SCHIP: The bill that will come back to haunt the GOP
Thomas Keister
September 27, 2007
I can honestly say I have never seen rats fleeing a sinking ship. This is in part due to the fact I am not a giant fan of boats, but that's not the point. I can also say, with equal honesty, that I have never seen half the rats run to the back of the boat and shoot the bow up in the air, but I think we all came pretty close on September 25, when 151 Republicans in the House of Representatives voted against the expansion of the SCHIP program. Despite 43 of 50 governors, hundreds of groups and organizations, and even the nation's largest insurance lobby all endorsing the bill, of course you would be right to assume that President Bush thinks the plan is bad news.
It would be nice to find out who it was on Pennsylvania Avenue that cancelled G-Dub's subscription to both reality and common sense, just to ask them if, in the long run, it was a better deal than saving fifteen percent on his car insurance by switching to Geico. The rats at this point don't seem to be fleeing the ship so much as they are jockeying for a better view of the boat as it sinks below the sea.
The vote itself was largely symbolic, as the majority by which it was passed will just make Bush's veto even more senseless when he drops the hammer. SCHIP, or the State Children's Insurance Program, has been a huge success since being introduced in 1997. The extra $35 billion the bill proposed would have brought SCHIP to $75 billion, or another 105 days of the Iraq War for Dubya. The nearly eleven million kids that would insure is too big a bargain to simply pass by, especially in the light of the latest money grab for Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert Gates' plea for an additional $42 billion and change to go with the $147 billion the Pentagon is chasing. The working wounded, these who make too much to qualify for Medicaid coverage but too little to pay for private insurance, would be far better served than the arrogant agenda of the Bush administration.
Those people in limbo get to hang there a bit longer, as Bush asserts the proposed expansion of SCHIP will result in children being covered in households earning up to $83,000 a year. Even Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the co-author of the bill and a well-established conservative, had to balk at the President's statement, calling it "factually incorrect." While Bush is in apparent mortal fear of complete government-managed health care for every American, the bill was neither the first step or a harbinger of things to come. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) claims that the bill is a "cynical attempt to make millions of Americans completely reliant upon the government for their health care needs," but that holds less air than the inside of Paris Hilton's head. Millions of Americans are already reliant on the government for health care, but the cynicism comes when it becomes apparent that the government in question is too busy trying to reduce the number of adults that qualify for health care benefits under the guise of "staying the course."
While the 151 rats swaying behind the Emperor Buffoon's flute was hardly surprising, the eight Democrats voting against the SCHIP expansion gave me moment to pause, notably my congressman, Rep. Baron Hill (D-Indiana). After having to regain his seat from a Republican, one would have to question why, on this bill, Rep. Hill and the other seven chose to fall under the sway of President Bush's notoriously flawed logic. It is a safe bet the Republicans will be hearing more on this vote when their seats come up, but it is sure money the Democrats would have preferred to have all their rats on the lifeboat and accounted for when the ship finally sinks.
It would be nice to find out who it was on Pennsylvania Avenue that cancelled G-Dub's subscription to both reality and common sense, just to ask them if, in the long run, it was a better deal than saving fifteen percent on his car insurance by switching to Geico. The rats at this point don't seem to be fleeing the ship so much as they are jockeying for a better view of the boat as it sinks below the sea.
The vote itself was largely symbolic, as the majority by which it was passed will just make Bush's veto even more senseless when he drops the hammer. SCHIP, or the State Children's Insurance Program, has been a huge success since being introduced in 1997. The extra $35 billion the bill proposed would have brought SCHIP to $75 billion, or another 105 days of the Iraq War for Dubya. The nearly eleven million kids that would insure is too big a bargain to simply pass by, especially in the light of the latest money grab for Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert Gates' plea for an additional $42 billion and change to go with the $147 billion the Pentagon is chasing. The working wounded, these who make too much to qualify for Medicaid coverage but too little to pay for private insurance, would be far better served than the arrogant agenda of the Bush administration.
Those people in limbo get to hang there a bit longer, as Bush asserts the proposed expansion of SCHIP will result in children being covered in households earning up to $83,000 a year. Even Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the co-author of the bill and a well-established conservative, had to balk at the President's statement, calling it "factually incorrect." While Bush is in apparent mortal fear of complete government-managed health care for every American, the bill was neither the first step or a harbinger of things to come. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) claims that the bill is a "cynical attempt to make millions of Americans completely reliant upon the government for their health care needs," but that holds less air than the inside of Paris Hilton's head. Millions of Americans are already reliant on the government for health care, but the cynicism comes when it becomes apparent that the government in question is too busy trying to reduce the number of adults that qualify for health care benefits under the guise of "staying the course."
While the 151 rats swaying behind the Emperor Buffoon's flute was hardly surprising, the eight Democrats voting against the SCHIP expansion gave me moment to pause, notably my congressman, Rep. Baron Hill (D-Indiana). After having to regain his seat from a Republican, one would have to question why, on this bill, Rep. Hill and the other seven chose to fall under the sway of President Bush's notoriously flawed logic. It is a safe bet the Republicans will be hearing more on this vote when their seats come up, but it is sure money the Democrats would have preferred to have all their rats on the lifeboat and accounted for when the ship finally sinks.
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