Kidding Himself
November 28th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
“I’m not worried about myself, I’m worried about how we can take care of those low-income kids.” So said our junior senator, John Cornyn, as quoted in today’s Dallas Morning News. But when it comes to Cornyn, actions speak louder than words.
He made the remark during a tour with reporters of an Austin call center that enrolls kids in the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
One in five Texas children lack health insurance — by far the highest rate in the nation. Roughly 60 percent of those uninsured kids are eligible for CHIP or Medicaid, but for one reason or another (some because of the state’s bungling of its enrollment system), they just haven’t signed up.
Cornyn has been criticized for voting against an expansion of CHIP in late August and September. The bill, vetoed by the president, would have provided health coverage to more than three million kids nationwide.
Cornyn’s photo-op seemed designed to blunt a potential campaign issue.
Still his challengers got their shots in. “He can use all the semantics and misdirection he wants. At the end of the day, he had an opportunity to vote for working families and he chose not to,” said Democratic senate candidate and Houston state Rep. Rick Noriega told the Morning News.
Ray McMurrey, a second Democrat who jumped into the race last week, said Cornyn “should be embarrassed” by his inaction.
Cornyn defended his vote against a CHIP expansion. “There are still hundreds of thousands of low-income children across the state who are going without essential health care services,” he told the Austin American-Statesman. “My goal is to try to make sure…we get them enrolled before we take our eye off the ball and we then look at perhaps growing the program.”
Seems to us that his goal of getting kids enrolled counts as “growing the program.” But there’s a bigger flaw in Cornyn’s position. Many of the three million kids who would have been covered under the CHIP expansion bill that Cornyn helped scuttle already are eligible for the program. Like Texas, many states simply can’t afford to enroll all the kids who are currently eligible for CHIP. The vetoed bill would have addressed that problem.
If Cornyn’s goal is to cover those uninsured kids who are already eligible, then voting against the CHIP expansion in Congress was self-defeating.
November 28th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Who knew the not-giving-health-insurance-to-kids beat would be, sadly, so busy for you for so long, Dave? I still can’t figure out how this issue doesn’t harm TX R’s, in Austin and D.C., more often.
November 28th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
“Many of the three million kids who would have been covered under the CHIP expansion bill that Cornyn helped scuttle already are eligible for the program. Like Texas, many states simply can’t afford to enroll all the kids who are currently eligible for CHIP. The vetoed bill would have addressed that problem.”
I really don’t understand what you are saying here. Texas can indeed afford to enroll the 175,000 eligible kids and the 2007 legislature provided for exactly that. The state has 340K kids on the rolls now and is on a path to the 500K+ it once had.
The problem highlighted at yesterday’s event, as I understand it, is that it’s difficult to find, inform, educate and enroll eligible children. Their parents don’t sign them up, for various reasons. So this is interesting: the bill Cornyn voted for provided $700 million to states for outreach efforts. The Democratic bill that Bush vetoed had only a token $100 million for outreach.
Cornyn’s bill would have provided a 40% funding increase and sufficient funds for Texas (at the 73 percent federal match) to cover all expected enrollment increases, to over 500,000 kids over the next five years. The vetoed bill, a 140% funding increase, would have also paid for all expected enrollment, obviously. But if Texas sticks to the 200 percent of poverty eligibility level as expected, there would have been $1.8 BILLION left over to be returned to the federal government. That represents Texas taxpayer money that would then be redistributed to other states with more lavish programs. Is this what you think Cornyn should have voted for?
Texas has already sent $1 billion or so back to the federal government, and is now sitting on a backlog of another $1 billion or so in unspent federal matching funds. Can you explain how Texas would benefit from a 140 percent increase in federal funding?
November 28th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Perhaps we could cover even more Texas kids with CHIPS money if the D’s would quit spending it on illegal adults?
Who’s denying Texas kids coverage by diverting their money to adults.
Here’s a clue…..it ain’t Cornyn or the R’s
November 29th, 2007 at 7:45 am
Thomas More is exactly right. In fact, now that I re-read Dave Mann’s item, I see that he is actually (unwittingly) underscoring Cornyn’s point! Cornyn is saying, “Let’s concentrate on enrolling all those thousands of eligible kids from working poor families — before we expand the program to parents, single adults and the middle class.” So Dave Mann, while trying to criticize Cornyn, is actually backing his approach. I’m sure he appreciates the Texas Observer’s support.
November 29th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
“Perhaps we could cover even more Texas kids with CHIPS money if the D’s would quit spending it on illegal adults?”
TM - Are you, by chance, a career comments section troll? Do you, for sport, say inflammatory things on message boards and comments sections then watch the chaos you’ve created, like Samuel L. Jackson in Unbreakable? If so, good show!
“Who’s denying Texas kids coverage by diverting their money to adults.
Here’s a clue…..it ain’t Cornyn or the R’s”
Cornyn I can’t speak for because I don’t follow politics, and I don’t know anything about adults getting coverage either, but the R’s certainly had a role in denying Texas kids coverage, and it’s worth remembering that more mindfully than “their parents don’t sign them up for various reasons.” There was the year 2003, for example, the Accenture debacle, a huge decline in enrollment following changes to the enrollment process, and something about owning a car worth 3 grand being grounds for ineligibility. 2007 might have seen things inch back toward track, but there’s no reason for republicans here to get on any high horse about it.
As for Cornyn, to go around touting his commitment to getting eligible kids enrolled without looking damn critically at how things went awry in the first place (nevermind failing to pass “expansion”) is…I can’t think of anything that really captures what it is. It’s silly.
December 1st, 2007 at 12:27 pm
TROLL? Thats a new one!
Career comments section troll? Not sure what you mean. I don’t follow any party line if thats what you mean. Lies by one are just as offensive to me as lies by the other.
“then watch the chaos you’ve created, like Samuel L. Jackson in Unbreakable? If so, good show!”
Frankly, I find this type of comment personally offensive, but I’ll attempt to point out what I said. If you can find something thats not true please point it out to me. I’m not perfect, but I’m sure of my facts here.
Saying inflammatory things? If the truth offends you please feel feree to critize me at any time. All I said was if you’ll read it again is that using CHIPS money to give medical care to illegal alien adults results in less money for childrens care. Thats true as it can be. It is not the Republicans that contrived this misuse of childrens money for illegal alien adults. It was D’s.
You are entirely correct about 2003, the R’s cost Texas 600 dollars million and counting, tore up a properly functioning agency and hurt untold people including children. Anyone is and has been allowed one car of any worth, the $3000 canard is just that.
As to the enrollment of children now, there are 200,00 or 300,000 eligible that are not enrolled that qualify right now. There are many reasons of course. And the lack of staff at HHSC is right up there. And yes the R’s bear responsibility for that.
You missed the fact that Cornyn was being critized because he voted against the SCHIPS bill that Shrubbie vetoed anyway. It was a bad bill and for exactly the reasons Cornyn stated.
It was State republicans that are responsible for this mess, not poor old Cornyn.
But again I point out to you that I said Cornyn and the R’s aren’t responsible for diverting Childrens Health Insurance Program money to illegal alien adults.
Thats the absolute truth and frankly, I fail to see how you get your attack out of that? What does that have to do with 2003 or the stupidity of the R’s in causing it? What does that have to do with any other part of the problem?