Notes from Evil Bender

Bush Vetoes Health Care Bill and lies, lies, lies. October 4, 2007

As he promised, Bush vetoed a bill which would have provided health care for millions of uninsured kids. So what bullshit reason is he going to give for his hatred for the poor?

“Here’s the thing, just so you know, this program expands coverage, federal coverage, up to families earning $83,000 a year,” he said. “That doesn’t sound poor to me. The intent of the program was to focus on poor children, not adults or families earning up to $83,000 a year.”

Leaving aside for the moment that Bush doesn’t have a single fucking clue what poverty is, this might–might–be a good point if a) Bush wasn’t spending many times as much on his lie-based war as the sChip expansion would cost, b) poor kids weren’t getting coverage too, c) no families who aren’t poor could benefit from insurance help, and d) he wasn’t lying through his teeth:

But supporters of the bill immediately seized on that claim and said it was not true. Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, a loyal supporter of the Bush White House, responded angrily to the president during a Capitol Hill news conference.

“Are families of four making $83,000 going to get benefit(s) under this? Not unless the administration agrees to it. This bill does not call for that high level of expenditure,” Hatch said.

Hatch explained that the only way such families would get SCHIP coverage would be if their states petitioned the administration for a waiver — just like under the current program. When New York, made such a petition, the Bush administration turned it down.

So Bush is afraid that a future administration might expand a program to help more people, and that’s why he vetoed it. So helping kids is a problem for Bush, but in fairness to him, he’s been busy lying about torture:

White House on Thursday reiterated its position that the United States does not condone torture. The statement comes in the wake of a New York Times report alleging that the Justice Department authorized harsh interrogation procedures in secret memos.

The Times reported that in 2005, as Congress passed a law banning cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees, the Justice Department secretly issued a legal opinion saying that the CIA’s harsh interrogation practices are not cruel, inhuman or degrading. Another memo explicitly authorized exposure to extreme temperatures, physical beatings and more.

According to the newspaper, the decision came after the Justice Department publicly withdrew an earlier memo that condoned extreme interrogation procedures.

This President thinks he is above the law. I look forward to the day he stands trials for the war crimes he has committed. When that day comes, I hope well-insured American children will gather around to watch.

Bush: up yours, children! September 21, 2007

As you probably know, Dubya is set to veto a bipartisan bill which would reauthorize and expand the hugely popular children’s health care bill. What would be so objectionable that Bush would veto a measure designed to make sure kids have health insurance?

Instead of posturing by sending him a bill they know he will reject, Bush said, the Democrats should embrace fiscal and social responsibility and pass a bill that provides for reasonable increases in spending on health insurance for uninsured children without veering toward the “federalization of health care.”

Somehow this makes me more angry than Bush’s lies about Iraq. I’ve had years to get used to that, but it’s hard for me to imagine even Dubya opposing health care for kids. And for the least fiscally responsible President in recent memory to complain about an increase in the cigarette tax to pay for health care is beyond laughable. And “federalism” is code for “don’t worry, my extremist base, I’m in favor of helping my rich buddies with no-bid contracts while screwing over children of poor and middle class people.”

But unlike on Iraq, the Dems don’t seem ready to roll over for Bush on this one:

“The president hides behind the word ‘federalization’ because his political base opposes doing what is decent and humane,” said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

Where was that kind of clear thinking and courage when Kerry was running for President?

Naturally, Bush feels differently:

“What I’m describing here is a philosophical divide that exists in Washington over the best approach for health care,” Bush said. “Democratic leaders in Congress want to put more power in the hands of government by expanding federal health care programs. Their … plan is an incremental step toward the goal of government-run health care for every American.”

Simply put, Bush is lying again. This isn’t about a difference of opinion for how to provide health care: Bush is offering no alternative plan. It isn’t like these kids are being moved from private health care to publicly funded care. They’re without health insurance and the plan is designed to fix that. So the “difference of opinion” is only this: should children have access to health care? Even most Republicans are behind this plan.

George W. Bush, meanwhile, would rather watch children go without health care than pony up $35 Billion to help them.

Meanwhile, the Iraq war cost has surged past $450 Billion dollars. Lying to get into a war and botching rebuilding is “fiscally responsible” but helping kids is “federalism”–from a state-administered program, no less.

The next 486 days can’t go by fast enough.