MEAN BUSH WON'T SIGN BILL ON EXPANDING CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE

From seeing him swagger and saunter on TV to hearing him hector listeners with his childish oratory, we all have a sense of George Bush's character or lack thereof.

But his refusal to back an expansion of health insurance for children shows how mean this guy really is.

Christopher Lee writes today in The Washington Post:

"President Bush yesterday rejected entreaties by his Republican allies that he compromise with Democrats on legislation to renew a popular program that provides health coverage to poor children, saying that expanding the program would enlarge the role of the federal government at the expense of private insurance."

Here Bush shows his attitude towards people especially children without health insurance. It is their fault for not having it. Government has no business intervening to help them get it. Where did we hear this old saw before? Oh, it's part of the mantra of the Republican Party.

Writes Lee:

"The president said he objects on philosophical grounds to a bipartisan Senate proposal to boost the State Children's Health Insurance Program by $35 billion over five years. Bush has proposed $5 billion in increased funding and has threatened to veto the Senate compromise and a more costly expansion being contemplated in the House.


""I support the initial intent of the program," Bush said in an interview with The Washington Post after a factory tour and a discussion on health care with small-business owners in Landover. "My concern is that when you expand eligibility . . . you're really beginning to open up an avenue for people to switch from private insurance to the government.""

Forget about the forty million Americans who have no health coverage because they cannot afford it. Protect the private insurance industry above all. This is what Bush seems to be saying. Let those without any health insurance go without it.

Is this the guy who should be president of the United States? Even Orrin Hatch and Chuck Grassley, both Republicans, are in favor of the expansion. That Bush is against the program shows how mean and dogmatic he is.

Lee writes:

"The 10-year-old program, which is set to expire on Sept. 30, costs the federal government $5 billion a year and helps provide health coverage to 6.6 million low-income children whose families do not qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private insurance on their own.

"About 3.3 million additional children would be covered under the proposal developed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Republican Sens. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa) and Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), among others. It would provide the program $60 billion over five years, compared with $30 billion under Bush's proposal. And it would rely on a 61-cent increase in the federal excise tax on cigarettes, to $1 a pack, which Bush opposes."