The president will give a radio address today and announce that he will veto the State Children’s Health Insurance Program bill. Here’s his phony reasoning, and Sen. Grassley of Iowa’s response.
Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, said Friday, “It is preposterous for people to suggest that the president of the United States doesn’t care about children, that he wants children to suffer.”
Ms. Perino said the president had a policy difference with Democrats in Congress because he did not want “additional government-run health care, socialized-type medicine.”
Senator Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican who helped write the bill, said he would reach out to House Republicans and urge them to override the veto.
“This bill is not socialized medicine,” Mr. Grassley said. “Screaming ‘socialized medicine’ is like shouting ‘fire’ in a crowded theater. It is intended to cause hysteria that diverts people from reading the bill, looking at the facts.”
The Dems are crafting a strategy to overcome the president’s veto. They have the votes in the Senate, but not in the House.
In an interview on Friday, the House Republican whip, Roy Blunt of Missouri, said there was “a 100 percent probability” that the House would sustain the president’s veto.
But, Mr. Blunt said, the coincidental timing of the vote on the child health bill and the request for money in Iraq “was not helpful.”
The Dems appear to be 20 votes short of an override.
Ms. Pelosi called Mr. Bush on Friday and said she was praying he would sign the bill.
But Mr. Blunt said: “I bet she’s praying for him not to sign it. The bill is all about politics. It’s pretty good politics for the Democrats.”
It’s excellent politics for the Democrats, but the real issue is health care for children. Here is the strange reasoning of one Republican for why he cannot oppose the president.
Democrats said they would also focus their efforts on Republicans like Representatives Timothy V. Johnson of Illinois, John R. Kuhl Jr. of New York, Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan and H. James Saxton of New Jersey.
Mr. McCotter said he was a big supporter of the child health program, but would vote to uphold the president’s veto, even if critics ran television advertisements against him.
Under the bill, the federal excise tax on cigarettes would be increased to $1 a pack, from the current 39 cents.
“I vowed never to raise taxes on anybody, no matter how disliked they might be,” Mr. McCotter said in an interview. He said he would rather be voted out of office than go back on his promises to constituents.
Rep. McCotter is a ‘big supporter’ of the program but he doesn’t support paying for it because he made a promise not to raise taxes…like ever.
Your braindead Republicans at work. I predict that at least 4-5 congresspersons lose their jobs over this vote. Here’s why.
Graeme Frost, 12, will deliver the Democratic response to President Bush’s radio address today. After an accident, Graeme received care through the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
As Tom Friedman would say, ‘Suck on that’.
If the activity of the blogs played a role in getting the Senate to pass SCHIP ( I don’t doubt it) then the blogs better get their asses in gear for this fight. And it is a fight! AND- this should be a no holds barred fight. On two levels. First- the bill itself is desperately needed. Millions of AMERICANS can’t afford basic medical services. Basic! I don’t mean Breast enhancement, Fat removal and the like. I mean survival services.
Second, and I personally think that this is just as important – a gigantic gooper defeat. A defeat that the public will see as at least one Democratic success in restoring a caring government.
So, bloggers of the world UNITE. It is time!
I’ll let you know who to call. But don’t be under any illusions that we will peel away 20 Republican House members. These dead enders are already the most conservative members out there.
Rather than a fair tax to support this much needed health care bill, they went after the nicotine addicts. Anything to avoid a small tax in the least taxed nation among the western industrialized nations. Greed uber alles.
I am already searching for a local drug pusher for my fix, but I am not yet ready to rob my local grocery store. That will come eventually.
I get pretty damn tired of cigarettes being taxed…why not tax good old american as apple pie beer once in awhile for a stupid ‘sin’ tax.
Because smokers are and will continue to be an easy target. Once the states won all their money from the cigarette companies, it opened the flood gates for any politician to score a few bucks and points from smokers.
The thing that pissed me off when the states won the money, is they hardly used it for what they said – health care. They just threw it in the pot and used it for what they wanted.
Bush is a cruel man. Simply, he was raised to be the bully he is. It’s a necessary trait for a Republican President to be able to justify the deaths of children in his country in order to kill children in another country.
The White House is asking for $193 Billion Dollars for the War in Iraq, but won’t spend and additional $5 Billion to insure 20 million kids of the 43 million who don’t have healthcare. If they just stop the war in Iraq for a week, there would be more than enough money.
My understanding also is that 5 Billion was to be spread out over about 5 years. So that would be one billion a year spread out over 50 states..oh the compassion is breathtaking is it not.