Swift response to Bush's veto of SCHIP
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| News Archive
| Topics: children, Congress, insurance, policy, politics
President Bush followed through on promises to veto the States Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which lapsed on Sunday. The veto, the fourth of his presidency, came behind closed doors. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md) said he will not rush to schedule a vote to override, hoping 15 of the 159 who originally voted against the measure will change their minds. Meanwhile, contradictory messages are coming from the White House. Bush told a crowd in Lancaster, Pa., that he prefers private medicine. Dana Perino, White House spokesperson, turned it into a class issue, saying SCHIP promotes middle class entitlements at the expense of smokers “in the low-income bracket.” The Greensboro News Record summarized the concern of tobacco interests: “North Carolina tobacco farmers, already adjusting to the end of the federal tobacco quota system, will take a financial hit if demand lessens. It's unfair and unrealistic to expect the tobacco industry to pay the full funding tab.”
Public opinion polls show roughly 70 percent of the public wants SCHIP, slightly more than the number wanting higher cigarette taxes. Most of the nation's governors support renewing SCHIP and eight are threatening to sue the federal government.
