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SCHIP Part Deux |
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Today, the House voted on, and passed, a new version of SCHIP, the hugely popular and successful program which provides health care to children who couldn’t otherwise afford it. Previously, as you may remember, Bush vetoed an earlier version of the bill and the House failed to override his veto by a slim 13 vote margin.
I’m getting a slight sense of optimism from House Democrats lately though, because it seems like they are finally beginning to do some things right. The new version of SCHIP will cover the same number of children (10 million) that the original bill planned to cover. It will also cost the same amount of money ($35 billion). The only difference? They stripped away Republican political cover.
That’s right folks. The Democrats didn’t back down. They showed some courage. They tightened their message and they put this issue back into the public eye, where Republicans can twist in the wind as they try to pull new excuses to vote against sick children from thin air.
The last version of SCHIP failed to pass override under misleading charges that the bill would cover families making over $80,000 a year and other such “travesties.” The new bill caps eligibility at three times the poverty level, or $61,950, and prohibits illegal immigrants or adults with no dependents from receiving benefits. In short, there are no longer any good excuses for Republicans to use to oppose this bill.
Suprisingly, or perhaps not, given Republican party discipline, the new version failed to pick up any new Republican votes. One Democrat, Bush Dog Gene Taylor, did switch sides, leaving only Bush Dog Jim Marshall voting with Republicans.
Not surprisingly, George Bush has threatened to veto the new bill as well.
As much as I feel SCHIP is an important and necessary government program, I’m also happy to see it being used as a political tool. Watching Republicans come up with reasons to oppose this new bill will be a lot of fun, because they know as well as I do that if they don’t pass it, their constituents won’t be happy.
