Will He Really Veto CHIP?
September 26th, 2007 at 11:41 am
So it comes down to this: Does President Bush possess the gall and political temerity to cut health care for poor kids?
The U.S. House passed a bill last night to expand the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program. The vote was 265-159. (Senate approval is expected later this week.) Forty-five House Republicans defied the White House to support the bill. Still, it’s not anywhere near the 290 votes needed to override a Bush veto.
Bush’s opposition is purely ideological. This Washington Post story debunks the White House’s reasons for opposing CHIP. After all, the program is fiscally conservative. It aids working families and helps keep them off welfare. And, by providing kids insurance and preventive care, CHIP saves money in the long run. No matter. For Bush, CHIP has always represented government health care. So he’s never been a big fan.
If he does veto CHIP, and Congress fails to override — as now appears likely — then the White House will have leverage to negotiate a much smaller CHIP expansion. The current Congressional bill would cover roughly 3.5 million uninsured kids. A veto — and the subsequent compromise — would likely deprive health insurance from hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of children.
The GOP would likely suffer as well. As we’ve observed in this space before, Texas Republicans have learned the hard way that cutting CHIP carries a political price. How many vulnerable Republican House members will see this kind of ad in 2008 thanks to the White House’s stubbornness.
Rep. Ray LaHood nailed it. “I’m a little baffled as to why the Bush people picked this issue to fight it out on,” the conservative Illinois Republican told the Post. “It’s very sensitive. It’s about kids. Who’s against kids’ health care?”
George W. Bush is about to let us know.
September 26th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
This is what I don’t understand:
“If he does veto CHIP, and Congress fails to override — as now appears likely — then the White House will have leverage to negotiate a much smaller CHIP expansion.”
Why? I understand the Congress can vote to keep the current program running on a short-term basis. Why don’t they do that and keep sending him this bill? Let’s see how many times he’ll veto and how many Repubs he can hold onto as we get into 2008. Why does he get leverage?
October 2nd, 2007 at 3:23 pm
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