Senator Chris Dodd today released the following statement regarding President Bush's veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, his seventh veto in seven years.
"Having spent my life bringing people together to improve the health and well-being of children and families, I find President Bush's veto of the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program shameful. It puts hundreds of thousands of children at risk of losing coverage that governors and leaders across the nation have worked hard to secure on a
bipartisan basis."The SCHIP program is virtually the only success story in health care for working families since universal health care failed in 1994, providing coverage to 6.6 million children. The bill passed overwhelmingly by the Senate and the House doesn't cover parents, it doesn't cover undocumented workers. What it does do is get kids covered - from kids in extreme poverty
to those in homes where parents work two jobs. What a sad state of affairs when the President of the United States cannot bring people together to provide health care to children from working families."I'll keep fighting to make sure SCHIP gets renewed - to bring people together on a bipartisan basis to solve big problems as I have throughout my career. But if ever there were a time for a President who could get results for change—results that make families stronger and more secure—this veto makes clear: it's today."
For more info on the SCHIP veto, read FireDogLake, Shakesville, and Brilliant at Breakfast.
Comments
My thought of the day is that we've been turned into a pettified nation. That is, people are being treated like pets. If they behave and do tricks on command, they get treats. If, as a result, they end up over-weight and lethargic that's OK since you can't teach old dogs new tricks anyway and there's a replacement just a phone call away.
I used to think that if people had fewer children, they would value the ones they had more and care for them more conscientiously. That was a mistake. Some people are motivated by just one desire; to dominate someone or something else. As a result, only the docile thrive. Indeed, it's often the case that children have to be docile just to survive. Which would account for why the nation's infant mortality is on the rise.