By Sherwood Ross
When it came to opening a new health center in his own congressional district, Republican Paul Ryan—yes, the same one who is denouncing Obamacare around the country—wrote to the Federal department of Health and Human Services begging for bucks.
While GOP vice-presidential hopeful Ryan today savages Obamacare as “irresponsible,” an editorial in the Nov. 1 The Nation magazine reports that on Dec. 10, 2010 Congressman Ryan wrote HHS “to recommend a grant application for the Kenosha Community Health Center Inc. to develop a new facility in Racine, Wis., an area within Ryan’s district.”
In his letter, Ryan declared, “The proposed new facility, the Belle City Neighborhood Health Center, will serve both the preventative and comprehensive primary health care needs of thousands of new patients of all ages who are currently without health care.”
“The grant Ryan requested was directly funded by the Affordable Care Act,” the magazine pointed out. The Nation’s editorial said Ryan’s letter “is a stark reminder that even the most ardent opponents of Obamacare privately acknowledge many of the law’s benefits.”
“Federally funded health clinics have long provided a broad range of vital medical, dental and mental health services to underprivileged communities across the country, regardless of a person’s ability to pay,” the editorial added.
To improve its coverage, the Affordable Care Act provides for a sweeping expansion of such clinics, including $9.5 billion for operating costs to existing centers and $1.5 billion for new construction.
Whatever he might have felt in his heart for the poor in Racine, Wis., as their congressman, Republican candidate Ryan is having none of that bleeding heart stuff today. On the campaign trail, he has been calling Obamacare “irresponsible” and part of “Washington’s reckless spending spree.”
Sherwood Ross is a Miami-based public relations consultant. Reach him at [email protected]
Sherwood Ross is an award-winning reporter. He served in the U.S Air Force where he contributed to his base newspaper. He later worked for The Miami Herald and Chicago Daily News. He contributed a weekly column on working for a major wire service. He is also an editorial and book publicist. He currently resides in Florida.
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