House GOP upholds Bush veto on SCHIP, union leaders vow retribution

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.pww.org/article/view/11926/

WASHINGTON (PAI) — Despite strong lobbying by unions, health care groups, children’s groups and their allies, House Republicans mustered enough votes on Oct. 18 to uphold anti-worker President George Bush’s veto of children’s health care. Union leaders vowed the Republicans would receive retribution at the election polls a year from now.

The 273-156 vote to override Bush’s veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) fell 13 votes short of the two-thirds majority of those present and voting needed to defeat Bush. The Senate did not vote, but had passed SCHIP by a veto-proof majority, 67-29, earlier this year. The prior House vote passing SCHIP was 265-159.

“No” votes, upholding Bush’s veto, came from 154 Republicans and two Democrats: Reps. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.) and Gene Taylor (D-Miss.). Four lawmakers — two from each party — were absent.

Democratic leaders promptly vowed to start work on a new SCHIP bill. Bush called the one he killed “socialism,” waving a red herring, because it would expand the program to cover at least 10 million poor children, rather than the 6.6 million it now covers, over the next five years. Labor, its allies and the Democrats wanted to add $35 billion to the program over that time to cover all the children. Bush wanted to add only $5 billion, which would not be enough to cover kids now in SCHIP.


FULL story at link.