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Smoke Blog: The End Draws Near
By Mike | August 3, 2007
The potential tobacco tax I mentioned previously is one step closer to reality as the Senate recently passed the bill that would expand health coverage for children. It passed with such a wide margin that it’s expected a veto would do no good.
I’m all for better health care for children (and adults for that matter), but I think this bill is half baked. It’s a feel-good measure, which is probably where a lot of the support comes from. It’s little more than a Band-Aid on a larger problem; sure, it will help kids who are sick, but it does nothing to prevent them from getting sick.
It doesn’t encourage parents to get their kids outside to exercise. It doesn’t educate parents that a diet of fast food and soda pop brings on problems like bone weakness and diabetes. It doesn’t educate children to make healthy choices regarding drugs, alcohol, or tobacco. It just bails them out of all of these problems by handing them money.
But hey, that’s the Liberal Way. It doesn’t matter how much it costs or whether it’s going to work, it’s all about how it makes everybody feel. And helping kids makes everybody feel good, so that’s all that matters.
Topics: Evil, Idiocy, Politics & Religion, Smokes |
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Just to be fair, since it passed with a “veto-proof” margin, it can’t be ALL liberals. Not to mention that this is just an extension of a program passed by a republican controlled congress under Clinton.
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Perhaps, but again, it’s a double-edged sword. It’s tough to vote against it without looking like an asshole, and the Finance Committee chair is already using it against Bush for just for saying he’d veto it.
I found a little of the history on the program:
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/
publications_show.htm?doc_id=449518
Assuming it’s a decent source, here’s where SCHIP came from:
“[SCHIP] emerged from a budget negotiation between a Democratic president and Republican Congress. As such, the program represents a fine balance, designed to maintain equilibrium between states and the federal government, as well as between political conservatives and liberals. It contains elements of both an entitlement program and a block-grant.”
So it was used as a bargaining chip. And this time around, the Dems want to increase the spending, which is the main reason Bush is opposed to it, and they’re already threatening to ask for even more if he does shoot it down:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2007/07/18/AR2007071801434.html?hpid=topnews
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:26 pm
such a load of shit, they are essentially just banning it by pricing people out of their habit.