A September 27 Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction editorial criticizing Congress' proposed expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) stated that “President Bush actually proposed expanded funding for SCHIP, but he didn't go nearly as far as Democrats seek to do by proposing to more than double funding for the plan.” But the editorial failed to point out that a recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis found that Bush's plan -- a $5 billion expansion over five years -- would underfund the program by $9 billion during that period, as Colorado Media Matters has noted.

From the September 27 editorial in The Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction, “SCHIP renewal in need of refining”:

Those heartless Republicans are at it again -- at least some of them. They are refusing to buy into a plan by Democrats to vastly expand a health-care program for the children of working families.

More than 150 Republicans in the House stood with President George W. Bush Tuesday in voting against a substantial expansion of the decade-old State Children's Health Insurance Program. Even though the measure passed the House, there were, fortunately, enough votes to uphold Bush's promised veto of the bill.

Democrats made it clear that any vote against the bill was a vote against children.

“What's your decision?” Rep. Charles Rangel of New York demanded of Republicans before Tuesday's vote. “Either you're gonna help kids or you're not.”

Of course, the issue is not nearly so simple. President Bush actually proposed expanded funding for SCHIP, but he didn't go nearly as far as Democrats seek to do by proposing to more than double funding for the plan.

[...]

SCHIP has helped millions of children of the working poor over the past 10 years. And, as this corner said a few months ago, it needs to be renewed.

But Democrats clearly don't have the votes for the massive expansion of the program they sought. They ought to work with Republicans to scale back that expansion so the program doesn't compete with private insurance plans and find ways to better address the very real questions about enrollment. And they ought to drop the absurd notion that anyone who opposes their plan is against helping children.

However, the Daily Sentinel omitted the fact that, according to the nonpartisan CBO, Bush's “expanded funding” of SCHIP would sharply underfund the program. 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 further noted that in addition to threatening to veto the bill that would substantially increase federal funding for SCHIP, Bush has proposed changes to the program that would impose “thresholds that are impossible to meet for nearly every state and impose a one-size-fits-all solution to a dynamic and complex problem,” according to New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R). In an August 29 letter to Bush, Spitzer and Schwarzenegger further wrote, “The recently proposed SCHIP rules will reverse longstanding agreements with the states and reduce the number of children who receive health care. We strongly urge you to reconsider these recent policy changes, which simply diminish state flexibility.” [emphasis in original]

Moreover, while the Daily Sentinel noted that “some” Republicans “are refusing to buy into a plan by Democrats to vastly expand” the SCHIP program, the editorial did not mention that several Republicans have criticized the smaller increase the Bush administration has proposed, as Colorado Media Matters noted. According to a September 21 Washington Post article:

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-IA), 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.”

“I'm very, very disappointed,” said Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR). “I'm going to be voting for it.”

On August 2, the Senate bill to increase funding for SCHIP by $35 billion over five years passed by a vote of 68-31, with 17 Republicans voting in favor. Forty-five Republicans voted in favor of the House's similar version of the bill, which passed on September 25 by a vote of 265-159.