U. S. President George W. Bush threatens to veto a bill that would extend funding for health care for children in low income families. The families are above the level allowed by Medicaid, but are too poor to afford private insurance.
"Members of Congress are risking health coverage for poor children purely to make a political point," said Bush.
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell countered, "The administration has tried to turn this into a partisan issue and has threatened to veto. The health of our children is far too important for partisan politics as usual."
Without approval of the measure, the Children's Health Insurance Program will expire on Sept. 30. The measure has overwhelming support among Democrats, and has support among Republicans as well.
Read the article at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070922/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush
For current updates after Oct. 18, 2007 see http://loveshade.org/blog/2007/10/bush_fights_against_children_g.html
For the history from Oct. 3 to Oct. 13, 2007, see below:
3 October 2007
President George W. Bush did it--he vetoed the bill. It's only his fourth veto as president, which if anything makes this even more significant.
The bipartisan measure won enough support in the Senate to override Bush's veto, but not in the house. But lawmakers and others who are working to get health care to children who need it are not stopping.
Bush's reason for denying health care to low-income families to help their children? "Poor kids first." He insists that giving health insurance to low-income families will take away from those who are poor. I suppose by the same logic, giving health care to the poor who live in run-down apartments would hurt those who are homeless, and helping those who are homeless but have a car and are trying to find a job would hurt those who don't have a car, etc. After all, America is such a poor country we can't afford to help those who are truly in need. And we might need the money to declare war on Iran, so we can fix it the way we did Iraq.
To see the article, go to http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071003/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_children_s_health
6 October 2007
President Bush, who proposed spending 1/7th of what the legislature wanted, now says he might be willing to raise his original amount "a little...."
To see the article, go to http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071006/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush
13 October 2007
Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana called on Republicans to help override the veto, saying that children are more important than politics. He said that President Bush is telling millions of parents they don't deserve the same level of health care for their children that Bush had for his.
But as an override requires a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House, its chances for success are low.
To see the article, go to http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071013/ap_on_go_co/democrats_children_s_health
Do you want to support breast feeding? There's a bill in the United States Congress called H.R. 2236 to do just that!
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