Avoiding the usual fanfare surrounding his previous three “vetoes” the Decider decided today to veto the SCHIP bill behind closed doors. In doing so he put fellow Republicans in the “line of ire” of voters who are overwhelmingly in favor of passage of the bill. In fact, several polls, conducted by nonpartisan entities, show that Americans want to cut funding for the war and increase spending on children’s health.
Providing the numbers in the Senate hold, there are sufficient votes to override the veto. Orrin Hatch (R ) Utah, a participant in drafting of the bill, states openly that he believes Bush has received poor advice, and encourages the House Republicans to vote for override. Senator Grassley of Iowa is equally forceful in his support of the bill. Amazingly, Kit Bond voted in favor of the bill and we hope he remains steadfast. The problem lies in the House and Speaker Pelosi has wisely tabled the vote on the veto for two weeks. She is going to go after the 25 votes needed in the House for veto override. Hooray Nancy!
Political ops are already underway. The DNCC launched radio ads yesterday targeting eight Republican house members who voted against the bill and who face tough reelection campaigns in ’08. One of these eight is none other than Missouri’s own, Sam Graves. Other naysayers in Missouri are Todd Akin, Roy Blunt and Kenny Hulsof.
An emergency rally has been announced for Thursday October 4 at 4:00 pm at the office of Kit Bond located at Hanley and Bonhomme in Clayton. Just to keep him pure by reminding him that it is his turn in 08.
As for The Decider, well he says he is open to compromise. Yes, we have heard that before. The Talking Point being offered seems to be the enforcement of the regulation from CMS that would require states to enroll at least 95% of children with family incomes below 200% of the poverty level before enrolling any other children. This regulation is particularly difficult to enforce, as it is nearly impossible for states to even identify all eligible recipients, much less pull them in for services. Carefully tied in will be the poverty level issue and the fact that some states have Federal waviers to fund children who come from families whose income is more than 200% of poverty level. Missouri has been funded at 300% in the past.
In the meantime, it is Kit Bond’s office Thursday, Oct 4 at 6:00 pm and for those of you who vote in his district and others, Sam Graves is the man to see. Akin, Blunt and Hulsof might also benefit from candid discussions with their constituents and all the rest of us on the issue of SCHIP.
if I can get out of the office.
Is there anything that people in the rest of the state can do to help put pressure on Graves?
Obviously calls from non-constituents won’t do much good. But if he’s targeted that means he’s vulnerable. More vulnerable than Tod Aiken. (btw I’ll e-mail people I know in Aiken’s district to have them call him tomorrow).
that the rally is at Bond’s office. For once he votes right and he gets harassed? (By the way, I’m pretty sure, he’s not up for reelection until 2010. Nancy Farmer faced him in ’04.) But the pressure on Graves is most welcome.
I live in the 6th District which (unfortunately) is Graves area. I called his office prior to the vote and his staff does not offer any explanation. They take your name, address, say thank you and goodbye. Graves is not going to back off his vote. He is spinning that this would give free health care to illegal alliens. Thats a lie but he’ll stick with it. He is also taking the Bush line that he wants poor children enrolled in the program before any extension of benefits is made. That is in reference to an impossible condition placed on the states to enroll 95% (Tonva mentions above) and that is never going to happen. Graves is in trouble this go round. He has never had a serious challenge to his seat and with Kay Barnes running a well organized and supported campaign he is likely to lose. I wish in earnest that he would reverse himself on this vote, but frankly his past record makes that very unlikely. He will lie about his reasons, attack (libruls-tax and spend-blather blather) and rely on the conservative rural media to come to his defense. But if the veto is not overidden and he is still a no vote, he is going to pay with his seat. The bad news is that the bill will fail, the good news is that Sam will along with it.
I found this on the Star’s site-
Original- http://www.kansascit…
Foes of health-care bill let down the children
U.S. Rep. Sam Graves has turned to red herrings and scare tactics to justify his callousness toward ill children whose families cannot afford to take them to a doctor.
The Missouri 6th District Republican went against most public opinion and the majority of Congress when he voted to deny medical coverage to low-income children through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
The 1997 law, matching federal dollars with state money, has helped 6.6 million children get coverage. The new legislation would allow 4 million more children to be enrolled, out of 9 million who do not have health insurance.
Unfortunately, President Bush followed through with his threat and vetoed the bipartisan bill, setting up a showdown with Congress.
Cheers for lawmakers who will vote to override in the face of unreasonable opposition from the president and some in his party.
Graves was joined in his “no” vote by Reps. Todd Akin, Roy Blunt and Kenny Hulshof, all of Missouri, and Todd Tiahrt of Kansas.
These recalcitrant lawmakers need to realize that the program reduces health-care costs because children can get medical attention before their problems are more serious and costly to treat.
Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback missed the vote. The rest of the Missouri and Kansas delegations voted for the bill, including Republican Sens. Kit Bond of Missouri and Pat Roberts of Kansas.
In explaining his opposition to the bill, Graves tries to feed the fears of Americans concerned about illegal immigrants swamping state services. He contends that children in the U.S. illegally will be able to enroll in the program.
He also contends that people will drop private health insurance in droves to get on the taxpayer-funded program.
Neither claim is rooted in reality.
The new legislation in fact states that no services are to go to persons in the United States illegally. There is less possibility of false applications for services in this program than in some others.
And the legislation contains safeguards to prevent families from shifting from private insurance to the government program. Most states, for instance, have waiting periods before people who had private insurance can access state children’s coverage. Applicants must demonstrate that they can’t get private insurance.
Congress should reject the insupportable arguments made by Graves and others. Those arguments are designed to appeal to a minority of Americans who believe, like Bush, that tax cuts for the wealthy are a better use of federal dollars than health care for poor children. It’s a sad way to think.