SHAME!! -- S-Chip Veto Override Falls Short
It is a shame that in a nation spending some $200 billion a year to fight a war we shouldn't be in can't find $35 billion to cover 10 million children in the US with health insurance. As reported in the NY Times the override fell 13 votes short. It already had sufficient support in the Senate.
The arguments about coverage of middle class kids or adults is bogus. The idea that it doesn't have support nationally is bogus. I mean if you have Charles Grassley and Orrin Hatch as supporters, a bill like this isn't a Democratic proposal. I mean if %70 of Republicans support this, as reported by the NY Times, then hey the Republicans who voted with the President need to have their heads examined.
Here's my response. If you voted with the President, expect to be booted out of office. I'm fortunate that my representative -- Lois Capps -- voted correctly, but there are 156 people who chose the wrong direction.
This bill, however, will be back and next time those 13 votes will be going the other way!
Comments
One thing's for certain: I'd hate to be anyone who voted against this.
I was sad that the vote failed, but no one on the Hill I talked to was surprised. Answering Michael — I believe the extra votes came from additional funding for abstinence-only education. So unless something else was conceded, they wouldn't have gotten any additional votes. 13 was actually fewer than most people expected — those I talked to expected it to fail by 15-20 votes.
And the Republicans were already criticizing them for waiting so long to re-vote. Hopefully something can be salvaged from this bill, though it's very sad the current bill wasn't passed.