Is congress acting like spoiled brats over the S-chips issue?

Question

Bush is willing to compromise on the difference in the increase he wants for S-chip and what congress wants. But, congress isn't talking to him. Instead, the Democrats are all over the newsw about how Bush is an uncaring SOB who don't give a hoot about children's health.
All Bush wants to do is knock off all the adults on S-chip and put them on Medicaid.
What is the problem with that?

btw. I am an independent moderate. So no conservative bashing, please.

How did the war enter into this debate?

Answer 1

Bush shouldn't compromise one damn dime on this push for socialism. the democrats should be ashamed for their quest to create even more slaves. they are pathetic.

Answer 2

Whatever he says, I doubt Bush is willing to compromise. "Trillions for War, but not one cent for kids," has long been a Republican Rallying cry.

I suspect that the real reason for his veto has less to do with cost and funding than with opposition to the Program from the Christian Right which is lobbying hard against the Bill on the grounds that some of the money would go to family planning. Don't believe me, here's the link:

http://www.christusmedicus.com/News/S-Chip/S-Chip.htm

If Congress agrees to negotiate instead of override, he'll drag it out and then find another reason to veto the Bill.

Dumping the adults on Medicaid is not a solution acceptable to the States, who are already cash strapped because of all the unfunded mandates they have to pony up for, the increased demand for Social Services in the Bush Economy and the ever increasing cuts in Federal aid to States and Cities.

Answer 3

That isn't all that Bush wants to do.

The bottom line is that when the Republicans had enough votes or the political cards to play (e.g. when the Department of Homeland Security was being established, over the issue of whether civil service laws would apply to the new Department), Bush was not willing to compromise and wanted to force Democrats to either back down or go on record. In 2002, the Republicans ran rather nasty ads in Georgia against Senator Cleland (one of the original proponents of establishing a Department of Homeland Security) because he insisted on applying civil service laws to the Department.

The shoe is now on the other foot and it is the Republicans who have to make the difficult vote.

It would be nice if the two parties could compromise but Bush's history is of finding any reason to oppose S-Chips (going back to when he was Governor of Texas). There will be a compromise bill, but only after 150 Republicans in the House put their career on the line on this issue.

Answer 4

No, I think it was a good bill that BOTH PARTIES put forward, and the President vetoed without just cause. The difference was 30b- a lot of cash, but not enough to break the budget. He's sending 3 times that much money to Iraq every month. The reason that the cutoff was 25, is because that's when most insurance companies cut off the children of the insured- it's a long held industry standard.

Finally the Republicans and Democrats manage to work together to accomplish something good, and the great Uniter divides them. Why is that?

P.S. $86,000 sounds like a lot of money, unless you've got 5 kids, which is exactly what that clause was for. At $400 a month each kid, suddenly $24,000 of your 86,000 (55,900 after taxes) is gone, and your family has about 30K for food clothing and shelter for the year. Does that still sound ridiculous to you? Maybe the government shouldn't let people have so many kids?

Answer 5

Congress isn't, but...

News just isnt news anymore. They report facts when they choose to and if they can stir up controversy, they will report what someone said.

That isnt journalism- it's gossup.

Edit: Bush's reasons for vetoing the bill should be considered and verified by media/Congress, but it isnt going to happen.

As always, the devil is in the details and looks like the Democrats have their fingerprints all over it.

Answer 6

me personally... I think they are playing politics with it... which is different than acting like children... maybe not by a lot though

but I also think that they are mainly because Bush was playing politics with the war...

he had them over a barrel on the war spending... now it's payback time...

granted, I don't think either should be playing politics with a war or healthcare for children... but that's politics... and always has been...

they actually may end up comprimising on both in one big bill? I'm not sure anyone wants to get hit hard on either issue... and maybe that's why the dems are pushing it so hard...

Answer 7

Congressional Democrats and, on this issue, some Republicans want to do the will of the people. The obstructionist Republicans and the President obviously don't care about the children of this country.

Answer 8

Remember, we are only 13 months away from the general election. The dirt is going to start to fly, the Democrats are hoping that hatred towards Bush will help gain Democratic votes. They are doing what all politicians do best - twist things around to serve their own purpose. They are trying to lay the groundwork for socialized healthcare, and are mad because it didn't go through.

I don't always agree with Bush, but on this one he did the right thing. There is already funding in place for those who need it. What he vetoed was the fluff. Good call, in my opinion.

Answer 9

Wouldn't the paperwork and the process to have one family on two separate systems be far more costly? Wouldn't it be wasteful where an entire family could be processed on Schip at the same time, without all the extra administrative costs?
Don't know about you, but medicaid seems like a far more socialized plan than schips.

Answer 10

"the Democrats are all over the newsw about how Bush is an uncaring SOB who don't give a hoot about children's health."

Truth hurts huh.

Bush cares more about Iraq than poor American kids. He put our money where HIS mouth is.

Answer 11

SCHIP is a first step toward socialized medicine. What few people are brave enough to say is that's a GOOD thing.