Head, Meet Desk
Like most bloggers, I've been concentrating on the presidential campaign now that both national conventions are over. As a result, I completely overlooked this article in yesterday's NY Times.
Congressional Democrats have scrapped plans for another vote on expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, thus sparing Republicans from a politically difficult vote just weeks before elections this fall.
Before the summer recess, Democrats had vowed repeatedly to force another vote on the popular program. But Democrats say they have shifted course, after concluding that President Bush would not sign their legislation and that they could not override his likely veto.
Mr. Bush vetoed two earlier versions of the legislation, which he denounced as a dangerous step toward “government-run health care for every American,” and the House sustained those vetoes. [Emphasis added]
To be fair, the Democratic leadership defended the decision not only on the fact that they couldn't deliver the votes for a veto override but also on the change in cost of the program which would not be offset completely by the tobacco tax envisioned as part of the bill. That means they would have to search out a way to pay the difference, perhaps by cutting funding elsewhere and there just isn't much time between now and the end of the session to do that. They promise a new and improved bill will be introduced in the 111th Congress.
That said, I must admit that I'm disappointed in the Democratic leadership for overlooking the obvious. Most of the country wants health care access for children and the SCHIP program has delivered that access. Voting against the bill is going to be a heavy burden for those congress critters seeking re-election this November, and that means there is a better chance for electing a Congress that will be strong enough to pass that new and improved bill.
Partisan politics? You're damned right. That's why we have more than one party in the country. Democrats should be proud of their history of providing for the middle and lower classes and they should be doing everything possible to show the difference between that history and the last eight years.
It's time for some cranio-rectal surgery. Maybe then the vision of that Democratic leadership would be improved.
Morons
Congressional Democrats have scrapped plans for another vote on expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, thus sparing Republicans from a politically difficult vote just weeks before elections this fall.
Before the summer recess, Democrats had vowed repeatedly to force another vote on the popular program. But Democrats say they have shifted course, after concluding that President Bush would not sign their legislation and that they could not override his likely veto.
Mr. Bush vetoed two earlier versions of the legislation, which he denounced as a dangerous step toward “government-run health care for every American,” and the House sustained those vetoes. [Emphasis added]
To be fair, the Democratic leadership defended the decision not only on the fact that they couldn't deliver the votes for a veto override but also on the change in cost of the program which would not be offset completely by the tobacco tax envisioned as part of the bill. That means they would have to search out a way to pay the difference, perhaps by cutting funding elsewhere and there just isn't much time between now and the end of the session to do that. They promise a new and improved bill will be introduced in the 111th Congress.
That said, I must admit that I'm disappointed in the Democratic leadership for overlooking the obvious. Most of the country wants health care access for children and the SCHIP program has delivered that access. Voting against the bill is going to be a heavy burden for those congress critters seeking re-election this November, and that means there is a better chance for electing a Congress that will be strong enough to pass that new and improved bill.
Partisan politics? You're damned right. That's why we have more than one party in the country. Democrats should be proud of their history of providing for the middle and lower classes and they should be doing everything possible to show the difference between that history and the last eight years.
It's time for some cranio-rectal surgery. Maybe then the vision of that Democratic leadership would be improved.
Morons
Labels: 110th Congress, Health Care
posted by Diane at 3:45 AM
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