schip override vote failsagain

SCHIP override vote fails....AGAIN

A day late here but since I am packing and moving this week, it is

what it is.

What is the definition of insanity again? Doing the same thing over

and over and over again and expecting a different result could be

called....INSANE.

So, lets recap recent history here right quick, before getting to the

latest failed attempt in Congress to override the the second Bush veto

on SCHIP.

First, Congress and the Senate passed a bad bill that allowed families

not of lower income to place their children on the State Children

Health Insurance Program, ass well as a significant number of adults,

knowing full well that the President would veto it, which he did, and

also knowing beforehand that the House did not have the votes to

override the veto.

Here are six simple facts about SCHIP, showing why it was a badly

written bill and why it was vetoed to begin with.

Then the Democrats unwisely decided to use a 12 yr old child as a

human shield instead of fixing the SCHIP bill, which we discussed

here, here and here.

Next the House failed to override the presidential veto, as they knew

originally they would.

The the Democrats took advantage of the California wildfires to pass

what was basically the same flawed bill through again, once again,

KNOWING that it would be vetoed,which it was again.

Then we saw statements showing that the Democrats deliberately sent

through a bill they knew would be vetoed just to keep it as a

political issue.

So, Bush vetoes the bad SCHIP bill, again, the House knows it doesn't

have the votes to override, decides to postpone the inevitable

override failure until the new year begins, but in the

meantime....they pass and the President signs an extension of the

previous law, which will stay in effect until March of 2009.

So,the children are covered through March of 2009, which makes the

idiocy of yesterdays vote even more pathetic.

All caught up? Good, because the insanity continued yesterday.

Yesterday the House once again failed to override the presidential

veto of the last SCHIP bill that Congress pushed through because, as

they knew to begin, they did not have a two thirds majority to

override. (Here is roll call)

John Boehner issued a statement which pretty much covers it:

Today, the House will hold a politically-orchestrated vote to

override the President's veto of a flawed "children's" health care

bill that actually would cover illegal immigrants, adults, and

families who already have health insurance. Sound familiar? It

should. That's because the House held the same vote three months

ago, when the House sustained the President's first veto of this

irresponsible legislation. Today's political games are especially

disappointing since Congress voted in an overwhelmingly bipartisan

fashion last month to extend the State Children's Health Insurance

Program (SCHIP) into 2009 and cover the program's funding shortfall

- a bill modeled on legislation introduced by House Republicans all

the way back in September.

In any case, the House could have held this override vote in

December after the President vetoed it, but leaders of the Majority

pushed it off for more than a month in an attempt to drum up more

support. Did it work? Not at all, according to today's

Congressional Quarterly:

"House Democrats will attempt Wednesday to override President

Bush's second veto of a children's health insurance bill, but they

will likely win little new Republican support, and the effort is

expected to fail."

The problems with the Majority's most recent sham SCHIP bill are

countless, but here are just a handful:

* It fails to put low-income children first.

* It insures adults and illegal immigrants.

* It forces some two million children from private health insurance

to government-run care.

* It contains a massive tax hike and district-specific earmarks and

pork projects.

* And according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) it even

COSTS MORE and COVERS FEWER CHILDREN than the Majority's original

SCHIP legislation, which the President vetoed last fall.

During today's debate, the Majority will say their flawed SCHIP

bill is necessary because of our increasingly-uncertain economy.

But what they won't tell you, according to House Republican Leader

John Boehner (R-OH), is that their "children's" health care measure

would actually make matters far worse for low-income families

already feeling the economic strain:

"During these challenging days, it would be irresponsible to expand

the SCHIP program to cover adults, illegal immigrants, and those

who already have private health insurance at the expense of the

low-income children who need it most. But in spite of our sluggish

economy, which is making matters even more difficult for low-income

families with children, that is exactly what the Majority's flawed

SCHIP bill would do."

Last year, Democrats routinely used our nation's children as a

political football, and their strategy imploded. Apparently unfazed

by their failure, they seem poised to keep on playing the political

games in 2008 - and their allies on the Left seem willing to join

them once again. After tens of millions of dollars - and countless

hours - spent fruitlessly by House Democrats and their liberal

allies, will the Majority finally acknowledge the need to work with

Republicans to put low-income children first? Or will they continue

to push flawed bill after flawed bill that insures illegal

immigrants and adults at the expense of the low-income children

both parties designed SCHIP to serve in the first place?

So, the House failed once again, starting out the new year the way

they ended the last year....as failures that care more for political

games than they do getting anything accomplishedin a bipartisan

manner.

Things like the Stimulus package that they can come to agreement on,

is being criticized by the far left already, but that is no surprise,

because they just want the politicians to bicker and complain anytime

they manage to agree on anything.

To be fair, there are some on the left that disagree with the one I

linked to above as does some of his own commenter's.

Last but not least, they are also battling the FISA fight again, which

promises to be the same partisan fight that takes tons of time and

wastes our taxpayers money....

Hell it even has the Democratic politicians fighting with each other

again.