Stewart's main problem, as Rachel mentioned, is the lack of action from Congress. “I want to apologize to all the men and women, first responders, that you had to come down here today,” Stewart said at the rally. “I’m embarrassed that you, after serving so selflessly with such heroism, have to come down here and convince people to do what’s right for the illnesses and difficulties that you suffered because of your heroism and because of your selflessness.” The bill was initially limited to five years when it was initially passed as a part of compromise with Republicans.
Being from the suburbs of New York City, Stewart has always been a major supporter of those affected by 9/11 and the heroic first responders. Back in 2010, Stewart helped push Congress to pass the James Zadroga Act initially, which established the World Trade Center Health Program. In 2001, Stewart tearfully gave this opening monologue on The Daily Show, a major milestone in his career.
Like Rachel, I am also interested in how this affects the two congresses at work. It seems clear that Republicans want to limit spending on health care every way. They have proven that pretty often when this issue is discussed. Jon Stewart may also represent an enemy to Congressional Republicans, a high profile outsider trying to wield his influence against them. But you would be hard pressed to find many Americans who don't view 9/11 first responders as heroes. Republican leaders must realize that they would lose the support of their constituents if they take a hard stance against first responders, and Democrats could easily use that to gain seats in 2016.
This also interests me because of the common notion and popular gripe that Congress never does anything and there is incredible gridlock, rendering it useless. This extension appears to be something that should be popular on both sides of the aisle. “If they can’t get this done I don’t have a tremendous amount of hope they can get anything done, this is about as unassailable a piece of legislation as you can possibly have,” Stewart said. If this can't get bipartisan support, I wonder what can.
The bill already has much support on both sides, as many New York members of Congress stood with Jon Stewart at the rally. Members of Congress such as Kirsten Gillibrand are full support of extending the James Zadroga Act permanently, but leaders like Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell are slower to throw their full support behind it. This is the case for a couple reasons. One, Gillibrand is from New York, and it would be absolute political suicide to oppose it. Second, McConnell and Reid cannot deal with political absolutes as leaders of their parties. They have to worry less about representing their constituents and more about governing and party work.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/jon-stewart-lobbies-for-911-first-responder-benefits-on-capitol-hill/
http://www.dispatchtimes.com/jon-stewart-lobbies-congress-to-extend-zadroga-9-11-health-bill/95107/
http://blogs.rollcall.com/hill-blotter/911-first-responders-jon-stewart-push-for-health-care-benefits/?dcz=
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/17/nyregion/jon-stewart-joins-9-11-workers-in-pressing-congress-to-extend-benefits.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/253669-jon-stewart-9-11-victims-to-call-on-congress-to-extend-benefits
1 comment:
In my opinion, the rise of outside political voices like Jon Stewart is a political phenomenon. The rise and influence of such voices can be considered a response to the extreme bipartisanship in Congress. You touched on this when discussing the two congresses. In recent decades, media have always been important players in politics and legislation. Yet, this phenomenon or celebrities becoming political actors is much more recent. It's people like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert but its also celebrities as mainstream as Brad Pitt and Ellen Degeneres. Now a days, anyone with a voice and a media outlet can be a political actor and an influence on Congress. I could hypothesize why this happened but I think it's more important to acknowledge the influence people like Jon Stewart have and understand that it likely won't change soon. In many ways, members of Congress are beginning to understand this and work with these celebrities in order to further their own political agendas. What Jon Stewart did is done on a daily basis by so many outside political forces. As Congress continues to get nothing done, it's no wonder people tuned into entertaining and informative shows like The Daily Show, rather than brushing up on their local politicians.
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