Consequences of Republicanism

Gene Taylor (D-MS) Fails Mississippi's Children

2007-10-22T05:45:00.000-05:00

I remain outraged over Bush's veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and the failure of House Republicans to join with most Democrats and many Republicans to override the veto. But to discover that my own representative here in Mississippi, Gene Taylor, a Democrat, voted against SCHIP was simply too much. He was one of only two Democrats in the House to join Bush in opposing health care for children from working families. What was he thinking?

I am going to follow this one until I get a clear sense of Taylor's rationale. Here is what I've gathered so far from the Clarion-Ledger:

SCHIP currently covers 83,000 children in Mississippi.
Among Mississippi Republicans, the stated rationale for opposing the SCHIP expansion was that it would expand coverage to middle-income families in other states instead of low-income children in Mississippi. This appears to be a ridiculous assertion since other federal programs cover low-income children.
The additional funds needed to cover the SCHIP expansion would have come from raising the federal cigarette tax approximately $.61.
Rep. Taylor refused to return telephone calls seeking comment but seems to base his opposition on raising the cigarette tax.

Truly unbelievable. He's putting smokers above health care for the children of working Mississippians. I hope Rep. Taylor hears from more of his constituents than just me on this one.

Tags: SCHIP, Gene Taylor, Mississippi, Congress, health, politics, cigarette tax, heath care, veto

Republicans Oppose Children's Health Care

2007-10-19T08:58:00.001-05:00

That the House failed to get enough votes to override Bush's veto of the SCHIP program was not surprising. I'm still trying to figure out who they are trying to appeal to with their opposition to health care for children from working-class families. It is hard to imagine that anyone could still take Bush seriously as a fiscal conservative, and I can't imagine anyone wanting to campaign on opposing health care for children. Perhaps I'll have the opportunity to ask my representative, Gene Taylor (D-MS), one of the two democrats who voted against SCHIP, what he was thinking.

Tags: SCHIP, Gene Taylor, Mississippi, Congress, health, politics

Bush To Veto Children's Health Care Bill

2007-09-22T13:32:00.002-05:00

It appears that Republicanism, if not bad for your health, is certainly bad for the health of your children. As if it wasn't bad enough that President Bush opposes health care for America's children, he also wants Americans to blame Democrats for his veto. How can this be?

In the twisted Bush version of reality, asking to fully fund a program when the Democrats know he doesn't support this level of funding shows that they are to blame. So the Democrats should be blamed if children's health care goes unfunded because they asked Bush for more money than he was willing to give. The fact that he's unwilling to contribute the funds necessary for the program, well, you aren't supposed to think about that.

Tags: Bush, politics, veto, children's health care, health care