SCHIP veto upheld in House
*Updated*
You see, Democrats? This is why you should be fighting. Even thought SCHIP is a loss (for the time being), the GOP get to demonstrate that they're more interested in fanatical right-wingerness than helping Americans. They get to be the guys who are saying-- in the face of massive public opposition, "Sorry, kids, but if you get medical care then the communists will have won."
Mean, stupid, greedy, and possibly insane. Sure, since 2000 they've largely been getting a pass on all of these from Bush and Cheney on down, but isn't it nice to be on the side of justice and equality?
House Democrats on Thursday failed to override President Bush's veto of a children's health insurance bill that opponents said was too expensive.
By a vote of 273 to 156, the measure fell 13 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed for an override. Forty-four Republicans voted for the override, and one Democrat cast a ballot against it.
Democrats, sensing earlier that they didn't have the votes, vowed to continue the fight, despite a defeat.
See what you do here, Democrats? You point out that the GOP is more than happy to spend $500 billion to kill Americans in Iraq-- but absolutely refuses to spend one seventh of that to save American lives at home.
UPDATE: Ezra Klein suggests that Pelosi will try to make this the Democrats' version of ANWR drilling. Which does seem smart-- the more times SCHIP is vetoed by Fearless Leader and dies in the House, the better Dems will look. Given the sheer fringiness (seriously, follow that link) of the GOP, that could be the only outcome that's even kinda positive.
Pelosi has pledged to reject anything that doesn't expand coverage to 10 million children, which means she'll bring a bill almost exactly like this one to the floor again and again. Bush can keep vetoing, and the Republicans can hold their line, and S-CHIP could expire, tossing millions of kids off the insurance rolls. Pelosi is betting that won't happen, and that congressional Republicans, already worried about their prospects in 2008, will fold rather quickly.
As Klein notes, we'll see. But either way, it could work to the Dems' favor. The bad news being that kids are the ones taking the fall.
You see, Democrats? This is why you should be fighting. Even thought SCHIP is a loss (for the time being), the GOP get to demonstrate that they're more interested in fanatical right-wingerness than helping Americans. They get to be the guys who are saying-- in the face of massive public opposition, "Sorry, kids, but if you get medical care then the communists will have won."
Mean, stupid, greedy, and possibly insane. Sure, since 2000 they've largely been getting a pass on all of these from Bush and Cheney on down, but isn't it nice to be on the side of justice and equality?
House Democrats on Thursday failed to override President Bush's veto of a children's health insurance bill that opponents said was too expensive.
By a vote of 273 to 156, the measure fell 13 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed for an override. Forty-four Republicans voted for the override, and one Democrat cast a ballot against it.
Democrats, sensing earlier that they didn't have the votes, vowed to continue the fight, despite a defeat.
See what you do here, Democrats? You point out that the GOP is more than happy to spend $500 billion to kill Americans in Iraq-- but absolutely refuses to spend one seventh of that to save American lives at home.
UPDATE: Ezra Klein suggests that Pelosi will try to make this the Democrats' version of ANWR drilling. Which does seem smart-- the more times SCHIP is vetoed by Fearless Leader and dies in the House, the better Dems will look. Given the sheer fringiness (seriously, follow that link) of the GOP, that could be the only outcome that's even kinda positive.
Pelosi has pledged to reject anything that doesn't expand coverage to 10 million children, which means she'll bring a bill almost exactly like this one to the floor again and again. Bush can keep vetoing, and the Republicans can hold their line, and S-CHIP could expire, tossing millions of kids off the insurance rolls. Pelosi is betting that won't happen, and that congressional Republicans, already worried about their prospects in 2008, will fold rather quickly.
As Klein notes, we'll see. But either way, it could work to the Dems' favor. The bad news being that kids are the ones taking the fall.
posted by Matt Sandwich | 12:39 PM
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