Jon Stewart has left “The Daily Show,” but he has not abandoned one of the causes he championed during his 16-year tenure: the healthcare of 9/11’s first responders.
Stewart plans to lobby Congress next week to renew bills that sponsor health programs for the police officers, firefighters and EMTs involved in the 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attacks.
The news was announced by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) on Tuesday.
Honored Jon Stewart will join 9/11 heroes next week, but fact is, they shouldn’t have to walk the halls of Congress at all. #renew911health
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) September 8, 2015
Stewart has been a longtime advocate for first-responder health issues, most memorably when he brought four first responders to talk about the Senate’s filibuster of the bill in 2010.
Watch the clip, from the Comedy Central archives, below:
And the revolving door continues to turn–these poorly paid TV stars sell out for the big money and power of being a public-sector-friendly lobbyist. Pshah! Liberals!
Dear Jon,
Good luck buddy…but they always have more important things on their minds and bigger and more important things to tackle…like, you know, defunding Planned Parenthood or some other dumb shit.
Without your show to shame these fuckers, you’re just like everyone else on these threads and around the country, when it comes to these pukes. I assume you’re talking about the Pukes, right? Because Dems wouldn’t deny healthcare for these heros, would they? Well, we can scream all we want, we can poll 90 percentage-wise and upwards for many things we’ll never see happen, like background checks into guns for instance. But like most things now, it always comes down to one person, one vote. So, you’re gonna have to get a lot more involved in electoral politics if you want to move the needle in the direction you want, or fight to get a Congress that listens to the American people in general that agrees with you on this as well as other issues. Otherwise…not much is gonna change…but again…I wish you boatloads of luck.
Sincerely,
Just another Eeyore out here on the interwebs.
I remember that episode. It was quite obvious that Stewart was deeply upset (and rightly so) by how Congress was trying to sweep these actual heroes under the carpet.
It was a disgusting moment, and it saddens me deeply that Stewart would even have to lobby for an extension of healthcare benefits for these people. Blow through a few million on yet another pointless Benghazi investigation? No problem. Fund healthcare for American heroes damaged by one of the nations most tragic incidents? Naaaa, can’t find our way to that buddy.
I have very little faith that celebrities lobbying before Congress really has much of an effect. I’ll never forget when Colbert came and tried to not only educate them but shame them for their stance on immigrant labor. It had no effect, but they all loved it. Made them feel special that a big celebrity would grace their privileged little enclave of power. And it had a momentary effect getting some brief attention by the media to the issue…But no sooner than the spectacle of a celebrity lobbying Congress was over, the cameras were turned off, and the related show had aired…poof…into the ether it went. Out of sight, out of mind.
Washington continues to be Hollywood for ugly people, or so they say. I wish him luck, but unless there is a political price to pay for most of these pricks in office, nothing is going to change. It seems to be the nature of the beast. No one fights to do anything because its the ethical and moral thing to do anymore in government. Its all become a matter of ‘risk analysis’ in regards to their next consideration in running for office as an incumbent. Nothing else seems to matter to them anymore.
Yes! SHAME THEM ALL!!!