Bush Vetoes Children's Health Insurance Bill

[Iris]

Twisted priorities; no funding for childrens' health care, but funding for war! :mad:

Bush Vetoes Bipartisan Children's Health Insurance Bill

By Tony Pugh | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Wednesday, October 3, 2007

WASHINGTON — In a move that will ignite a passionate political struggle, President Bush on Wednesday exercised his veto power for just the fourth time, rejecting a bipartisan bill to provide government health coverage to millions of low-income children.

Please see link for complete story:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/20180.html

[mary oleary]

another report...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14962685

To find out more about the existing SCHIP program
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/home/schip.asp

My understanding is that a new tax on cigarettes was proposed to fund the 35 billion dollars expansion of this existing program....

Does this mean it is not renewed at existing levels also?

[mary oleary]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12295329

This article explains some of the controversy

[frmmts2sea]

I think he's somewhat of an azzhole

[mary oleary]

Republicans like former House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois said the bill written by House Democrats expands the children's health program so much that it will substitute government for private coverage.

"Now we're sending messages to families across the country: Drop your private health insurance plans, the American taxpayer will foot the bill," Hastert said.

Democrats like Rep. Henry Waxman of California, however, said the Republican substitute proposal doesn't go nearly far enough.

"With the amount of money they're proposing, they won't even be able to keep pace with current enrollees," Waxman said. "They'd have to drop kids out of the program, let alone cover more of the children that need it."

But differences over how much to expand the children's insurance program are only the start of the dispute — although the expansion alone is enough to have drawn a veto threat from the Bush administration.

What angered Republicans even more is how the bill proposes to pay for the additional $50 billion that would go to the SCHIP program over the next five years. In particular, they object to cuts in spending for private HMOs and other health plans that serve Medicare patients.

Rep. John Shadegg, an Arizona Republican, said that makes no sense.

"So we're going to take money away from our seniors to give it to children in families where those families already earn $82,600 a year?" he asked.

(Read the whole article above- just pasted an excerpt..not intended as spin out of context)

It appears that the issue is raising income caps of eligibile families, taking funds from the elderly medi-care programs, raising funds via a "sin tax" , and displacing the private industry.

[Dodgergirl]

I think he's somewhat of an azzhole

Maybe you could come up with a better choice of words, like him or not (and I'm a definite NOT) we still need to follow the rules and refrain from name calling of any sort....