I know I shouldnt be surprised but WHAT IS WRONG W/ HIM?! I HATE HIM!!!
Bush vetoes kids' health care
Democrats rallying to override, need 13 votes in House.
By PETER ROPER
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
Calling it an unwelcome step away from private medicine, President Bush vetoed a bipartisan bill Wednesday that would have broadened a federal health insurance program aimed at low-income, uninsured children.
The veto, which congressional Democrats had been expecting, triggered a storm of sharp criticism of the president - including some rebukes from Republican lawmakers - but the White House said the veto was necessary, claiming Congress had broadened the State Children Health Insurance Program too much, so that it included some middle-income families.
Signaling that he was willing to compromise somewhat, Bush said the decision by congressional Democrats to add $35 billion to the program - instead of the $5 billion he requested - was going too far.
"Poor kids first," Bush told an audience in Lancaster, Pa., on Wednesday. "Secondly, I believe in private medicine, not the federal government running the health care system."
The SCHIP program currently covers 6.6 million people, working families who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but do not have health insurance. Congressional Democrats, with some Republican support, wanted to broaden the program by $35 billion over five years, bringing another 4 million people under coverage. Colorado lawmakers said the program currently covers about 56,000 state residents, mostly young people.
"This is a showdown with the White House and I don't understand why the president vetoed the bill," Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., said Wednesday in a telephone press conference, noting he hoped Congress would override the veto.
"The American people like this program. The public sees the benefit," Salazar said. "The health care is provided through private providers. The president is creating this illusion that he is somehow a super-fiscal conservative to cover the fact that he has created the largest deficit in our history."
Gov. Bill Ritter and other Colorado Democrats said they also wanted Congress to override the veto.
"With his veto, President Bush has put up a road block that interferes with our ability to improve health care in this country," Ritter said in a statement. "The veto undercuts our efforts to provide coverage to the 180,000 Colorado children without insurance."
The White House veto puts House Republicans under pressure because many GOP lawmakers voted for the program in both the House and Senate. News reports Wednesday said that supporters are 13 votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed in the House to override the veto. On the Senate side, 68 senators voted for the measure, more than enough to override the president.
"Unfortunately, I believe that some have given the president bad advice on this matter because I believe that supporting this bipartisan compromise to provide health coverage to low-income children is the morally right thing to do," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Wednesday.
But the White House has its defenders too.
Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., voted against the bigger insurance program, saying it was larded with unnecessary spending and represented a major step towards "government-run health care."
"In Colorado, we have yet to enroll all of the eligible children of low-income families in the SCHIP program," he said in a statement after voting against the measure last week. "Expanding eligibility requirements would only make it harder for the neediest children to receive coverage."
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the GOP-controlled Congress created the SCHIP program 10 years ago to help low-income families - "Not as a trial balloon for government-run health care or as a way to provide government benefits to adults and upper-income families who can afford private health insurance," he said.
Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., said the veto was a harsh decision that ignored the many low-income children in Colorado who could qualify for the program.
"Two-thirds of these children come from two-income households making less than $40,000 per year," John Salazar said. "These are hard-working families."
Bush told the Pennsylvania crowd that he saw a larger danger in the SCHIP program - an expanding federal health insurance program.
"The policies of the government ought to be, help poor children and to focus on poor children," he said. "And the policies of the government ought to be, help people find private insurance, not federal coverage. And that's where the philosophical divide comes in." - The Associated Press contributed to this report
Bush vetoes kids' health care
Democrats rallying to override, need 13 votes in House.
By PETER ROPER
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
Calling it an unwelcome step away from private medicine, President Bush vetoed a bipartisan bill Wednesday that would have broadened a federal health insurance program aimed at low-income, uninsured children.
The veto, which congressional Democrats had been expecting, triggered a storm of sharp criticism of the president - including some rebukes from Republican lawmakers - but the White House said the veto was necessary, claiming Congress had broadened the State Children Health Insurance Program too much, so that it included some middle-income families.
Signaling that he was willing to compromise somewhat, Bush said the decision by congressional Democrats to add $35 billion to the program - instead of the $5 billion he requested - was going too far.
"Poor kids first," Bush told an audience in Lancaster, Pa., on Wednesday. "Secondly, I believe in private medicine, not the federal government running the health care system."
The SCHIP program currently covers 6.6 million people, working families who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but do not have health insurance. Congressional Democrats, with some Republican support, wanted to broaden the program by $35 billion over five years, bringing another 4 million people under coverage. Colorado lawmakers said the program currently covers about 56,000 state residents, mostly young people.
"This is a showdown with the White House and I don't understand why the president vetoed the bill," Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., said Wednesday in a telephone press conference, noting he hoped Congress would override the veto.
"The American people like this program. The public sees the benefit," Salazar said. "The health care is provided through private providers. The president is creating this illusion that he is somehow a super-fiscal conservative to cover the fact that he has created the largest deficit in our history."
Gov. Bill Ritter and other Colorado Democrats said they also wanted Congress to override the veto.
"With his veto, President Bush has put up a road block that interferes with our ability to improve health care in this country," Ritter said in a statement. "The veto undercuts our efforts to provide coverage to the 180,000 Colorado children without insurance."
The White House veto puts House Republicans under pressure because many GOP lawmakers voted for the program in both the House and Senate. News reports Wednesday said that supporters are 13 votes shy of the two-thirds majority needed in the House to override the veto. On the Senate side, 68 senators voted for the measure, more than enough to override the president.
"Unfortunately, I believe that some have given the president bad advice on this matter because I believe that supporting this bipartisan compromise to provide health coverage to low-income children is the morally right thing to do," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Wednesday.
But the White House has its defenders too.
Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., voted against the bigger insurance program, saying it was larded with unnecessary spending and represented a major step towards "government-run health care."
"In Colorado, we have yet to enroll all of the eligible children of low-income families in the SCHIP program," he said in a statement after voting against the measure last week. "Expanding eligibility requirements would only make it harder for the neediest children to receive coverage."
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the GOP-controlled Congress created the SCHIP program 10 years ago to help low-income families - "Not as a trial balloon for government-run health care or as a way to provide government benefits to adults and upper-income families who can afford private health insurance," he said.
Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., said the veto was a harsh decision that ignored the many low-income children in Colorado who could qualify for the program.
"Two-thirds of these children come from two-income households making less than $40,000 per year," John Salazar said. "These are hard-working families."
Bush told the Pennsylvania crowd that he saw a larger danger in the SCHIP program - an expanding federal health insurance program.
"The policies of the government ought to be, help poor children and to focus on poor children," he said. "And the policies of the government ought to be, help people find private insurance, not federal coverage. And that's where the philosophical divide comes in." - The Associated Press contributed to this report
http://www.chieftain.com/metro/1191526391/4