Bush Vetoes another Children’s Health Insurance Bill

Posted by Jason Easley on 12.12.2007

10 million kids won’t be getting health insurance for Christmas.

Quietly and privately, President Bush vetoed another Democratic attempt to add additional funding to the State Children's Health Insurance Program. In his veto message to the House of Representatives the president said, "Although they claim to have made "substantial changes" to the legislation, H.R. 3963 is essentially identical to the legislation that I vetoed in October. The legislation would still shift SCHIP away from its original purpose by covering adults. It would still include coverage of many individuals with incomes higher than the median income in the United States. It would still result in government health care for approximately 2 million children who already have private health care coverage. The new bill, like the old bill, does not responsibly offset its new and unnecessary spending, and it still raises taxes on working Americans."

The tax Bush is referring to is a sixty one cent per pack increase on cigarettes. Notice that the president makes the vague assumption that the only Americans who smoke are working class. Bush also called on Congress to extend the current funding for the program. "Because the Congress has chosen to send me an essentially identical bill that has the same problems as the flawed bill I previously vetoed, I must veto this legislation, too. I continue to stand ready to work with the leaders of the Congress, on a bipartisan basis, to reauthorize the SCHIP program in a way that puts poor children first; moves adults out of a program meant for children; and does not abandon the bipartisan tradition that marked the original enactment of the SCHIP program. In the interim, I call on the Congress to extend funding under the current program to ensure no disruption of services to needy children."

However the Democrats know that they have public opinion on their side, so they are in no mood to compromise. "Let it be clear that Democrats will not rest until 10 million children in America have access to health care, and that it is paid for. Let it be clear that we will persist with this effort," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. She also promised to pass a bill that would continue the current funding level of the program, until a permanent bill is passed. "We will try to continue the negotiations with our Republican colleagues, but we will try to introduce legislation immediately that will cover the shortfall between now and the end of the fiscal year, September 30, and at the same time we will be working for the bigger bill. We want to protect the health care of the children who are on SCHIP now, and we're working to expand that to the 10 million children."

The Democrats have already won on this issue. President Bush has said that he is willing to put more money into the program than the five billion dollar increase that he originally proposed. What is going on here is that the Democrats know that no House Republican wants to go into the 2008 election being labeled as opposed to children's health care. The Democrats can afford to let the political pressure build, and then negotiate a deal with House Republicans that will give them a veto proof majority. The Democrats aren't going to get their 10 million new children covered, but they should get a substantial increase in the program. What President Bush was originally proposing would not have been enough to cover all the children currently in the program. The Democrats will win on this issue. The only remaining question is the size of their victory.

The Radio Show

Last night, George and I did a show which focused on the need for a third party candidate in 2008, the rise of Obama and Huckabee, and the destroyed CIA tapes. You can listen to the show by either clicking the link www.blogtalkradio.com/thepoliticaluniverse, or using the media player below.