"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." — Frederick Douglass
Today, Rep. Coleman sent out an e-mail celebrating the one-year authorization of SCHIP reauthorization. With all the attention on what President Obama and Congress has done (and hasn't done) the last year, it is easy to lose sight of the real work that was accomplished with the election of a Democrat to the White House.
Rep. Coleman (who I had the privilege to work for during the 80th Regular Session in 2007) has never lost sight of the real work, and his e-mail today reminds us of how important re-authorizing CHIP was, especially for a state like Texas. From his e-mail:
Today marks the first anniversary of President Obama's reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The expansion of the program was crucial to providing health insurance to children from working families, and is expected to cut the number of uninsured children in our country by half in the coming years.
The reauthorization of the program was one of President Obama's first orders of business upon taking office and was particularly meaningful after President George W. Bush twice vetoed similar legislation. President Obama called the expansion a down payment on quality, affordable health care for all Americans.
In Texas, 495,781 children rely on CHIP to access health care. January was the only month that Texas' enrollment levels exceeded 500,000 since 2003, when Republican lawmakers instituted enrollment barriers that purged hundreds of thousands of eligible children from the program. The federal government gives Texas $2.52 for every $1 we invest in the program.
During the 81st Legislative Session, I authored legislation to increase enrollment in and public awareness of CHIP. My bill would have insured an estimated 80,000 Texas children from working families by allowing their parents to buy in to the program. Despite bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate, political action by the Governor, conservative Republicans, and Senate leaders caused this bill to die in a Senate committee. As one of the original authors of CHIP in Texas, I will continue to work to eliminate the red tape that keeps eligible children from receiving health care.
Today, we have 495,781 reasons to thank President Obama.
Rep. Coleman, as he notes, was one of the original authors of CHIP in Texas. Since then, he has championed it at every step of the way -- crafting legislation and drafting amendments for legislation to restore the devastating cuts and policies enacted by Rick Perry, David Dewhurst, and Texas Republicans in 2003. As he (and all of us) give thanks today to President Obama for his leadership on this issue, let's remember to thank our leaders in Texas, too.
Key Point: The Senate already "supported" CHIP legislation 29-2, on the amendment to Rep. Pierson's bill. It only takes 4/5 of the Senate to pull Rep. Coleman's bill out of Senator Ogden's committee and bring it to the House floor. 29/31 > 4/5. It's entirely up to Senate Republicans -- are they willing to put children's health care first, or are they going to stand by Rick Perry and kill expansion of CHIP?
Yesterday, Texas Governor Rick Perry spoke out against CHIP expansion legislation -- possibly even threatening a veto -- at the same time that Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst and Senate Republicans attempted to dishonestly derail any hopes of CHIP expansion legislation passing this session.
"No. I would probably not be in favor of that expansion even if it came to my desk. I think the members know that," Perry said. "That is not what I consider to be a piece of legislation that has the vast support of the people of the state of Texas."
The "vast support of the people of Texas" don't support the plan? CHIP has been one of the winningest issues for Texas Democrats over the past six years. Moreover, a poll last November by a Republican research firm, Hill Research Consultants, had the following information:
Helping "children access quality healthcare" is the top priority of 18% of registered voters in TX, 2nd highest of any issue.
In a re-elect question on Republican elected officials, 54% of registered voters said they would "give Democrats a chance."
Children's healthcare is the top priority of 85% of those regustered voters who would "give Democrats a chance."
Moreover, the House and Senate have already passed versions of the legislation. The Senate passed legislation by Senator Averitt, while the House passed legislation by State Rep. Garnet Coleman. The Senate, in an attempt to be cute, attached Sen. Averitt's version of the legislation to a House bill that had was not about CHIP -- therefore, it would have been struck down on a point of order.
The House, not surprisingly, said, "um, no, we can't do that" -- and Rick Casey, in his column in today's Houston Chronicle titled, "CHIP charade also failed test of character" calls out the Senate Republicans for their nonsense:
But Dewhurst and Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, the powerful Finance chairman who declined to call a committee meeting to report out Coleman’s bill, didn’t need to take a chance, and they knew it. Both are veterans familiar with the House rules.
