that these primitive puritans want to control the lives and bodies of people from the cradle to the grave. Because they follow such a harsh version of religion, they hate pleasure and try to punish anyone who enjoys the finer things in life - such as sex with a member that actually works. Keep it up GOP - in the end it is your terrible party that will get stiffed.
I must sadly add, however, that in passing the invasive and cruel House bill, 100 Democrats joined with 185 Republicans to approve the measure, by a final vote of 285 to 121. These Democrats should be taken to task for their dumb efforts to show how conservative they are. What they did was not only draconian and backwards, it was bad for the Democratic Party that needs to distinguish itself from the blue nosed GOP. Keep it up Dems, and we will be in the minority forever.
Finally, is there any doubt that in the House, an institution full of old, crusty men, that many who voted for this bill are disgraceful hypocrites who take Viagra themselves? This reminds me of Rush Limbaugh condemning druggies while inhaling pain killers. Modern conservatives are nothing short of a miserable fraud.
6 Comments:
It is time to crush these Nazi pigs. I totally agree with you, Wayne, that there are many old farts in Congress on Viagra who voted for this. Just disgusting human beings.
I think its about time that the GLBT community started waking up to realize that when you have a huge number of democrats voting along with republicans on hateful legislation such as this, then maybe we as a group should start looking at the Green Party instead. Its the only political party that wholly supports full civil rights for all, including same-sex marriage. After that buffoon of a loser Kerry in last year's disgraceful show of nonsupport for our rights, do you really think we're going to see any radical change in our favor? I don't think so. Maybe we should all send this kind of message to those who vote along with republicans just to remind them that we too will forget [them] at the next election. With a stronger third party in place siphoning away votes from a bunch of politial careerists (in either major party) who don't have the guts to do the right thing let alone take our vote for granted at every election, then maybe this is just what they need.
Robert, Bayside, NYC Robertocucina@earthlink.net
posted by Anonymous, at
6/26/2005 11:12 AM
Mark W. why shouldnt they? It's a medical problem like any other; just because it's related to sex doesnt make it dirty, or unnecessary. Compared to Europe, this country is still very neurotic and retrograde when it comes to human sexuality.
posted by Anonymous, at
6/27/2005 10:04 AM
Not saying that going down to the Dominican Republic with a bottle of viagra is conclusive of sex tourism but...
posted by Anonymous, at
6/27/2006 9:57 AM
