No Room for Compromise on SCHIP

There is very disturbing talk coming out of the very disturbing White House about a compromise on the SCHIP bill.   Even more upsetting is the suggestion I read somewhere (can't remember or find where) that the Dems may throw FISA under the bus to get what they want on SCHIP.   So the GOP is holding poor children hostage so that they can trample on the Constitution.  I wish the Dems had a No Negotiations With Terrorists policy. 

I'm not a FISA wonk but I know the story behind this SCHIP bill and the fact is that there is no more room for compromise.  The initial request from the ground was to reauthorize the program at $60B over five years.  The House passed a bill authorizing $50B over five years.    It paid for the plan with a combination of increased tobacco taxes and curbs to the Medicare Advantage boondoggle/corporate welfare program.  The insurance industry threw the predictable fit and the Senate came back with a $35B reauthorization paid for entirely with tobacco taxes.  The tobacco industry can only dream of the pull that the insurance industry has. 

When the bills went to conference, it was essentially the Senate bill that came through as yet another compromise.  When the votes came down on the bill we see today, it received wide bi-partisan support.  In the Senate the support for the bi-partisan compromise bill was veto-proof.  In the House, it was not.  Now the GOP is saying that the Dems need to compromise again in order to get the support of the President and his minions.  But the truth is, as Harry Reid said when the c-word first started getting tossed around, "You cannot wring another ounce of compromise out of it."    But these are the Democrats so there are already signs of weakening:

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said on "Fox News Sunday" that SCHIP is "not going to die." If the House fails to override the veto, Congress is "going to go back, and we're going to pass another bill," Hoyer said (Lengell, Washington Times, 10/15).

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday also spoke about SCHIP on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," saying, "We'll try very hard to override" the veto, but "one thing's for sure: We won't rest until those 10 million children have health care" (Washington Times, 10/15). Pelosi did not offer details on how a new bill would differ from the vetoed compromise measure, but criticized Bush for being unwilling to negotiate a solution (Los Angeles Times, 10/15). Democrats will "talk to the president at the right time, when he makes an overture to do so, but not an overture that says, 'This is the only thing I'm going to sign,'" Pelosi said (Yen, AP/Long Island Newsday, 10/14).

Watch for the new bill to strike key enrollment and coverage provisions.  Remember - this is not about the money.  $35B is chump change, an insult to every American and a global embarrassment.  This is about killing SCHIP and Americans' faith in their government's ability to provide vital services.  You do that by making it harder for states to enroll kids and by making the coverage as weak as possible when they do.

When you call your members of Congress, please be sure to tell them that you will not accept any compromise on the SCHIP legislation.  The same bill, as crappy as it is - and it is craptacular - should be sent back to President Class War's desk until the pain the GOP feels over denying health care to children who need it is so acute that they are forced to leave the lap of their master.   

Update:  This is the sort of outcome the GOP thinks we shouldn't be paying for and what Rep. Joe Knollenberg's Chief of Staff (very depressing video below) considers to be UnAmerican.   Get ready for a very long fight.

Bethany Wilkerson's SCHIP Story

Rep. Joe Wilkerson's Chief of Staff Undergoing Some Sort of Psychic Break

Comments

[BrightNoah]

What the hell is wrong with these people? Are they incapable of standing up for anything they believe in?

I. seriously. don't. understand.

[eRobin]

I'm with you. We saw that lunatic Chief of Staff having no trouble standing up for his delusions. And the guy taping him has the courage to stand up for SCHIP funding and ending the war. So where are the Dems? Keeping that powder dry while they collaborate with the same people who own the GOP.