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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Carragher who wrote (224799)	10/18/2007 3:25:03 PM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793970

Republicans Uphold SCHIP Veto By Nathan Burchfiel CNSNews.com Staff Writer October 18, 2007 cnsnews.com Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - House Republicans on Thursday rallied to uphold President Bush's veto of a bill that would have reauthorized and expanded a federally funded program that pays for children's health insurance. Only 273 members of the House of Representatives votes were in favor of overriding Bush's veto, short of the two-thirds majority of 286 votes needed to overturn it. Bush vetoed the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program Oct. 3, citing concerns that it increased funding too much and made a step toward government-run health care. Republicans in Congress had also opposed the bill, because it opens funding to families making $62,000 a year, three times the federal poverty level. "I hope that the opportunity to sit down and work together comes today after this vote," House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a floor statement before the vote. Republicans complained that Democrats delayed a vote on the veto override so they could spend two weeks pressuring Republicans to switch their votes. "The American people are tired of all the political games," Boehner said, calling on Democratic leaders to work with Republicans to craft a reauthorization of SCHIP that will earn Bush's support. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a news conference after the vote that she was willing to sit down with Bush to discuss how to move forward with SCHIP, but she said several proposals put forth by House Republicans to change the bill would not be considered. She rejected suggestions to find an alternative source of funding for the expansion. The failed bill would have raised the tobacco tax on cigarettes and cigars to pay for the $35 billion increase. As Cybercast News Service reported, some analysts raised concerns that a tobacco tax - which is also used to discourage smoking - is not a stable way to fund a program like SCHIP. Pelosi also rejected any suggestion that Congress could reduce the cost of the expansion by compromising on the number of new enrollees it would allow. She said supporters of the expansion are only willing to compromise "as long as the bottom line is that 10 million children are insured." Pelosi said she expects to have another SCHIP expansion bill sent to Bush in two weeks. The program was set to expire Sept. 30 but was extended into November by a continuing resolution that maintains current funding levels. She declined to offer details on what a revised bill would look like, saying only that an announcement was forthcoming. Democratic leaders in the Senate, which passed the bill with a veto-proof majority, expressed disappointment in the House's inability to override the veto. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called it "one of the worst things to happen to this country besides the war." Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), said that "all of the president's arguments [against the bill] are wrong" and that "Americans have suffered" because of his use of the veto pen. Supporters of the program are still hoping to score political points off the Republicans' opposition to the expansion. In a release after the vote was final, the liberal group MoveOn.org announced it is launching a TV ad campaign targeting six members of Congress who voted to uphold the veto. "It is outrageous that President Bush and his Republican allies spend billions every week in Iraq but block funding for health care for millions of American children," Noah Winer, head of MoveOn.org's health care campaign, said. "We're holding these members of Congress accountable for standing with President Bush and against our children."