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Family Values: Sick Kids? Tough Shit

FRIDAY OCTOBER 5 2007 3:00 PM

Submitted by Bitch_PhD. Edited By Bitch_PhD.

TAGS: schip, state children's health insurance program, bush, health insurance, health care, children

Yesterday Bush, as promised, vetoed the State Child Health Insurance Program bill.

Bush, in only the fourth veto of his presidency, said he rejected the bipartisan bill because it would "move healthcare in this country in the wrong direction" and would mean that "government coverage would displace private health insurance for many children."
....
Rep. Elton Gallegly, a Simi Valley Republican who voted against the bill, said the Democrats' decision to delay the override attempt shows their goal is to score political points, not to provide health insurance to children.

"This is a classic case of the ugliest part of our government process, which is taking something as critical as the healthcare of children and turning it into political spin," Gallegly said.

Ugly, ugly, ugly. Denying health insurance to children because providing it is "the wrong direction" is the "political spin" here. SCHIP wouldn't "displace private insurance" for fucking anyone; it would *provide* insurance for kids who don't have it.

Here's what will happen in California, Gallegly's state:

Unless Congress overrides the veto, California will not only be prohibited from expanding the program, but the state will also have to drop as many as 250,000 children who are currently insured under the program, Wright said.

More facts:

In 2005, there were 8.3 *million* uninsured children in the U.S. In 2006, there were 8.7 million.

Between 1998, the year the State Children�s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was implemented, and 2004, the number of uninsured children fell every year. But since 2004, as the availability of funding for SCHIP expansion has tightened and as a restrictive Medicaid policy enacted in early 2006 has taken effect, progress in enrolling uninsured children in SCHIP and Medicaid has stalled.

These are children with asthma, with disabilities, with chronic ear infections, with toothaches, with eczema, with allergies; kids in foster care, kids with depression or ADHD. The idea that most people are basically healthy and that if you get sick without health insurance you can always go to the ER applies to "most people" because "most people" have had decent health care as children and haven't developed long-term or chronic problems because they lacked it. Untreated colds, head lice when you can't afford the medicine that kills them, eczema that drives you crazy--that kind of minor ongoing problem undermines kids' ability to attend school, undermines their ability to focus when they are in school, undermines their long-term health and the health of their entire families. ER visits for head lice or asthma are a fuck of a lot more expensive to the almighty taxpayer than providing kids with inhalers and topical medications.

And it's fucking pathetic that we have to resort to that kind of "it costs more not to treat them" argument for convincing the wealthiest country in the world to make sure kids can see a doctor once or twice a year.

The good news is that the Senate has enough votes for SCHIP to override Bush's asshole veto.

The bad news is that the House doesn't. We need 25 more Representatives to act like decent human beings and switch their votes.

So. Do the decent thing. Go here and find out who your representative is.

Then scroll down the list below to see if his or her name is on it. These are the folks who voted against SCHIP.

Write them (you can do so via the first link, or you can google their name and find a real honest-to-god mailing address) and tell them to change their vote. That's all you have to do.

If you want to do more, google the name of your state + "uninsured children numbers" and find out what percentage of kids in your state are uninsured. Mention that in your letter. If your representative was one of the good guys, write to the people on the list below who are from your state, admit that you're not in their district, but tell them you write as a resident of your state, and point out that their vote affects everyone.

If you want to do even more, talk to your friends and make sure they know about this. Tell them who their representative is. Urge them to write or call. Give them your representative's contact information. (A list of people who are *most* likely to change their votes is here, but even the dyed-in-the-wool assholes should hear how unpopular their stubbornness on this issue is with their constituents.)

If you want to do even more than that, print out a few flyers that say "Your Representative in Congress voted AGAINST providing health insurance to uninsured children," put your Representative's name, face, and contact information on it, and post them around town.

If you want to do even more than all of that, think of what else you can do and post it in the comments below.

Alabama

AL-1 Bonner, Jo (R)
AL-2 Everett, Terry (R)
AL-3 Rogers, Michael (R)
AL-4 Aderholt, Robert (R)
AL-6 Bachus, Spencer (R)

Arizona

AZ-2 Franks, Trent (R)
AZ-3 Shadegg, John (R)
AZ-6 Flake, Jeff (R)

Arkansas

AR-3 Boozman, John (R)

