Ohio Valley Politics

Once again President Bush is threatening to veto the SCHIP bill, despite the fact that the bill was changed to alleviate prior concerns with the bill.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — President Bush will veto a revised bill for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, the White House said Thursday, as the new plan doesn’t meaningfully address prior objections.

The revision still calls for a hike on tobacco product taxes to fund a $35 billion expansion over SCHIP’s current $25 billion five-year funding baseline.

"Of course [Bush] would veto it — in some ways this bill is worse than the previous bill," said Tony Fratto, White House spokesman. "It raises taxes on working Americans in order to move people from private insurance to public assistance. No tax increase of any kind is needed to fund this program."

Today’s proposal passed by a margin of 265-142, but still isn’t enough to override a veto.

Source: Bush threatens to veto revised health insurance plan – MarketWatch