Gene's Blog

A pause for a political message.

This news release from yesterday speaks for itself. Nonetheless I have a couple words following it. :^)

The Honorable Charles B. Rangel, Chairman
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Contact: J. Jioni Palmer or Matthew Beck (202) 225-8933
Rangel Responds to President’s Veto of SCHIP
WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) issued the following statement today after President George W. Bush vetoed legislation to improve the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
“No matter what the president says, the basic question the American people are going to ask is, were you with the children of this great nation or not?

“The president has chosen to stand between 10 million needy children and a doctor’s office. This veto marks the death knell for compassionate conservatism.

“Not only does it show a callous disregard for our nation’s children, it is ill-conceived and shortsighted. Not only is it fiscally irresponsible, it is morally reprehensible.

“SCHIP is a good program, and I hope Republicans in Congress will take the wind out from the president’s wings and deliver a victory for the children of this great nation.”

Who is served: The State Children’s Health Insurance Program, enacted in 1997, is designed to subsidize health coverage for families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance.
Eligibility: Most states cap eligibility at $41,228 for a family of four. The bill would have raised that level to $61,842.
Cost: The federal government now spends about $5 billion a year on SCHIP. The bill would have raised that to $12 billion.
ASSOCIATED PRESS

$190 billion to kill Iraqi’s, but not $12 billion to provide health care to our own children.  Now THAT is compassionate conservatism.   The tricky thing with Conservatives, a stratagem President Bush has become a master of, is saying one thing and doing another.  While he speaks compassionately, even passionately, in public about love and faith and helping others, what he does in private is where his true soul shows.  And this is perfect evidence of that.  I don’t think he is going to have to worry about a rapid beatification process once he’s gone back behind the curtain.