California

CA-2 Herger, Walter (R) -- did not vote
CA-3 Lungren, Daniel (R)
CA-4 Doolittle, John (R)
CA-19 Radanovich, George (R)
CA-21 Nunes, Devin (R)
CA-22 McCarthy, Kevin (R)
CA-24 Gallegly, Elton (R)
CA-25 McKeon, Howard (R)
CA-26 Dreier, David (R)
CA-33 Watson, Diane (D) -- voted "present" but did not vote aye or nay on the bill
CA-40 Royce, Edward (R)
CA-41 Lewis, Jerry (R)
CA-42 Miller, Gary (R)
CA-44 Calvert, Ken (R)
CA-46 Rohrabacher, Dana (R)
CA-48 Campbell, John (R)
CA-49 Issa, Darrell (R)
CA-50 Bilbray, Brian (R)
CA-52 Hunter, Duncan (R)

Colorado

CO-4 Musgrave, Marilyn (R)
CO-5 Lamborn, Doug (R)
CO-6 Tancredo, Thomas (R)

Florida

FL-1 Miller, Jeff (R)
FL-4 Crenshaw, Ander (R)
FL-5 Brown-Waite, Virginia (R)
FL-6 Stearns, Clifford (R)
FL-7 Mica, John (R)
FL-8 Keller, Ric (R)
FL-9 Bilirakis, Gus (R)
FL-11 Castor, Kathy (D)
FL-12 Putnam, Adam (R)
FL-14 Mack, Connie (R)
FL-15 Weldon, David (R)
FL-18 Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana (R)
FL-21 Diaz-Balart, Lincoln (R)
FL-24 Feeney, Tom (R)
FL-25 Diaz-Balart, Mario (R)

Georgia

GA-1 Kingston, Jack (R)
GA-3 Westmoreland, Lynn (R)
GA-6 Price, Tom (R)
GA-7 Linder, John (R)
GA-8 Marshall, James (D)
GA-9 Deal, Nathan (R)
GA-10 Broun, Paul (R)
GA-11 Gingrey, John (R)

Idaho

ID-1 Sali, Bill (R)

Illinois

IL-6 Roskam, Peter (R)
IL-11 Weller, Gerald (R)
IL-13 Biggert, Judy (R)
IL-14 Hastert, J. (R)
IL-15 Johnson, Timothy (R)
IL-16 Manzullo, Donald (R)
IL-19 Shimkus, John (R)

Indiana

IN-3 Souder, Mark (R)
IN-4 Buyer, Stephen (R)
IN-5 Burton, Dan (R)
IN-6 Pence, Mike (R)
IN-7 Carson, Julia (D) -- did not vote
IN-9 Hill, Baron (D)

Iowa

IA-5 King, Steve (R)

Kansas

KS-4 Tiahrt, Todd (R)

Kentucky

KY-1 Whitfield, Edward (R)
KY-2 Lewis, Ron (R)
KY-4 Davis, Geoff (R)
KY-5 Rogers, Harold (R)

Louisiana

LA-1 Jindal, Bobby (R) -- did not vote
LA-4 McCrery, James (R)
LA-5 Alexander, Rodney (R)
LA-6 Baker, Richard (R)
LA-7 Boustany, Charles (R)

Maryland

MD-6 Bartlett, Roscoe (R)

Massachusetts

MA-10 Delahunt, William (D) -- did not vote

Michigan

MI-2 Hoekstra, Peter (R)
MI-4 Camp, David (R)
MI-7 Walberg, Timothy (R)
MI-8 Rogers, Michael (R)
MI-9 Knollenberg, Joseph (R)
MI-11 McCotter, Thaddeus (R)

Minnesota

MN-2 Kline, John (R)
MN-6 Bachmann, Michele (R)

Mississippi

MS-1 Wicker, Roger (R)
MS-3 Pickering, Charles (R)
MS-4 Taylor, Gene (D)

Missouri

MO-2 Akin, W. (R)
MO-6 Graves, Samuel (R)
MO-7 Blunt, Roy (R)
MO-9 Hulshof, Kenny (R)

Nebraska

NE-1 Fortenberry, Jeffrey (R)
NE-2 Terry, Lee (R)
NE-3 Smith, Adrian (R)

Nevada

NV-2 Heller, Dean (R)

New Jersey

NJ-3 Saxton, H. (R)
NJ-5 Garrett, E. (R)
NJ-11 Frelinghuysen, Rodney (R)

New Mexico

NM-2 Pearce, Steven (R)

New York

NY-26 Reynolds, Thomas (R)
NY-29 Kuhl, John (R)

North Carolina

NC-2 Etheridge, Bob (D)
NC-3 Jones, Walter (R)
NC-5 Foxx, Virginia (R)
NC-6 Coble, Howard (R)
NC-7 McIntyre, Mike (D)
NC-8 Hayes, Robin (R)
NC-9 Myrick, Sue (R)
NC-10 Mchenry, Patrick (R)

Ohio

OH-1 Chabot, Steven (R)
OH-2 Schmidt, Jean (R)
OH-4 Jordan, Jim (R)
OH-8 Boehner, John (R)
OH-10 Kucinich, Dennis (D) -- WTF?

