Should Bush veto child health bill?
Posted: Monday, October 01, 2007
People tell fibs every day, such as, “The check’s in the mail," "I promise to clean up after the puppy” and “President Bush is a cold-hearted monster intent on eating our children” for his veto threat of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) expansion bill passed last week by the U.S. House and Senate. Should the expansion bill become law, let’s hope it covers treatment for children infected by parents with BDS n Bush Derangement Syndrome.
BDS was coined by political columnist (and former psychiatrist with an M.D. from Harvard) Charles Krauthammer. He defined BDS as "the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency nay the very existence of George W. Bush." BDS has reached epidemic proportions in recent years with criticisms of Bush that are obviously emotional in nature rather than based on facts or logic.
There is a cure for BDS. Facts. So, a few facts are in order regarding the president’s position on the SCHIP expansion bill. I ask anyone reading this column to do their part in inoculating loved ones suffering from BDS by getting these facts to them as soon as possible. Oh, if only Michael had organized a fun run to raise money and awareness for this cause (instead of rabies) in last week’s season premiere of “The Office."
Fact. The president is NOT opposed to SCHIP or its expansion. His own proposal increases the funding by 20 percent.
Fact. The bill’s stated increase from current spending of $25 billion to $60 billion is only achieved by sleight of hand. It relies on budget gimmickry to even come in under the $60 billion mark. In the last year of this bill (2011), spending is cut by almost 80 percent below current levels. At that time, Congress has to pass new spending just to get through the year or be forced to kick kids out of the program.
Fact. President Bush is opposed to raising taxes and this bill raises taxes. For instance, the federal cigarette tax would be raised over 150 percent (from 39 cents per pack to one dollar).
In addition to the facts, there is good reason to support the president’s proposed increase in spending (it’s simply a compassionate thing to do) but not the much larger expanded scope of the bill passed by the House. For decades, Democrats have pushed for universal “free” health care. After the debacle of Hillary Care in ’93, Dems decided to take a page out of their dusty and yellowed playbook with this bill. That is, they will try to achieve their dream by getting there incrementally. This bill is one more incremental step toward government run health care.
Trying to achieve this incremental step finds the Democrats engaged in rhetoric to color anyone opposed to this bill as cold and uncaring because, after all, this bill targets poor children. Poor children (those below the poverty line) are already covered by Medicaid. SCHIP covers those above the poverty line who cannot afford private insurance.
Is it too much to ask to stop the rhetoric and just give us the facts? Americans are smart enough to make sound judgments when given the facts. Also, if you are suffering from BDS, please see someone qualified to treat this condition n a conservative.
Michael McNeil is a free-lance writer from Dakota City, Neb. You can write to him in care of The Journal or at lvrcomments@hotmail.com.
BDS was coined by political columnist (and former psychiatrist with an M.D. from Harvard) Charles Krauthammer. He defined BDS as "the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency nay the very existence of George W. Bush." BDS has reached epidemic proportions in recent years with criticisms of Bush that are obviously emotional in nature rather than based on facts or logic.
There is a cure for BDS. Facts. So, a few facts are in order regarding the president’s position on the SCHIP expansion bill. I ask anyone reading this column to do their part in inoculating loved ones suffering from BDS by getting these facts to them as soon as possible. Oh, if only Michael had organized a fun run to raise money and awareness for this cause (instead of rabies) in last week’s season premiere of “The Office."
Fact. The president is NOT opposed to SCHIP or its expansion. His own proposal increases the funding by 20 percent.
Fact. The bill’s stated increase from current spending of $25 billion to $60 billion is only achieved by sleight of hand. It relies on budget gimmickry to even come in under the $60 billion mark. In the last year of this bill (2011), spending is cut by almost 80 percent below current levels. At that time, Congress has to pass new spending just to get through the year or be forced to kick kids out of the program.
Fact. President Bush is opposed to raising taxes and this bill raises taxes. For instance, the federal cigarette tax would be raised over 150 percent (from 39 cents per pack to one dollar).
In addition to the facts, there is good reason to support the president’s proposed increase in spending (it’s simply a compassionate thing to do) but not the much larger expanded scope of the bill passed by the House. For decades, Democrats have pushed for universal “free” health care. After the debacle of Hillary Care in ’93, Dems decided to take a page out of their dusty and yellowed playbook with this bill. That is, they will try to achieve their dream by getting there incrementally. This bill is one more incremental step toward government run health care.
Trying to achieve this incremental step finds the Democrats engaged in rhetoric to color anyone opposed to this bill as cold and uncaring because, after all, this bill targets poor children. Poor children (those below the poverty line) are already covered by Medicaid. SCHIP covers those above the poverty line who cannot afford private insurance.
Is it too much to ask to stop the rhetoric and just give us the facts? Americans are smart enough to make sound judgments when given the facts. Also, if you are suffering from BDS, please see someone qualified to treat this condition n a conservative.
Michael McNeil is a free-lance writer from Dakota City, Neb. You can write to him in care of The Journal or at lvrcomments@hotmail.com.
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David, Minneapolis wrote on Nov 2, 2007 1:34 AM:
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