REPUBLICANS BREAKING WITH BUSH REGIME OVER HEALTH CARE FOR CHILDREN-- WILL A HANDFUL OF RAHM EMANUEL'S REACTIONARY DEMOCRATS SAVE BUSH'S VETO?

Bush does have something to offer sick children

Can Bush still get in front of a microphone, spew out a pack of outrageous lies and expect anyone to believe a word of it? Have you ever listened the Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity or Ann Coulter? No one forces anyone to listen to that and no one forces anyone to believe any of their fairytales. But millions of Americans-- the incredibly shrinking Republican base-- do. So yesterday when I had the radio on and heard Bush spouting sheer nonsense about how Democrats are holding health insurance for poor children hostage by not passing his SCHIP bill, I wondered how many listeners who don't follow this stuff as closely as some of us do would walk away thinking that the vampiric Bush is a champion of health care for underprivileged children. For some very 2007 kind of reason the report failed to mention that the coalition against Bush on this is so overwhelming and that so many Republican rubber stamps have abandoned him that it is probably veto-prrof in both houses.

This morning's Washington Post says even stalwart Republican conservatives are pissed off at Bush over this.

Republicans reacted angrily yesterday to President Bush's promise to veto a bill that would renew and expand the popular State Children's Health Insurance Program, raising the likelihood of significant GOP defections when the package comes to a vote next week.

"I'm disappointed by the president's comments," said Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), who urged Bush, in an early-morning telephone conversation yesterday, to support the emerging bipartisan compromise. "Drawing lines in the sand at this stage isn't constructive. . . . I wish he would engage Congress in a bill that he could sign instead of threatening a veto."

And Grassley isn't up for re-election in this cycle. Republicans who do have to face the majority of non-ditto-heads-- the ones who now see through the premeditated lies and propaganda-- at the polls are even more angry... and frightened. One of the more vulnerable Bush rubber stamps-- who has been working very hard this year to turn around his image and convince people he is an independent voice and a moderate-- is Oregon's Gordon Smith. He told the Post "I'm very disappointed. I'm going to be voting for it." He means to override Bush's veto-- a big step for some who has been a dependable rubber stamp for the last 7 years. But even rubber stamps not seeking re-election in 2008 seem eager to break with the most hated president in American history over this. Asked whether he would vote to override a veto, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), a staunch conservative, said, "You bet your sweet bippy I will."

With the program about to expire on Sept. 30, Bush said in a news conference that he will reject the $35 billion funding expansion being cobbled together by House and Senate negotiators. He said the bill would inappropriately extend coverage to children in families with incomes of as much as $83,000 a year, prompting many parents to drop private insurance. He urged Congress to pass, instead, a temporary extension of the program until a more lasting compromise can be worked out.

"Members of Congress are putting health coverage for poor children at risk so they can score political points in Washington," Bush said. He added later that "health coverage for these children should not be held hostage while political ads are being made and new polls are being taken."

But members of both parties countered that it is the president who is putting children's health in jeopardy. They said most Americans, including many GOP governors and groups such as AARP, support the expansion of the program's enrollment to about 10 million children from 6.6 million now.

Overriding Bush's veto in the Senate will be easy. The House, infested with more die-hard and irresponsible extremists, may be more problematic. It will be interesting to see if House Republicans fearful of losing in 2008, will risk the ire of the Regime to vote for a bill this popular. My bet is that not enough will. They are given some cover by a tiny handful of reactionary Democrats, all Republicans at heart, who intend to continue rubber stamping Bush on this. Can Pelosi get them in line? That's unlikely. But will Emanuel and Hoyer, the two who are most responsible for supporting reactionary and disloyal Democrats, try to force them to stick with the party. Most unlikely.

So... DWT has a target list. If any of these right-wing Democrats is your congresscritter, please give him a call and tell him you will never vote for him again if he continues supporting Bush's reactionary agenda. I might add that all 10 of these renegade Democrats support Bush on almost everything.
Dan Boren (OK)
Jim Cooper (TN)
Joe Donnelly (IN)
Brad Ellsworth (IN)
Baron Hill (IN)
Bob Etheridge (NC)
Mike McIntyre (NC)
Heath Shuler (NC)
Jim Marshall (GA)
Gene Taylor (MS)
It sure looks like they hate health care-- at least for needy children-- in Indiana and North Carolina. What the hell is up with that?