[Update] Letter John Cornyn wrote Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi telling them to not use children as political pawns. (Link to the post where I have that letter here) [End Update]
Below you will find the numbers of those that voted NO originally so you can call them and make sure they will vote to uphold the President's veto.
Until the wording of the bill is changed to stop allowing people to by pass the eligibility requirements by "grandfathering" in state laws (that link is to Michelle Malkin's site) that allows families with the means to buy their own health insurance for their children to, instead, enroll them in a state funded program meant for low income children.... our Representatives must vote to uphold the president's veto.
Things that need to be addressed and fixed from the existing bill, instead of being expanded on include but are not limited to: (As we showed you yesterday)
Adults on SCHIP (State Childrens Health Insurance Program)
First example: Michigan, 2006: [Information from Tim Walberg, congressman from Michigan’s Seventh District]
The Democratic legislation takes a program originally meant for children of low-income families and expands it to cover some families earning up to $83,000 and illegal immigrants, while moving millions of children from private health insurance to government programs.
In 2006, 118,501 children and 101,919 adults in Michigan received health care from the S-CHIP program. Incredibly, this means that 46 percent of Michigan’s funding allotment intended to give poor children health insurance actually went to cover adults.
The Wall Street Journal further described this problem in its August 9 editorial: “The bill goes so far as to offer increasing ‘bonus payments’ to states as they enroll more people in their SCHIP programs. To grease the way, the bill re-labels children’ as anyone under 25, and ‘low income’ as up to… $82,600 for a family of four.”
It is unfathomable to think that Democrats want to expand a program that currently does not meet the full objective of covering poor children, and expand it to try to insure single adults. I’m not sure what part of “children’s health care” liberals in Congress do not understand.
Heading Right points us to data from the House Energy And Commerce Committee:
However, the Republicans haven’t given up. The GOP contingent on the House Energy And Commerce Committee have published some interesting data about the “children” — they’re awfully mature in many cases. Several states will spend more than 44% of their S-CHIP grants on adults in 2008, and that excludes pregnant women. In Michigan, that total goes to 71%. In most cases, the money gets spent on the parents more than the kids
Here are those states:
Illinois: 52.6% (51.2% parents)
We don’t hear much about subsidizing parents in the current debate, but it appears that a substantial portion of S-CHIP goes to that function. In fact, how can Minnesota spend more than three-quarters of S-CHIP on parents?
Michigan: 71.6% (all childless adults)
Minnesota: 77.8% (all parents)
New Jersey: 54.6% (all parents)
New Mexico: 79% (26.7% parents, 52.3% childless adults)
Rhode Island: 52.4% (all parents)
Wisconsin: 43.9% (all parents)
Remember the name that SCHIP represents again?
State Childrens Health Insurance Program.
Next point that needs to be addressed, is the way the bill is written to allow the "grandfathering" in of state law to bypass the SCHIP bill's eligibility figures.
One example- New Jersey:
The Senate bill states: "(B) - Exception - Subparagraph (A) [the limitation of the matching rate to the Medicaid rate for children whose effective income exceeds 300 percent of the Federal poverty level] shall not apply to any State that, on the date of enactment of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007, has an approved State Plan Amendment or waiver to provide, or has enacted a State law to submit a State plan amendment to provide, expenditures described in such subparagraph under the State child health plan."
The Senate SCHIP bill also grandfathers in New Jersey's program at 350 percent of the Federal poverty level, which includes children in families with incomes of $72,000 a year.
These are just two of the many examples of how this bill that the President just vetoed has neglected to address the points in the previous bill that have allowed higher income families and adults, in some states almost HALF the recipients of the SCHIP funding has gone to those adults, to use this program that is meant for low income children.
The override vote is scheduled for October 18, so make sure your representatives know that we expect them to uphold the president's veto until the the language in this bill fixes it instead of expands on the problems listed above:
Make sure House Minority Leader John Boehner hears from you:
Washington Office:1011 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3508
Phone: (202) 225-6205
Fax: (202) 225-0704
Here is a list of those who voted no before and who we need to vote again to UPHOLD the President's veto.
AL-Robert Aderholt:
(202) 225-4876
AR-John Boozman
(202) 225-4301
CA-Brian Bilbray
(202) 225-0508
CA-John Doolittle
(202) 225-2511
CO-Marilyn Musgrave
(202) 225-4676
FL-Gus Bilirakis
(202) 225-5755
FL-Ginny Brown-Waite
(202) 225-1022
FL-Tom Feeney
(202) 225-2706
FL-Rick Keller
(202) 225-2176
IA-Tom Latham
(202) 225-5476
ID-Bill Sali
(202) 225-6611
IL-Judy Biggert
(202) 225-3515
IL-Tim Johnson
(202) 225-2371
IL-Peter Roskam
(202) 225-4561
IL-Jerry Weller
(202) 225-3635
LA-Rodney Alexander
(202) 225-8490
MD-Roscoe Bartlett
(202) 225-2721
MI- Joseph Knollenberg
(202) 225-5802
MI-Thaddeus McCotter
(202) 225-8171
MI-Tim Walberg
(202) 225-6276
MN-Michelle Bachmann
(202) 225-2331
MO-Sam Graves
(202) 225-7041
MO-Kenny Hulshof
(202) 225-2956
NC-Robin Hayes
(202) 225-3715
NJ-Rodney Frelinghuysen
(202) 225-5034
NJ-Scott Garrett
(202) 225-4465
NJ-Jim Saxton
(202) 225-4765
NV-Dean Heller
(202) 225-6155
NY-Thomas Reynolds
(202) 225-5265
NY-Randy Kuhl
(202) 225-3161
OH-Steve Chabot
(202) 225-2216
OR-Greg Walden
(202) 225-6730
PA-John Peterson
(202) 225-5121
TX-Kay Granger
(202) 225-5071
VA-Thelma Drake
(202) 225-4215
VA-Randy Forbes
(202) 225-6365
Call them today, then Monday, then every single day until the 18th and make sure your message is heard, loud and clear.
UPHOLD THE PRESIDENT'S VETO until this bill is fixed so that it covers low income children and not adults, and not families that can afford private healthcare but simply choose not to.
Still here?
What are you waiting for.....GO. Make the calls.
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