Oklahoma

OK-1 Sullivan, John (R)
OK-2 Boren, Dan (D)
OK-3 Lucas, Frank (R)
OK-4 Cole, Tom (R)
OK-5 Fallin, Mary (R)

Oregon

OR-2 Walden, Greg (R)

Pennsylvania

PA-5 Peterson, John (R)
PA-9 Shuster, William (R)
PA-16 Pitts, Joseph (R)

South Carolina

SC-1 Brown, Henry (R)
SC-2 Wilson, Addison (R)
SC-3 Barrett, James (R)
SC-4 Inglis, Bob (R)

Tennessee

TN-1 Davis, David (R)
TN-2 Duncan, John (R)
TN-3 Wamp, Zach (R)
TN-7 Blackburn, Marsha (R)

Texas

TX-1 Gohmert, Louis (R)
TX-2 Poe, Ted (R) -- did not vote
TX-3 Johnson, Samuel (R)
TX-4 Hall, Ralph (R)
TX-5 Hensarling, Jeb (R)
TX-6 Barton, Joe (R)
TX-7 Culberson, John (R)
TX-8 Brady, Kevin (R)
TX-10 McCaul, Michael (R)
TX-11 Conaway, K. (R)
TX-12 Granger, Kay (R)
TX-13 Thornberry, William (R)
TX-14 Paul, Ronald (R)
TX-19 Neugebauer, Randy (R)
TX-21 Smith, Lamar (R)
TX-24 Marchant, Kenny (R)
TX-26 Burgess, Michael (R)
TX-30 Johnson, Eddie (D) -- did not vote
TX-31 Carter, John (R)
TX-32 Sessions, Peter (R)

Utah

UT-1 Bishop, Rob (R)
UT-3 Cannon, Christopher (R)

Virginia

VA-1 Davis, Jo Ann (R)
VA-2 Drake, Thelma (R)
VA-4 Forbes, James (R)
VA-5 Goode, Virgil (R)
VA-6 Goodlatte, Robert (R)
VA-7 Cantor, Eric (R)

Washington

WA-4 Hastings, Doc (R)

Wisconsin

WI-1 Ryan, Paul (R)
WI-5 Sensenbrenner, F. (R)

Wyoming

WY-0 Cubin, Barbara (R) -- did not vote

107 Comments

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mingol

Singapore

July 2005

OCT 05, 2007 03:28 PM

I'll be very interested to see how Bush tries to spin this veto.

I mean, is "government coverage would displace private health insurance for many children" really the best justification he's got?

emotedcreations

Germany

July 2006

OCT 05, 2007 04:02 PM

I'm glad to see that all the representatives from my state voted for the bill. This leaves little I can do to change things though. I will, however, make sure to tell everyone I know about this. It fucking pisses me off that the first positive thing this congress has done gets shot down on some vague ass "principal". What exactly is your reason Mr. President? Leaving it at "wrong direction" doesn't fucking cut it. This is what happens when you elect an idiot president.

I mean, I can understand, although I don't agree with, the notion that people need to work and pay for their own health insurance, and that if they don't the responsibility lands squarely on their head. But this is for fucking children! Are you going to deny them health insurance because of the laziness, lack of success, whatever (reasons Republicans are convince people don't have health insurance) of their parents? They can't help that, and they certainly shouldn't have to go out and work. This is just beyond fucking ridiculous.

Thanks for writing this article Bitch.

Uncognitive

Brooklyn, NY

May 2003

OCT 05, 2007 04:03 PM

Bitch_PhD said:
Ohio
OH-10 Kucinich, Dennis (D) -- WTF?

Kucinich said he voted against this version of SCHIP because it removed funding for medical care for legal immigrant children.

mingol

Singapore

July 2005

OCT 05, 2007 04:07 PM

emotedcreations said:
What exactly is your reason Mr. President? Leaving it at "wrong direction" doesn't fucking cut it.

But, but ... it would displace PRIVATE coverage! OMGWTF SINKING SHIP!!1!!1!!!11

emotedcreations

Germany

July 2006

OCT 05, 2007 04:10 PM

Uncognitive said:

Bitch_PhD said:
Ohio
OH-10 Kucinich, Dennis (D) -- WTF?

