A question of priorities

Apparently, US President George thinks Iraq and the tobacco industry are more important than children's healthcare. He's vetoed a bill to expand a children's healthcare insurance program, claiming it is "too expensive." His veto came after the bill passed 67-29 in the Senate. Eighteen Republican senators joined Democrats last week to approve the legislation. The House of Representatives passed the bill 265-159, short of the two-thirds majority needed to override Bush's veto.

The bill proposed higher tobacco taxes to provide an extra $35bn to insure ten million children. The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) currently subsidises health care for 6.6 million people, most of them children. The program helps families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but can't afford private health insurance coverage.

As per usual, the president thinks he knows better than our lawmakers. Can you imagine the decision-making process that must have gone through his mind? 'Hmmm, let's see - shall we spend tax dollars for children's healthcare or for funding the war in Iraq? And that tobacco lobby - better not forget how powerful it is! Wouldn't want to raise tobacco taxes; lobbyists might cause a fuss.'

The sad truth is that after spending half a trillion dollars in Iraq, then asking Congress for an additional $200 billion, Bush is unwilling to address urgent priorities at home. For the amount of American tax dollars spent in one week in Iraq, 1.8 million children could be insured for an entire year. For the price of one day in Iraq, 256,000 children could be covered. And just over one month of the Iraq war would cover the full cost of the bill, insuring more than 10 million children for a whole year, according to figures released by Sen. Ted Kennedy's office.

Sen. Kennedy (Dem., Massachusetts) said, "President Bush and I have one thing in common. When either of us wants to see a doctor, American taxpayers cover 72 percent of our health care premiums. And when it comes time to pick a medical facility, either of us can go to a government-run hospital like the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. ...So I want to know, if government-run health care is good enough for me and is good enough for President Bush, why isn't it good enough for America's children?"

Kennedy said Bush's claim that the program costs too much is "a question of priorities." "...And President Bush's priorities obviously don't include the needs of America's children," he noted. "...Health insurance shouldn't be a luxury for the privileged few. It should be a right for all Americans,especially our children."

Comments

[Mary Jane]

Hi Tara,
Thank you for reminding me that children in America should not be denied health care.....

[JanePoe (aka Deborah)]

I agree with your assessment Tara ... our state, Washington, is one that is suing the Bush Administration over this issue. Just when you think BushCo can't go any lower, they sink to a new level. Peace, JP/deb

[parisbreakfasts]

So damn frustrating!
How far down will he drag us?
Or rather drag us along the bottom for how long...
We are in the pits from this idiot!

[marita]

sure healthcare is expensive compared to the profits of the tabacco industry. on the other hand mr. bush's days are counted.. that's a relief after all!

[rochambeau]

It appalling!

[robyn]

Well written, really sad when you think about it.

[Dorian]

No 'childrens' [sic] left behind - but who cares if they're healthy or if their parents can keep their homes? Nothing about this man surprises me anymore - it just makes me incredibly sad.

[Gillian @ Indigo Blue]

I am just trying to picture half a trillion dollars.
Now I am trying to picture ten million children in need of health care.
This math doesn't add up.
I agree it is a question of priorities, or lack of them.
xo
Blue

[Lisa-Marie]

Thanks so much for helping enlighten the general public. I work with in health care and see middle class families without coverage for their children on a regular basis. The term middle class entitlement is George's latest oxymoron; is there really such a thing in this kind of struggle? You rock Tara!

[MATTHEW ROSE]

Personally I've given up on W and his nonsense. We will just have to hang in ther for another 473 days (I have a Backwards Bush keychain that keeps track of the days left until W leaves us).

Nice blog. Thoughtful writing. Cheers from the 14th.

Matthew / http://lalandedigitalpress.blogspot.com/

[pilgrimgirl]

If you feel so inclined email Pres Bush or fax him: president@whitehouse.gov or FAX: 202-456-2461.

I just sent him a message letting him know how disappointed I was in the veto. Yes, I know he doesn't read the messages himself, but I believe it does help (in a cumulative way) when enough people express outrage. And at least it's something I _can_ do.

[Clare]

Very well written -- and yes, this is beyond appalling and disgraceful about Bush vetoing this bill. It makes me so angry.

[AnnieElf]

I was listening to NPR today during lunch. This was one of the topics. Infuriating.

[Tim]

Why should smokers be the singled out as the people to pick up the tab for an entitlement program? You say that the tobacco lobby does not want the tax. I assume it is because you think that the tax will cause people to quit smoking because smoking will become too expensive for them thus causing the tobacco companies to lose revenue. Well what happens to the program when hypothetically all smokers quit? Do you think the program will just go away? No, it just becomes another entitlement program and tax for the rest of us to have to pick up. I have a better idea. Why don’t we make all american citizens who choose to be expatriates pick up the cost of the entire program? The U.S. Treasury can just send you a bill for your proportionate share of the program. I could live with that legislation.

Sorry to go against the grain of your adoring fans but I could not help myself on this one. As for the war cost that is a completely different issue entirely in my opinion.

Tara Bradford responds:
For your information, Americans living abroad pay taxes just as those Americans who reside in America. As I don't know anything about you, I can't tell if you're a disgruntled smoker worried about the possibility of the price of cigarettes going up or someone who simply doesn't care about children's health or both. And your theory of millions of smokers quitting simply because a tax is added to the price of a pack of cigarettes is absurd.

If you don't like the bill's funding source, I suggest you contact your elected representatives, as they are the ones who sponsor and debate the bill's merits. Smoking-related illnesses are a huge drain on the nation's health care system; perhaps the lawmakers decided that further taxing cigarettes would help balance the costs of treating such illnesses.

My point is that a president who overrides the will of the American people's elected representatives is out of touch. America's future lies with its children and their care, not with billions of our tax dollars being funneled into an unnecessary war, with no end in sight.

[anjie joon]

i so agree with you all. it's crazy to me that we're one of the wealthiest nations and yet we can't provide healthcare, higher education or regular, healthy meals to all our citizens. what kind of future does that provide our country? there must be a better way.

[tinker]

It's a sad state of affairs when the health of our nation's children takes a backseat to the interests of the industrial military complex, and lobbyists...

[Cre8Tiva]

don't get me started...let's please send more dollars to fight a war we can't ever win...and ignore americans in trouble, loosing their homes at record rates, neglecting health care to eat...i said not to get me started...sad world...blessings, rebecca

[fleur]

How funny, it makes our president look like an insane warmongering anti-family-values child-hater, doesn't it? There must be some mistake.