Chieftain editorial praising Bush SCHIP veto ignored CBO report that his proposed “expansion” would have underfunded program

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

An October 23 editorial in The Pueblo Chieftain commended President Bush's veto of legislation that would have expanded the State Children's Health Insurance Program, asserting that “the Democratic version would have added $35 billion (in spending) over five years.” But the Chieftain did not mention that a federal agency estimated Bush's plan to add just $5 billion would have underfunded the program, and it failed to point out that the vetoed bill enjoyed bipartisan support.

Arguing in an October 23 editorial that President Bush's recent veto of a bill to expand the State Children's Health Insurance (SCHIP) program “may set the stage for a major improvement in children's health coverage,” The Pueblo Chieftain asserted that “President Bush had proposed a $5 billion expansion” of SCHIP, “but the Democratic version would have added $35 billion over five years.” However, the editorial failed to point out that according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis, Bush's expansion would have underfunded the program by $9 billion during a five-year period. Additionally, the Chieftain criticized Democrats for “ramm[ing]” the measure “through both the House and Senate,” but did not mention that the “Democratic version” of the bill Bush vetoed in fact received bipartisan support in the House and Senate, as Colorado Media Matters has noted (here and here).

From the October 23 editorial in The Pueblo Chieftain, “SCHIP veto”:

Friday's veto of the SCHIP expansion bill may set the stage for a major improvement in children's health coverage -- if Congress decides to stop playing politics and start trying to actually solve the problem.

[...]

What the Democrats who rammed that version through both the House and Senate were trying to do was create socialized medicine on the installment plan. Remember Hillarycare?

A favorite tactics of the Democrats is to intone “the children” as a way of getting their pet projects approved. Listen to Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, a member of the Democratic leadership: “You either stand with our children or you stand against them. There is no in between.”

What malarkey. President Bush had proposed a $5 billion expansion of SCHIPs, but the Democratic version would have added $35 billion over five years. Yet there are, in Colorado for example, thousands of children who are eligible but have not been signed up by their parents.

We hope the Democrats and Republicans in Congress can drop their slings and arrows and reach a reasonable accord, one which the White House has signaled the president would be willing to sign. For the children.

As Colorado Media Matters noted, per the funding levels set in the original SCHIP legislation, the program cost the federal government $5 billion in 2007. If this baseline level were preserved over the next five years, to 2012, SCHIP would receive $25 billion. In his fiscal year 2008 budget request released in February, Bush sought an increase of $5 billion over this period, for a total of $30 billion in funding. In May, the CBO estimated that “maintaining the states' current programs under SCHIP would require funding of $39 billion for the 2007-2012 period” -- meaning Bush's proposal would leave the program with a $9 billion shortfall over those five years.

Colorado Media Matters also pointed out that 18 Republican senators and 45 Republican House members voted in favor of the initial SCHIP legislation passed on September 25, while 44 House Republicans voted with 229 Democrats in the unsuccessful attempt to override Bush's veto on October 18.