Kucinich said he voted against this version of SCHIP because it removed funding for medical care for legal immigrant children.

I'm sorry. That's still fucking annoying and why he'll never get my vote even though I pretty much agree with him on everything. You have to pick your damn battles. Hopefully, he will change his vote when he realizes they'll need it to help override the veto. I hope. Otherwise his principles are just hurting rather than helping. You need to take things one step at a time. It just reminds me of the whole Hilary Health Care Debacle.

emotedcreations

Germany

July 2006

OCT 05, 2007 04:13 PM

mingol said:

emotedcreations said:
What exactly is your reason Mr. President? Leaving it at "wrong direction" doesn't fucking cut it.

But, but ... it would displace PRIVATE coverage! OMGWTF SINKING SHIP!!1!!1!!!11

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Bitch_PhD

I'm lost

February 2007

OCT 05, 2007 04:15 PM

FWIW, here's the letter I sent my dickwad representative (the guy quoted in the article) and which I'll also be sending to the paper:

Dear Representative Gallegly,

I understand that you have no intention of changing your vote on SCHIP to override President Bush's veto of that bill.

But as your constituent, as an educator, as the parent of an elementary school child, and as an active member of my child's school Parent Teacher Organization, I am asking you to reconsider.

It is my understanding that there are approximately 32,000 uninsured children in Ventura County. Of those, approximately 27,000 are eligible for MediCal or Healthy Families--which leaves 5,000 children who, even under the existing law, are not eligible for free health insurance. Moreover, according to the Ventura County Star, unless Bush's veto is overridden, California will have to drop as many as 250,000 children who are currently on its health insurance rolls.

You know what the cost of living in Ventura County is like; you must know that for many families--and all the more now, with so many homes being foreclosed on--buying private insurance is not financially possible. Surely you are also aware that the schools require children to receive vaccinations, medical checkups, and dental care--as they should.

Without health insurance, how are our children supposed to get the medical care they need to stay healthy, to perform in school, and to ensure that common health problems--asthma, ear infections, eczema, allergies, even head lice--do not require extended absences and extended sick days for working parents?

It is not "spin" to insist that all children have a right to proper health care in the richest state in the richest country in the world. It is spin to argue, as you have done, that those who believe we can and should afford to help the children of working families stay healthy are merely "playing politics."

I hope that you will examine your conscience and see your way clear to change your vote.

Sincerely,

B

dreamergirl

Greenland

September 2007

OCT 05, 2007 04:16 PM

I have kids. I have no medical insurance. One visit can eat half of my payceck. If you need medical emergency, plan on dying in the waiting room waiting 12 hours until your name is called. As a single mom, I had to get smart and get smart fast. Preventitive was my only hope. All 3 have had braces. This is like making a car payment each month. When I do have to take them in to the doctor, I flat out ask for samples of antibiotics if they need them. I have no shame anymore saying I cannot afford not only the meds but the bill itself. I make 30.00 over the amount to qualify for medicade.

30.00 damn dollars.

emotedcreations

Germany

July 2006

OCT 05, 2007 04:18 PM

dreamergirl said:
I make 30.00 over the amount to qualify for medicade.

30.00 damn dollars.

Ask for a pay cut...

mingol

Singapore

July 2005

OCT 05, 2007 04:20 PM

emotedcreations said:

mingol said:

emotedcreations said:
What exactly is your reason Mr. President? Leaving it at "wrong direction" doesn't fucking cut it.

But, but ... it would displace PRIVATE coverage! OMGWTF SINKING SHIP!!1!!1!!!11

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

Seriously, the extent to which this administration fetishizes the privatization of anything and everything is flat-out pathological.

emotedcreations

Germany

July 2006

OCT 05, 2007 04:23 PM

mingol said:
Seriously, the extent to which this administration fetishizes the privatization of anything and everything is flat-out pathological.

For real, I can even appreciate it in a lot of instances, but this is simply ridiculous.

kaosmaker666

Batesville, AR

April 2006

OCT 05, 2007 04:33 PM

Hooray for the veto!!! This was a piece of crap legislation anyway!!! Since when are 25 year olds considered kids? Also in some states if you make up to $80,000 a year you could still qualify. First off, if you are 25 and still live at home......you're some kind of loser!!! Second off, if you make over $40,000 a year and can't afford insurance for your kids....you need to go to a money management course!!! I don't care if either the democrates or republicans sponsored this bill.....it is trash!!! Why is it the taxpayer is always responsible for the kiddies? I don't mind helping people out when they really need it, but sometimes we go way to far.