http://www.johnkerry.com/2007/9/27/playing-chicken-with-children-s-health-careSenator John Kerry posted a blog entry about this very subject on his eponymous web site this morning, and it's a real corker of a post. He's calling the President and his cadre of Roadblock Republicans out for continuing to block any extension of S-CHIP (aka the State Children's Health Insurance Program), and he's doing it in no uncertain terms:
Playing Chicken with Children's Health Care
If there’s anybody left who doubts that “compassionate conservatism” is an Orwellian smokescreen for the same old Republican policies, listen to this:
After promising he’d work on "expanding health care for children," the President has now unilaterally declared war on a successful, wildly popular program that gives health care to millions of low-income kids.
Democrats see a successful program, S-CHIP, and they see 11 million kids still uninsured in the richest country in the world, and they want to build on what works and expand it. Makes sense, right? But this White House is so hell-bent on denying the Democratic Congress a victory, the President’s threatening to veto health care for kids.
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The President still says he’s committed to “expanding health care to children” but his machinations on this issue tell a different story — this is what happens when people who hate government run our government: we get regulators who don’t regulate, "heckuva-job" cronies, and trickle-down tax cuts that leave middle class families feeling tricked on.
For Republicans, this S-CHIP bill is the worst threat of all: a bipartisan bill to expand a government program that actually works, and a chance for this Democratic Congress to deliver. That’s like kryptonite to Republicans, who honestly seem to think that America’s gain would be a Republican loss if it’s passed by a Democratic Congress.
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Those Republicans willing to stand up and do the right thing threw a wrench in the usual tactics of fear — demonizing good social policies that help real Americans as “socialized” or “European” when actually they’re just smart. But some Republicans would rather cover for the ideologue-in-chief than cover America’s children. It’s time for the rest of the Roadblock Republicans to show some spine and override the President’s veto.
America’s families don’t care where their insurance comes from — parents just want to make sure that when their kids get sick, they’ll get the treatment they need.Republicans have to stop blocking every bill this Democratic Congress passes. Delay used to be just one thuggish Congressman — now it’s become the Republican way of life. I hope my Republican colleagues will join me and pass a bill that will insure millions of uninsured kids across America. But if they can’t hold their noses and vote with Democrats to do what’s right for America’s kids, at least have the decency to get out of our way.
The S-CHIP program is one of the most successful health care initiatives in decades, and it saves the states many millions of dollars each year while protecting the health of our country's kids. Bi-partisan legislation extending S-CHIP coverage to cover more children who really need the help has been very strongly supported by Senators and Representatives on both sides of the aisle. But the Bush administration, for its own petty political reasons, insists on roadblocking it at every turn. That makes John Kerry mad as hell, and he's not going to take it any more -- and neither should you.
Read the Senator's whole op-ed piece for yourselves, and then make sure your representatives in Washington and the Bush cronies in the White House know exactly how you feel. Insist that the Roadblock Republicans listen to the voice of the people and stop playing chicken with the health and welfare of our nation's kids. Tell them to do what's right instead of what's right-wing for a change. After all, they really do work for
us, not the other way around.
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