BUSH LECTURES US ABOUT THE NEEDS OF "POOR" CHILDREN

Well, it was no surprise to see the Whitehouse gloating today about the failure of the House to pass a veto-proof S-Chips bill. The new press secretary actually stated that the vote was still another victory for the poor children in our country.

You know, it truly amazes me that the president of the United States and his lackies do not even know who the S-Chips legislation helps. Bush himself started the misinformation campaign when he claimed that the S-Chips program was for "poor" children. Of course, I don't think that Mr. Bush has had too much contact with poor children since he is from a wealthy family. But now, even his press secretary shows her ignorance by repeating the same nonsense.

Let's help these people out. "Poor children" are covered already by Medicaid. Got it? The S-Chips program covers those individuals who can't afford the outrageous premiums that insurance companies charge the rest of us.

The program also covers children who could not obtain private insurance due to pre-existing conditions which, of course, the insurance industry avoids like the plague. Anyone with a brain could not have missed this points if they watched any television news the last few weeks. With the exception of the Fox News folks who parrot Bush-talk ad nauseam, every network has described the program correctly.

It was encouraging that several House Republicans did vote against the president on this issue. While it is tempting to join in the strong condemnation of the Bush position on this subject as certain Democrats did, I believe that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's approach will more likely lead to a veto-proof bill in the near future.

If you watched the CBS News or Countdown tonight, you saws that an incredible 84% of Americans favor the S-Chips program and that 67% would be willing to pay higher taxes for the program.

I sent my own Congressman a message supporting this legislation but he's about as likely to vote for the bill as Rush Limbaugh is to praise it. However, the Republican party surely has the sense to figure out that this is still another nail in their coffins for the 2008 Election year.

I just keep asking myself: How can this be America? As Mrs. Pelosi pointed out, what we spend in a few weeks in Iraq would pay for the increase in the S-Chips program for a full year! These are our children and grandchildren we're talking about for God's sake. While Bush runs around saying he's protecting "poor children", he's really just protecting the private insurance industry.

I think that 14 votes can be obtained with a few small changes in this bill. Let's all tell our Congressmen and Congresswomen that we really do care about all of the children in this country.