The ad goes as follows:

Nurses and consumer advocates agree. The government should be protecting us from insurance companies, not forcing us to buy their products. Especially while insurance companies can still charge as much as they want and still deny you care when you are sick.

So why are politicians still calling for mandates? Forcing people to buy health insurance isn’t universal healthcare. It just means more profits for the big insurers.

Registered nurses value every patient they touch. They witness lives lost, care denied, families ruined by big insurance corporations. Nurses know there is only one real cure for our broken healthcare system. We ask the candidates to commit to the highest standard of quality care through Medicare for all Americans. That’s the real reform that puts decision-making power where it belongs – with you, your nurses, and your doctors.

Paid for by the National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association.

You can also hear the ad spot for yourself below.

I’ve included the entire press release after the break, but if you don’t read it I want to make sure you see the following paragraph. It really drives home the need for this.

Ohioans have died waiting for these benefits. Arthur Woolweaver of Cuyahoga Falls died of cancer before receiving his disability payments. When he was diagnosed he was told he must wait the five months before being able to collect the $1800 per month to which he was entitled. He died before he ever received his first check. Now his widow is unable to collect his benefits.

Wilson Introduces the “Social Security Fairness for the Terminally Ill Act of 2008”

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson (OH-6) today introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to eliminate the required five-month waiting period in the Social Security Disability (SSD) program for terminally ill patients. The bill is the companion to legislation introduced last fall by Senator Sherrod Brown in the U.S. Senate.

“It is unreasonable, even unethical that people who are dying and who have been approved for SSD still have to wait five months to receive their benefits,” Wilson said.

The current system stems from a law put into place to verify that the SSD recipients truly will not work again.

“I am a fiscally conservative Blue Dog and on its face such a law might seem like a good way to check for fraud. But, it doesn’t make sense to penalize the terminally ill. They should be able to receive their benefits immediately,” Wilson added.

Ohioans have died waiting for these benefits. Arthur Woolweaver of Cuyahoga Falls died of cancer before receiving his disability payments. When he was diagnosed he was told he must wait the five months before being able to collect the $1800 per month to which he was entitled. He died before he ever received his first check. Now his widow is unable to collect his benefits.

“Many people have been hurt by this system,” Wilson said. “I am proud of this legislation, which will waive this waiting period and ease the financial burden associated with terminal illness by allowing patients with life expectancies of six months or less to begin collecting Social Security Disability payments earlier.”

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.

Early this morning it was announced that there would be an entire series of summits on a variety of topics, including one on rural broadband. The series, titled Renew Ohio 18, will also hold summits on healthcare, agriculture, and alternative energy. Two additional meeting will be held in Zanesville to both start things off and wrap things up.

“As we all know, Ohio has been devastated by the loss of many jobs in recent years.A large number of the lost jobs have been in the manufacturing sector, where unfair trade deals have debilitated our region and our state.  I strongly believe that we must prepare ourselves to capitalize on opportunities for new industries and jobs.”

“I believe strongly that the time has come to undertake this endeavor.  No issue deserves our attention more than preparing ourselves to attract new businesses with the jobs that our residents so greatly deserve.”

– Rep. Zack Space

The full summit schedule can be found below. These events are open to the public, but I don’t have addresses or times for any of them. 

• January 25: RENEW OH-18 Ohio Kickoff, Zanesville, OH
• February 29: RENEW OH-18 Broadband Working Group Meeting, New Philadelphia, OH
• March 21: RENEW OH-18 Agriculture Working Group Meeting, Coshocton, OH
• April 11: RENEW OH-18 Alternative Energy Working Group Meeting, Nelsonville, OH
• April 25: RENEW OH-18 Healthcare Working Group Meeting, Chillicothe, OH
• May 23: RENEW OH-18 Summit, Zanesville, OH

“To say that I’m disappointed in the president’s second veto of the children’s health bill is an understatement. This Congress has fought hard to take this country in a new direction. We not only came to consensus on how to insure 10 million children, we fully paid for it. There’s no reason to not insure our children.”

Wilson also made the following remarks on his vote for the Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007 that provides tax relief for the middle class.

“Last week, the Senate passed an AMT fix, but the Senate didn’t pay for the tax relief and didn’t adhere to fiscally responsible pay-as-you-go principles,” Wilson explained. “I was proud to pass a second AMT fix in the House tonight that was once again, fully paid for.”

“This is the right thing to do,” Wilson said. “It is possible to pass a tax cut and successfully pay for it. If we continue to be blocked by Senate Republicans, middle class American families are the ones who will pay – and that’s not fair.”

You can find the full press release here.

You can listen to all the ads from this campaign here or just listen to the Chabot ad below.

And before anyone says it, I’d much rather have healthcare for children than a political talking point. But when life give you lemons…

For what it’s worth, I would like to thank the Republicans that have voted to support SCHIP.

DCCC’s Chabot Radio Ad (MP3)

In the release Jeremy Funk,  a spokesman for the group, had the following remarks on Chabot’s vote:

“No thanks to Rep. Steve Chabot, today 122,000 more kids in Ohio are one step closer to receiving the health care they need. Not illegal immigrants — not adults and children from high-income families.  These are kids whose parents work but can’t afford private insurance and are not disadvantaged enough to qualify for Medicaid.  Yet, plum out of excuses and grasping for straws, Rep. Chabot still stood with Bush over the thousands of parents in his district who go to bed every night praying their children don’t get sick or hurt.”

“Serious questions about Rep. Chabot’s priorities need to be asked. How is that that, without question, Rep. Chabot can continue to vote to give this President hundreds of billions of dollars for a failed policy in Iraq and then can turnaround and without justification oppose a fraction of that on healthcare for kids in need?”

Chart provided by "American’s United for Change"

In the release Space says:

“No matter how hard we try, it appears as though nothing will make a majority of House Republicans change their minds on providing health insurance to our children.

“I find it unconscionable to believe that, for the third time, a handful of Republicans would place their own political goals over the health and well-being of our nation’s children. 145,000 children in Ohio are at risk of losing their health insurance because Republicans are so eager to score points with the insurance industry. This is not only inappropriate – it is astounding.”

– Rep. Zack Space

As I mentioned earlier, the new compromise bill passed by a margin of 265-142 (the veto override attempt on the last bill had a vote of 273-156 and had a higher turnout). President Bush has already announced his intention to veto this bill as well.

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

Already there’s been some allegations from Republicans that this effort was planned to coincide with the absence of several GOP Representatives who are traveling with President Bush to California this week. This rhetoric of course forgets to mention one tiny little detail, the program is about to expire. You can officially throw out any hope that this time around SCHIP will be handled with any more decency than last time.

A recent Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll (h/t Political Wire) showed that American’s favor Democrats on healthcare by more that a 3-1 margin.

Read More: House Democrats Set For Vote on New Version Of Children’s Health Bill – washingtonpost.com