What’s more, when Dewhurst told reporters Wednesday afternoon that he was “looking for a vehicle” for CHIP expansion, he received some help.
Journalist Harvey Kronberg, whose online “Quorum Report” is must reading in the capital, quickly posted an item pointing out, as he had earlier in the day, that Coleman’s bill was available in the Finance Committee. [...]
Was it a deliberate charade or callous stupidity?
Does it matter, since Gov. Rick Perry appeared ready to veto the bill anyway?
Yes, it matters. It was a test of either character or competence. Dewhurst and Ogden flunked.
The Senate already "supported" putting the CHIP legislation on the dead legislation 29-2. It only takes 4/5 of the Senate to pull Rep. Coleman's bill out of Senator Ogden's committee and bring it to the House floor. 29/31 > 4/5.
The Senate Republicans have already shown that they want the CHIP legislation. There is already a 4/5 majority that have voted for it. There's absolutely no reason, whatsoever, for Senate Republicans not to pull Rep. Coleman's bill out of committee, amend Sen. Averitt's bill to it, and send it back to the House.
If there is no CHIP expansion bill, Governor Perry's veto threat and the complete "charade [of] callous stupiditiy" exercised by Senate Republicans are squarely to blame. Dewhurst was the one that wanted to kill CHIP in 2007; he's trying to do it again.
Will the Senate Republicans block the CHIP expansion bill? That may be the biggest issue of today. Stay tuned.
I was driving to work this morning and listening to the news on KUT. Apparently, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst supports universal healthcare.
Okay - he was actually talking about CHIP.
He was pushing enrollment in CHIP (though, not expansion of eligibility), saying, "At the end of the day, it's the moral thing to do, and over the long-term, it's the most economic thing to do."
CHIP is universal healthcare for disadvantaged children. I wonder if the Lt. Governor would be opposed to expanding his premise to include all Texans?
Extending universal healthcare to all Texans would be the moral thing to do, and more economical in the long run.
I guess we ought not push our luck though. I'm sure the HB 2292 crowd that owns the other side of the aisle still thinks those eight year olds should get off their asses and get a job!
Tonight, John McCain will say something like, "we need to invest in the health of America" blah blah blah as he appears with famous Austinite and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong at an event in Ohio.
I know Sen. McCain had skin cancer a few years ago, and helping fund cures for cancer is a necessary effort the government should invest in. But when Lance Armstrong leads his credibility and stature to the McCain campaign -- to a campaign that isn't at all interested in the health of all Americans -- then McCain is doing little more than using Armstrong and the cancer issue for political cover.
According to a recent report from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), at least 3422 Travis County children remain uninsured through the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as a result of the draconian budget cuts enacted by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2003. When given the opportunity to rectify this injustice, Rep. Dawnna Dukes joined 74 House Republicans and seven Craddick Democrats to defeat a Democratic amendment that would have fully funded the Children's Health Insurance Program.
Rep. Dukes's vote against fully funding the Children's Health Insurance Program is a perfect example of why her allegiance to Republican Speaker Tom Craddick is an issue in this campaign.
Her vote against fully funding CHIP proves that pledging your absolute loyalty to this Republican Speaker means voting against the best interests of your district and denying at least 3422 Travis County children the health care they need.
Campaign for America's Future have a new video up, where America's kids tell House conservatives before the SCHIP override vote: No Health Care For Us, then No Photo Ops For You.
President Bush today vetoed an important and widely supported bi-partisan expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) (H.R. 976). WhosPlayin takes a look at what the blogs of the Texas Progressive Alliance are saying about this terrible move:
Blue 19th takes Randy Neugebauer to task for being willing to send billions to Iraq, but not to help children at home. Blue 19th has uncovered a transcript of a secret press conference featuring the President, the Governor, and Rep. Randy Neugebauer. Put your sensibilities on hold and enjoy.
Muse interrupts her outrage at Bush‚s SCHIP veto to send him a Bible verse, remind him that his approval numbers are half of the percentage of Americans who approve of the legislation and wonder if next up is clubbing baby seals and drowning kittens .
