Aaron Schock And Hypocrisy

Normally, when the words "hypocrisy" and "Aaron Schock" get mentioned in the same sentence, one would expect to hear another in the long litany of stories of how Schock votes against equality for the LGBT community while having sex with men himself. There's nothing wrong with Aaron Schock being gay, of course; it's the hypocrisy of being so anti-gay as a legislator that irks people. But Deirdre Hirner, the Democrat who's running against him in Illinois' 18th CD has a very different aspect of hypocrisy and Aaron Schock to share with us today. Below is a guest post she did for us:

There are some acts of hypocrisy so outrageous they cannot go unchallenged. They deserve our attention and our energy. At the top of the hypocrisy hierarchy are Republican candidates for Congress including my opponent Aaron Schock (R-IL 18), who have sworn to “repeal and replace” the health care reform legislation which will provide access for the uninsured and the uninsurable. Month after month, Republicans have shaken their fists and pounded the table in rhetorical fury to “government-run” health insurance, while they have availed themselves of-- guess what-- government run health insurance.

According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s website, the members of Congress “enjoy the widest selection of health plans in the country” through the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP).

The FEHBP has been tagged a “system of managed competition.” The federal government sets minimal standards that insurance companies must meet to participate in the program. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management then allows those participating companies, some 250 of them, to market their plans to approximately four million government employees. Sound familiar? Think Health Insurance Exchange – a transparent and competitive insurance marketplace where individuals and small businesses can buy affordable and qualified health benefit plans-- created under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

A total of 248 members of Congress, 209 in the House and 39 in the Senate, voted to deny you, me, us access to the exact same type of health insurance benefit program they and their families have. Hypocrites one and all!!

Are you as aggravated and annoyed as I? If so, its time to get up and do something. Ask your Congressman or woman who voted against the health care reform act, just as I asked Aaron Schock, to cancel their “government-run” health insurance. And, yes, they can cancel!! All they have to do is fill out Standard Form 2809 and sign their name on the line in Part F. But they would have to exhibit some real leadership and integrity-- and we all know that is not in the cards!

Visit our website at www.dontbeahypocrite.org. You can find out whether your U.S. Representative or Senator said NO to giving you the same access to health care as they “enjoy” and, if they did, download Standard Form 2809 from the website. You can then readily get it into their hands, giving them the opportunity to give up exactly what they don’t think we need or should have.

Snarky Howie Update

Whether you vote against Schock because he's a hypocrite on sexuality or a hypocrite on healthcare, it's just important to vote him out of office. There are whispers now that he has ambitions of running against Dick Durbin for the U.S. Senate when Durbin's seat comes up in 2014. Imagine how odd it would look if Kirk wins this year and then Illinois winds up with two odd duck closets queens in the Senate!