Voices In the S-CHIP Veto Debate

House Democrats are about 20 votes short of a veto-proof majority to override President Bush’s veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan, which means that at least 10 Republicans — if not more — would have to change their nay votes.

Although there are early indications that some GOP congressfolk are considering doing just that, supporters of the popular program and conservatives (at least the comparatively few who are speaking out) take starkly differing views:

* From WCSH-TV in Portland, Maine:

“20,000 Maine children don’t have health insurance, and child advocates fear that number will rise without additional funding.

“Child advocates spoke out against the veto at a press conference in Lewiston.

” ‘The fact is that what we spend in just one week in Iraq we could cover 800,000 children here in America for a year with health insurance,’ ” said George Christie with American’s United For Change.”

* From The Salt Lake Tribune:

“Vetoing a bill that would have expanded government health insurance for children probably didn’t do much to improve President Bush’s image.

” ‘It’s unfortunate. The CHIP bill is caught up in the partisan debate, a rhetorical debate, really, about the future of health care in this country,’ said Karen Crompton, executive director of Voices for Utah Children. ‘It really should be considered for what it is, an opportunity to cover more kids.’ “

* From conservative blogger Robert B. Bluey:

“While this issue certainly seems like a loser for Bush and congressional Republicans — you can imagine the headline, Bush Tells Kids to Drop Dead — it could also work to our advantage. After all, polling done after last year’s disastrous election showed that Republicans had lost their brand on fiscal restraint. It’ll take months, perhaps years, to earn back the trust of voters. Putting a stop to government-run health care, or at least the precursor to it, is a good starting point. SCHIP was meant for poor children and should remain that way.”

* Headline from blackvoicenews.com of San Bernardino, Calif:

“Bush S-Chip Veto Leaves 120,000 Inland Kids Behind In Health.”

* From Rick Casey in the Houston Chronicle:

“The problem for Republicans who will be asked to support the president’s veto in an override vote scheduled in two weeks is this:

“It’s one thing to run against Democrats.

“It’s another to run against little girls.”

* From The Intellectual Conservative:

“Government shouldn’t be in the business of providing healthcare. We should be encouraging people to become self-sufficient, not becoming more and more dependent upon government services. SCHIP was originally passed to provide healthcare to families making more than the poverty level. It was a bad concept from the start; families living above the poverty line shouldn’t be treated like they are living in poverty, otherwise why have a poverty line?”

* From Kevin D. Korenthal at SoCal Pundit:

“Looks like more ‘we’ve got to hurt you to help you’ politics from Democrats to me.”

* From a New York Times editorial:

“What’s driving much of the Republican response to the bill is the White House’s contention that expanding S-chip is “an incremental step toward the Democrats’ goal of a government-run health system.” The only word that conforms to reality here is “incremental.” S-chip is a tiny blip in the federal budget compared with Medicare and Medicaid, the giant government-financed health systems. House members need to think hard whether it is worth denying coverage to millions of uninsured children just to keep the blip a little smaller.”

* From a Minneapolis Star-Tribune editorial:

“We understand why conservatives balk at the expansion of subsidized health care. But the president’s objections are simply inaccurate. This is not some feckless Democratic scheme. It passed Congress with dozens of Republican votes . . .

“The larger puzzle in this debate is why every other advanced nation can give its children health insurance while spending far less than Americans do. SCHIP has been a practical, effective step toward solving that puzzle, and it deserves better than a presidential veto.”

* From Steve Benen at The Carpeterbagger Report:

“Perhaps more than any policy decision this year, the president’s decision to veto expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) was spectacularly dumb. It was bad politics, bad policy, and based on bad reasoning. Lawmakers from both parties, governors from both parties, medical professionals, and children’s’ advocates all agree that Bush’s nonsensical decision does nothing but hurt children.

“It’s striking, then, that Bush’s would-be Republican successors all agree with the ridiculous White House line.”