Ms. Mary Katherine Stout,yet another recipient of wing nut welfare at the "Texas Public Policy Foundation" where she publishes such learned tomes as "The SCHIP to Socialized Medicine" where she tells us that "Twenty years of incremental expansions took the percentage of children on government health care from 17 percent to 47 percent. Today’s proposals would push that past 70 percent." I'm disgusted, too. Better we should return to the times of Charles Dickens!
In her defense, Mary Katherine tells us she became interested in politics after serving an internship with Phil Gramm. She learned well, as her other works include attacks on th e"Bullying of Wal-Mart", Numerous works on the over-generosity of CHIP, the classic "How Poor is Poor?", and "Redefining Welfare's Work Requirements". It appears this lady has devoted her entire career to snipping away the social safety net from under the poor, the young and the ill. I wonder if Ms. Stout ever had the need for anything in her young life?
I ask this because of her attack on CHIP today in the Wall Street Journal entitled "Lone Star Spending Spree". She puts forth Reaganesgue claims of welfare cheats here in the Lone Star State and defends W, claiming that his terrible experiences here are what are causing his resolute veto of the SCHIP Bill now in front of him. If you have a strong stomach, catch her nasty editorial here: http://online.wsj.co...
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said he is investigating whether the athletic departments steered students to lenders in exchange for kickbacks, as well as how team names, mascots and colors may have been used to suggest the company was a school's preferred lender.
At [the University of Houston], the athletic department's Web site features a prominent advertisement for University Financial Services.
With a red and blue border, the ad encourages "Cougars" to consolidate their student loans at a lower monthly payment. The lender identifies itself as "a proud paying sponsor of University of Houston Athletics."
The student loan industry has grown substantially over the past few years, in large part because the skyrocketing cost of tuition. Incidentally, since 2003 when the GOP legislative leadership passed tuition deregulation, the cost of tuition and fees at state-supported universities in Texas has shot up 39%.
The New York Times reports on a "fast spreading, Velco-like aquatic fern" that, in 1950's horror-movie fashion, seems to be taking over Caddo Lake. Any East Texans have any first hand experience they'd like to share in the comments?
The House of Representative passed a reauthorization and expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) yesterday, which since 1997 has provided affordable health insurance for millions of children whose parents can't afford to buy insurance on their own yet make too much money to qualify for Medicaid. Vince at Capitol Annex is all over the House floor debate from yesterday, including some unfortunately predictable shenanigans from Texas Republicans.
Starting this fall, the pledge to the Texas flag will have a little more God in it, thanks to a bill Rep. Debbie "Pit of Hell" Riddle authored and passed this session. This was little reported, but Rep. Scott Hochberg and she had a pretty good exchange during debate on the legislation:
HOCHBERG: Tell me why you picked out, you said last night that you were trying to essentially conform our pledge to the national pledge, and if I'm misstating what you said, please clarify that for me.
RIDDLE: No, that, I think, is what I made very clear, that in our national pledge, we say, "one nation under God." I felt like it was altogether right and appropriate for us to have in our state pledge, that we would say, "one state under God."
HOCHBERG: We also, in the national pledge, if I'm not mistaken, say, "with liberty and justice for all." You didn't include that in your bill, I don't believe. Was there some reason that you didn't include that, but you did include the "under God" part?
RIDDLE: No.
HOCHBERG: No? Would you take a third reading amendment to add, "with liberty and justice for all?"
RIDDLE: No.
The whole exchange (which you can read here) was pretty funny; Riddle seemed stunned by the question, and ended up saying she wanted to mirror the national pledge without explaining why she didn't want "liberty and justice for all." Apparently "liberty and justice for all" doesn't deserve repeating in Texas, but "under God" does. Go figure.
The Children's Health Insurance Program is that rarest of government creations -- a joint federal-state effort that actually works to reduce the number of uninsured children in our country. No wonder Congressional leaders are trying to expand it -- and the White House is trying to dismantle it.
The question for us is this: will our Congressman join the bi-partisan effort to strengthen CHIP? Or will he stick with the short-sighted ideological opposition of the Bush Administration and leave millions of children without health insurance?
Blue 19th takes 
Eye On Williamson calls Bush and Rep. John Carter on their votes against children, for private insurance corporations and urges the people to get involved, 
Charles Kuffner of Off the Kuff notes that 