Leaders from both sides of the aisle have said they are willing to compromise on the S-chip legislation, but the Washington Post reports today:
The breaking point may have come Thursday, when Democratic leaders brought to the House floor a slightly revised bill to expand SCHIP by $35 billion over five years. Republicans cried foul, saying the vote was unfair because they had no time to review the measure and because several of their members were out of town, touring fire damage in Southern California...
But Democratic leaders refused to budge. Rather than winning the dozen or so additional Republican votes they needed to override a presidential veto, they lost two GOP votes…
The revised SCHIP bill was supposed to establish a firm eligibility cap, limiting coverage to families with incomes at 300 percent of the poverty level, about $62,000 for a family of four. But Republican leaders complained that the bill's cap would allow families to exclude certain expenditures, such as clothing, transportation and child care, when figuring their eligibility.
Doesn't really look like the Dems are willing to compromise, does it?
Bush doesn't think so. Michelle Malkin reports: "Bush lambastes the new S-CHIP entitlement bill. 'We want to sit down in good faith and come up with a good bill that's responsible.' Criticizes Dem ploy to hold military spending hostage unless GOP coughs up social and education spending with it."
And Kathryn Jean Lopez posted an email from the Office of Strategic Initiatives at the White House, which says, "The Democrat Congressional Leadership's new SCHIP bill continues to reject President Bush's calls to put poor children first and still increases spending 121%...We hope the Democrats stop playing politics and send the President a bill that puts poor children first and avoids increasing taxes and moving children from private to government coverage."
S-chip is still captivating the blogosphere, especially now that the DCCC has launched ads attacking Republicans on the bill. From Politico's Crypt blog:
This latest round [of ads] steps up pressure on Republican House members who opposed the measure - and feeds the perception that Democrats are using the issue solely for political gain.
Republicans complained last week that Democrats were scheduling these ads, even as they complained about the GOP for failing to work with them to craft a compromise. House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel of Illinois told one of the Republican leader's aides last week that the majority intended to hang the issue around the necks of Republicans.
More on the ads from Don Surber.
And in the wake of this, bloggers have posted a great video mocking the Dems' proposed cigarette-tax-for-healthcare plan.
The Influence Peddler, aka our own Brian Faughnan, notes that this plan is "a paperwork gimmick to make it look like the program is paid for, so they can pass the measure under Congress' pay-go rules. Instead, the additional cost will simply be tacked on to the national debt -- to be paid for down the road by higher income taxes on all Americans."
And a commenter at Captain's Quarters adds: "And when the smoking tax dollars dry up due to the high cost and people quitting, the politicians couldn't possible let the chir'n down and eliminate the new ‘critical' health program. So they'll find new taxes to raise to maintain the ‘essential' program."
Looks like the S-chip battle isn't ending anytime soon--especially since the Dems want three-day weekends!
