Bush Vetoes Kids Health Bill (Time Magazine)

[Guest guest]

Bush Vetoes Kids Health Bill

Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007 By AP

(WASHINGTON) — President Bush vetoed legislation Wednesday that would

have expanded government-provided health insurance for children, his

second slap-down of a bipartisan effort in Congress to dramatically

increase funding for the popular program.

Related Articles

It was Bush's seventh veto in seven years — all but one coming since

Democrats took control of Congress in January. Wednesday was the

deadline for Bush to act or let the bill become law. The president

also vetoed an earlier, similar bill expanding the health insurance

program.

Bush vetoed the bill in private.

In a statement notifying Congress of his decision, Bush said the bill

was unacceptable because — like the first one — it allows adults into

the program, would cover people in families with incomes above the

U.S. median and raises taxes.

" This bill does not put poor children first, and it moves our

country's health care system in the wrong direction, " Bush's statement

said. " Ultimately, our nation's goal should be to move children who

have no health insurance to private coverage, not to move children who

already have private health insurance to government coverage. "

Bush urged Congress to extend the program at its current funding level

before lawmakers leave Washington for their holiday break.

In fact, congressional leaders had already said earlier Wednesday that

they now will try only to extend the State Children's Health Insurance

Program, or SCHIP, well into 2008 in basically its current form. Their

comments signaled that they have given up efforts to substantially

expand the program.

The bill passed the Democratic-controlled Senate by a veto-proof

margin, but the same was not true in the House. Even after the bill

was approved, negotiations continued to find a compromise version that

would attract enough Republican lawmakers to override Bush's expected

veto. A two-thirds vote in both chambers is required to override a

presidential veto.

But that effort was unsuccessful.

The bill Bush vetoed would have increased federal funding for SCHIP by

$35 billion over five years, to add an estimated 4 million people to

the program that provides insurance coverage for children from

families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford

private insurance. The joint federal-state program currently provides

benefits to roughly 6 million people, mostly children.

A major point of contention with the White House was Bush's demand

that nearly all poor children eligible for the program be found and

enrolled before any in slightly higher-income families could be

covered. He originally proposed adding $5 billion to the program over

five years but later said he was willing to go higher as long as his

conditions were met.

The president also has opposed using an increased tobacco tax to fund

the program expansion. The bill includes a 61-cent rise on a package

of cigarettes.

Bush's veto in early October of a similar bill was narrowly upheld by

the House.

But such votes are uncomfortable for GOP lawmakers. It is a popular

program with the public, making some Republicans wary of sticking with

Bush on such an issue with the 2008 elections looming. Of the 43

million people nationwide who lack health insurance, more than 6

million are under 18 years old. That's more than 9 percent of all

children.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the House will take up

the extension question Thursday in a bill that also will make

adjustments to Medicare.

" We'll obviously need to put additional money " into the children's

health insurance program, Hoyer said, because several states say they

will have to remove recipients from their rolls if the current funding

level continues into next year.

Hoyer declined to say how much new money would go into the program or

how long it might be extended. In the past, top Democrats have

suggested they might extend the program until September or October,

allowing them to reconsider it shortly before the 2008 elections.

Leading up to Bush's quiet late-afternoon action, the White House and

Democratic leaders sought the upper hand with the public — with each

blaming the other for causing the stalemate and being unwilling to

give ground.

In his veto statement, Bush said: " The leadership in the Congress has

refused to meet with my administration's representatives. " White House

press secretary Dana Perino said that " even on a staff level, we

weren't invited to negotiate. "

" They've instead been intransigent and sent us two bills that they

knew he wouldn't sign, " she scoffed.

Not so, said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry

Reid, D-Nev.

For instance, Reid approached Bush to ask for negotiations during a

ceremony for the Dalai Lama in the Capitol Rotunda in mid-October, a

couple of weeks after Bush's first SCHIP veto, he said. The president

told Reid, " No, I'm not moving, meet with my staff, " Reid said at the

time.

" The fact is that Senator Reid and Speaker () Pelosi asked to

meet with the president to discuss giving children the health care

they need, and he blew them off by telling them to talk to his staff, "

Manley said before the veto. " Now he's going to veto it for a second

time without negotiating once. "

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1693945,00.html