Bush and Wolf: SCHIP's Off the Ol' Block

Incredibly, George W. Bush is threatening to veto the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, a "national program in the United States designed for families who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid, yet cannot afford to buy private insurance." Even more incredibly, Frank Wolf apparently agrees with Bush.

The House of Representatives received a significant amount of praise from people of all political views when it passed the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act — the CHAMP ACT — yesterday. This legislation reauthorized the State Children’s Health and Insurance Program, which was necessary because Bush and his Republican cronies hoped to drastically cut funding to the program, and should help to provide 5 million children throughout the country with health care coverage.

While the CHAMP ACT did pass, it appears as though Congressman Frank Wolf decided that he would vote against ensuring that over 300,000 children in Virginia result proper health care coverage. Luckily, voters from Virginia’s 10th Congressional District will have the opportunity to elect a new representative next November.

In an email statement released by her campaign earlier today, Judy Feder (who ran against Wolf last year and will do so again in ’08) stated that she fully supports the CHAMP Act. Furthermore, the statement continued, Wolf’s vote was “inexcusable” because he “voted against the 137,000 Virginia children who already get their health care coverage through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and the 171,642 other Virginia children who have no health insurance at all.”

George W. Bush and Frank Wolf are apparently "SCHIPs" off the ol' block. Sad.