Thread: Bush vetoes child health insurance plan

what are your thoughts on this??

i dont see the downside. the cancer stickers are to foot the bill.

wtf?



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21111931/

WASHINGTON - President Bush, in a confrontation with Congress, on Wednesday vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have dramatically expanded children's health insurance.

It was only the fourth veto of Bush's presidency, and one that some Republicans feared could carry steep risks for their party in next year's elections. The Senate approved the bill with enough votes to override the veto, but the margin in the House fell short of the required number.

The White House sought as little attention as possible, with the president wielding his veto behind closed doors without any fanfare or news coverage.

Socialized medicine?
The State Children's Health Insurance Program is a joint state-federal effort that subsidizes health coverage for 6.6 million people, mostly children, from families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford their own private coverage.

The Democrats who control Congress, with significant support from Republicans, passed the legislation to add $35 billion over five years to allow an additional 4 million children into the program. It would be funded by raising the federal cigarette tax by 61 cents to $1 per pack.

The president had promised to veto it, saying the Democratic bill was too costly, took the program too far from its original intent of helping the poor, and would entice people now covered in the private sector to switch to government coverage. He wants only a $5 billion increase in funding.

Bush argued that the congressional plan would be a move toward socialized medicine by expanding the program to higher-income families.

Democrats deny that, saying their goal is to cover more of the millions of uninsured children and noting that the bill provides financial incentives for states to cover their lowest-income children first. Of the over 43 million people nationwide who lack health insurance, 9 percent, or over 6 million, are under 18 years old.

Veto override considerations
Eighteen Republicans joined Democrats in the Senate, enough to override Bush's veto. But this was not the case in the House, where despite sizable Republican support, supporters of the bill are about two dozen votes short of a successful override.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Democrats were imploring 15 House Republicans to switch positions but had received no agreements so far.

House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said he was "absolutely confident" that the House would be able to sustain Bush's expected veto.

Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott, R-Miss., said Congress should be able to reach a compromise with Bush once he vetoes the bill. "We should not allow it to be expanded to higher and higher income levels, and to adults. This is about poor children," he said. "But we can work it out."

It took Bush six years to veto his first bill, when he blocked expanded federal research using embryonic stem cells last summer. In May, he vetoed a spending bill that would have required troop withdrawals from Iraq. In June, he vetoed another bill to ease restraints on federally funded stem cell research.


In the case of the health insurance program, the veto is a bit of a high-stakes gambit for Bush, pitting him against both the Democrats who have controlled both houses of Congress since January, but also many members of his own party and the public.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched radio ads Monday attacking eight GOP House members who voted against the bill and face potentially tough re-election campaigns next year.

And Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, said a coalition of liberal groups planned more than 200 events throughout the nation to highlight the issue.

health plan for children=$5 billion=too expensive
war in Iraq=$400 billion=not expensive enough

Originally Posted by Ash

health plan for children=$5 billion=too expensive
war in Iraq=$400 billion=not expensive enough

that's what i was thinking when i saw the dollar amount.

fuckin douche

there's probably a lot more to it.

I heard in passing that he was going to veto because he wanted something more expansive than what's currently being pushed through congress.

also, remember it didn't pass in congress by a 100% margin so let's not forget the senators and congressmen who voted against it as well.

imho, 5 billion probably wouldn't be enough and it would be another failed policy. would be a huge step in the right direction though.

just stating my opinion xian, and my opinion is not debateable

neither do i. which is why i made the most.

i did not know that part about 83K families and kids at 25 being able to qualify. that's just ludicrous.

Originally Posted by molecule

opposition points to areas in the bill that would cover families making 83K a year (not exactly poor), and kids up to the age of 25 (not exactly kids)

I don't know enough about it to have an opinion though.

You are correct! But I think the age was 21 for "kids". It was still too much money for a household to constitute government assistance. I and the wife probably make $60k a year combined and we are doing more then just fine. BUT we don’t have kids. I am against a lot of the "cradle to grave" government assistance programs anyway. IMO we need to focus on education, creating new jobs, and preparing people beneath the poverty level to take care of themselves without government assistance.

I understand there are those with disabilities and other debilitating issues creating a necessity for these programs, so don’t get me wrong. But raising the household income limit to 80k a year and the age limit to what most people consider adults is just absurd. Plus, there are already too many people on these programs who shouldn’t be.

Just a little personal story that relates to this:
About 2 years ago the Wife and I saw a woman who had two kids and was dressed very well at Minyard. She was in front of us in line and buying all of her food with WIC coupons and what looked like food stamps. She left, I rang out, walked to the car…and then I saw her loading up the groceries and the kids into an Escalade with huge rims and LCD screens in the back of the seats. We were like WTF?

hehe

fuck another 61 cent tax on smokes after the dollar hike they just had

No opinion over the veto.

But I think money should go to the peeps on the field that deal with malcontent parents. They get overloaded with work, that kids get denied the government assistance they need to alleviate further health issues. (or is that a long shot?)

I used to want free health care for everyone, but now I'd like to see as many dead or dying as possible.