1.
I could talk for hours on stupid things Bush has done, but for now I'll just discuss his most recent stupidity. It is very rare that Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate come together on an issue, but child healthcare is one. I'm not saying it's anywhere close to 100% (or even 75%) of republicans but a significant percent. This bill was going to expand health insurance for the children of the working poor. Millions of children would benefit. Sounds great right? I mean, sure it would cost 5 billion more but we're spending 200 billion on a war; a war that kills people while this would be saving lives, the lives of our future! So of course it easily passed in both the House and Senate. Seems like a no brainer.
So what does Bush do when it reaches his desk? He vetoes it! A big "F you" to the children of America. Just great. Bush has only vetoed a handful of things, and when he does he throws a big news conference with cameras flashing. What does he do for this? He signs the veto behind the closed doors of the oval office with no hoopla at all, and instead right after starts talking about how we need to worry about Iran to distract from it. When a veto is so bad that you need to hide, maybe there isn't a compelling enough reason to overrule two major governing bodies.
Congress does however have the ability to overrule vetoes if they can get a 2/3rds vote. The Senate had that majority for overruling, but it was a lot closer in the House. The House vote was today with 273 to 156 in favor of overriding the veto... short of the 289 needed.
But I'm glad those billions are still going to the war and not to poor kids who will get turned away at hospitals...
2.
On a similar note, Dubya is at a whopping 24% this week in his approval rating. A new low (for now)! I, along with many others, are keeping an eye on the countdown to the end of his term. The end of this seems so far away...
459 days, 09 hours, 37 mins, 42 secs and counting
3.
In funny political news, it turns out Dick Cheney and Barack Obama are related. They are eighth cousins! How funny is that?! And who took the time to even figure that out?? I like what the spokesman for Mr Obama said: "Every family has a black sheep." Haha! Barack should should show up to the next cookout at the Cheney's. Good times.
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2 comments:
hmmmm. I did hear about that on NPR.
I don't think that it would actually get overturned, however. That would be "admitting defeat" to all the pressure they put on the Clinton's campaign in the 90's, as it would be a precursor to full-blown universal health-care.
But who knows. It's likely that middle-class citizens would likely not qualify anyway. Which makes it even more surprising that a bunch of wealthy republicans would be in agreement.
another positive about the bill... it would be funded by an increase in the tobacco tax!
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