SCHIP Veto Override Attempt Fails
The House once again failed to get a 2/3 majority required to override President Bush’s veto of the extension of the popular SCHIP program. The final tally was 260-152.
Congressman Zack Space released the following statement this morning urging his colleagues to support the program, citing the risk of an economic recession to underscore the urgency of the situation.
“This vital legislation will guarantee that 10 million children will have health insurance coverage no matter what happens to the economy, their parent’s employment, or the cost of care. We simply cannot allow our children to go without the health coverage they need simply to fulfill the President’s misguided political whims.
“Overriding this veto will send yet another clear message to the President that we need this program now more than ever. As our nation’s fiscal stability becomes increasingly tenuous, our families need to know that our government will not leave them high and dry.”
– Rep. Zack Space
The release points out that 81% of the American people and 43 Governors support the SCHIP program.
I have to say that I’m getting awful sick of people that receive healthcare on the taxpayers dime refusing to support healthcare for poor children. It seems to me that if those voting against this program are so opposed to government healthcare, they shouldn’t mind getting their own private insurance.
January 23rd, 2008 at 8:49 pm
We’ve been through this before.
It seems like if they were interested in passing the bill, they would scale it back to what has already been approved and what Bush has said he would sign.
There’s a time to admit defeat. The libs that are pushing this are more interested in politics than in helping kids.
January 24th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
I think it’s the Republicans that are unwilling to compromise on this. They’ve become used to getting exactly what they want over the last couple years and now they refuse to have it any other way.
January 24th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Currently, S-CHIP is tagged to cost $25Billion. The bill that Bush vetoed would have increased that to $60 Billion, MORE THAN DOUBLE.
In December when he vetoed it, Bush agreed to increase spending, but not by more than double.
The newest vote that you referenced was not a compromise, but an attempt to override the veto.
If the Dems (and some republicans) really are concerned with health and not politics, they could have come in with a bill that was lower in cost.
Where was the compromise?
Note that the president can’t change the bill, he can either sign it or veto it (or minor variations on a theme). Only Congress can change the bill.
January 25th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
I doubt we’re ever going to agree on this. I still think the program is worthwhile.
As for the compromises, I remember most of the early criticism of this bill involved insuring the children of illegal aliens weren’t covered. That was fixed.
January 26th, 2008 at 8:25 am
I think there is value to the program. Ecomonic level is the single largest indicator of projected academic performance according to the teachers in my life. Kids from poverty do poorly, kids from high income do well.
Medical care sends more families into poverty and the least we can do is help the children in these families.
The question becomes, how much should we (the tax payers) spend? If the program was good at $25B, is more than 2x better? Or more waste.
If the people complaining about this had gone back for a smaller increase (say $35B or $40B), they would have suceeded. Instead, they chose to stuck to their argument and they lost.
January 27th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
You know what, I agree. There is way too much spending going on right now. Let’s save some money and pull all of our troops out of Iraq right now. That should save a couple billion right there.
The point is that for Republicans to suddenly switch back into fiscal conservatives is hypocritical and ridiculous. This expansion details how it will be paid for, it doesn’t just give the cost. Furthermore, this program has been shown to save money by preventing states from getting stuck with the bill for unpaid emergency room bills (as I’ve said before).
I also doubt that the cost of healthcare has gone down any since SCHIP was created, I’m sure not all of this increase is going towards expanding coverage.
January 28th, 2008 at 7:21 am
How did the Iraq war come into this? Regardless of how we got there, we are there. If we pull out as you described, the vaccuum that’s left will be worse than before. An oderly government must be created.
“The point is that for Republicans to suddenly switch back into fiscal conservatives is hypocritical and ridiculous.”
Please note that there are some on BOTH sides that are trying to extend the partie. The spending is bi-partisan.
“Furthermore, this program has been shown to save money by preventing states from getting stuck with the bill for unpaid emergency room bills” - Ok, let’s just nationalize health-care and get it over with. In the past, I’ve not believed that was the agenda, but it seems like that is the goal after all.
“I also doubt that the cost of healthcare has gone down any since SCHIP was created, I’m sure not all of this increase is going towards expanding coverage.”
That’s correct. A large part was for increased coverage and some was for cost of living. A nice compromise would be to increase to cover additional costs and a modest increase for additional coverage. But 140% INCREASE?
Fiscal conservatism isn’t just about reducing spending. It’s about spending wisely. Sure, it’s only $60b, small compared to things like the Iraq war. The question becomes, is the increase necessary? Some of the people involved can buy medical coverage or (heaven forbid) pay for it themselves.
January 28th, 2008 at 11:13 am
The point about the Iraq war was that we’ve spent billions of dollars of it with little to show for it. As I’ve said before, we’ve probably lost track of enough of the war money to pay for SCHIP several times over. If these people were really interested in saving money they would have been up in arms then. Instead it just looks like their only interest is preventing the Democrats from keeping one of their campaign promises.