SCHIP - Boyda vs. Reality


                        

L
ast week, Congressional Democrats failed in their attempt to override President Bush's veto of SCHIP, much to the dismay of Nancy Boyda and her best-bud Speaker Pelosi.

While StayRed agrees with Nancy that something needs to be done to fix the problems surrounding youth health-care, we do not, however, agree that this bill is anything close to the total fix.

In response to the vote, Boyda provided a series of quotes that were, well, a bit confusing - at best.

“To my mind, every vote in Congress makes a moral statement. … It told working families that a radical minority would rather score political points than take care of children’s health,” Boyda said...Congress needs “to get past the partisan shouting match that doomed” the vote.
“Nobody in Kansas really cares whether Republicans or Democrats score more political points,” she said. “They just care whether their kids can see a doctor."

At first, nothing too wrong with that point of view, right? Not so fast.

We must remember, folks, SCHIP is in effect right now. Despite what Boyda would have you believe, there aren't millions of kids left struggling for healthcare on the streeets. If children are sick and need to visit a doctor, guess what: they can. In effect, Nancy's above statements - you know, the ones critical of a Republican 'radical minority' who care only about scoring cheap political points - are doing just that: trying to score cheap political points. The debate about SCHIP has become so exaggerated that Housemembers like Nancy Boyda have completely forgotten what the debate's even about.

We understand Nancy's dissappointment with the bill's failure (when Nancy Pelosi's sad, so is Mrs. Boyda) but seriously, have you learned anything in your first ten months in Washington? When a bill fails - as they so often do - you sit down, renegotiate and make something happen. You don't pull out the pity card in an attempt to gain favor with your District.

What Nancy didn't discuss - and Majority Whip Roy Blunt did - is that the Republicans already have a counter-proposal on the table. In their mind, it's one that's equally effective, yet more fiscally responsible. Why not look at that? Shouldn't it at least be worth a minute of Nancy Boyda's time?

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