While praising MO Republicans, Senator Kit Bond and Joann Emerson of Cape Girardeau for bucking party leadership to vote in favor of the SCHIP compromise bill, the SLPD (10/4) states that:
Just about everything the President and his surrogates have said about the bill is wrong. It does not cover illegal immigrants and upper income children. It is not designed to get families to drop private insurance and, instead get a free ride from a public program. Nor is it a “socialized type medicine”…as Dana Perino said last week.
To be perfectly clear, SCHIP was never intended to insure “poor” children, or kids living below the poverty level. It was developed to insure children of parents who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid and too little to purchase insurance on their own.
Perino’s socialized medicine argument, is rendered moot by the fact the several months ago, the Decider himself received, in the form of a colonoscopy performed by government
employed physicians at government run hospitals, a piece of the finest socialized medicine in the world. Indeed, as the SLPD states, “Mr. Bush will qualify for this same socialized health care for the rest of his life.”
And about the covering of children of illegal immigrants, Dennis Kucinich, the most liberal democratic presidential candidate voted against the compromise bill because he thought it should have covered the children of legal immigrants.
Finally the cost issue, as Eugene Robinson of the WaPo puts it so succinctly:
The cost of covering an additional 4 million children was estimated at around $35 billion over five years. That’s a lot of money. But in the context of a $13 trillion economy — and set against Bush’s history of devil-may-care, “buy the house another round” spending — it’s chump change.
The Decider, feeling a chill from the Hill, has offered to throw a little more money into the pot and call that a compromise. But Harry Reid has said that “We are not going to compromise” while calling The Decider’s offer to “add a little extra money” to the program an insult. Reid is not alone in standing firm. Recent polls show that 68% of Americans know that Bush vetoed the SCHIP compromise bill and 72% support the bill.
Any changes that may come to the bill in the area of overall cost or eligibility apparently will come only after a failed override vote. And to according to Republican, Phil English (R-Pa), “The changes necessary to get more Republicans on the margins are actually fairly modest”. And how about this from your good friend and mine, Roy Blunt who states bluntly “Five billion is not enough!” Charles Grassley sputters on and Orrin Hatch states the President has received bad advice. Right on pragmatic ones!
But wait! Here comes MO’s nattering nuisance, Sam Graves, with a KC Star op-ed published on 10/03 in which he holds forth:
This legislation that President Bush vetoed Wednesday would make it easier for illegal immigrants to get taxpayer funded health care. …would wipe away the current requirement for multiple sources of identification and require merely a name and a Social Security number to apply for benefits. The only safeguard would be a single statement that says no illegal immigrants can get benefits…
What does he want? Tattoos! Todd Akin is on this talking point also, referring to “little hidden gizmos” in the bill.
Sam Graves should be excused from the House in order to spend more time tilting at windmills, although I daresay the original tilter was an honorable man with good intent, while Graves may be somewhat short on knightly virtue. Ditto, Todd Akin. Kit Bond is looking somewhat firmer and Roy Blunt seems not at all convinced about anything. Maybe he’s just scared. Some gentle rallying outside his office could work to some good. Opinion is divided on whether or not Congress will override. We have two weeks to call, to rally, to make a difference.
Not to be overlooked, Dennis Kucinich’s vote against the compromise bill. I am sure his reasoning is correct, however he needs to vote to override the veto taking care not to end up siding with Bush.