10 Million Unhappy Kids

While 44 Republican House members voted with Democrats on a health insurance program for 10 million children, it was not enough to overturn a presidential veto, reports The New York Times.

The Democrats vow to introduce a new version of the bill, but time may be against Republicans: the longer this battle is drawn out, the closer the GOP gets to looking bad in election season.

Why would they look bad? Because a CBS News poll found 81 percent of those interviewed supported expanding the health care program, which I discuss in more detail here.

Interestingly, 70 percent of Republican respondents support expanding S-chip, as the health care plan is called. And 75 percent of respondents feel it is worth increasing taxes to fund the program.

Now the president wants a new bill. Bush is seeking a paltry $5 billion over five years instead of the $35 billion sought by Democrats, who complain they already compromised with congressional Republicans in the first place.

I don’t understand why the concept is so difficult: children should never be punished because their parents are poor nor should they be political pawns by either party. It’s as simple as that.