Submitted by Tricia Perry on Wed, 10/03/2007 - 1:33pm
- This just in: President Bush has indeed vetoed the SCHIP legislation that recently passed through Congress seeking to expand funding for children's health care. While the Senate had passed the bill with enough of a margin to override a veto, the House fell short. Representatives will be reconsidering their votes as our nation continutes to reflect on the values of individualism or community support. These values have tangible effects on the health of millions of children.
- Yesterday, New York's Governor Eliot Sptizer announced that he is filing suit against the Bush administration over its new eligibility rules for children insured through the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The new guidelines refuse federal funding for states to insure children whose parents earn more than 250% of the povery line, which will force some states to cancel the enrollment of children already in the program. A number of states are on board with Spitzer, including New Hampshire, and New Jersey has filed a similar suit. Spitzer has posted his argument on the Huffington Post, saying of Bush's casual commentary that everyone has access to health care in the emergency room that "this politics of 'not my problem'...has led to the health crisis we have today."
- Also on the SCHIP debate, Families USA has just released a new ad campaign entitled "Bush vs. Kids," showing a series of children talking about how nice and sweet they think the president is, overlayed with text about how Bush is doing his best to cut health care for 10 million children.
- Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas has gotten a lot of media attention lately, between the launch of his new memoir and an interview on CBS '60 Minutes.' The only African American member of the Supreme Court, Thomas has been controversial for his opposition to affirmative action policies and other progressive social reforms as well as his alleged sexual harassment of former employee Anita Hill. Blogger Keith Boykin refers to Thomas as the "most dangerous black man in America," not dangerous to white America but to African Americans for his "record of disregard for the poor and minorities."
- A federal judge in San Francisco again extended the ban against the mailing of the "no-match" letters by the Social Security administration. President Bush and the Department of Homeland Security have mandated that employers receiving the 141,000 letters about discrencies in 8.7 million worker records sort out the mismatches within 90 days, fire their employees, or risk prosecution for knowingly hiring undocumented workers. The judge has indicated that he is disinclined to allow the letters to be sent, arguing that known inaccuracies in the federal database would cause irreparable harm to American businesses and to workers.
- As the 2010 census approaches, people are beginning to discuss its effects on and the effects of undocumented immigrants. On one hand, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has stated that it has no intention of discontinuing raids during the census in the interest of obtaining more accurate records. More recently, the there has been talk on the issue of whether or not to include undocumented workers in the count as it affects the reallotment of representation in the US House of Representatives. Different states would gain or lose a voice in each case, although the means of defining how many are undocumented will likely be challenging given immigrants' general fear and distrust of government officials.
- Lastly, Culture Kitchen has published a thought-provoking piece entitled Why I Hate Hispanic Heritage Month, which is celebrated from September 15th through October 15th. Latina blogger Liza outlines her dislike of the word 'hispanic' and the way it leads people to make unfounded assumptions about the history, culture and linguistic background of Latin Americans.
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re: Bush Vetoes, Spitzer Sues over Children's Health
Congress has written a bitter prescription to American children that should never be filled.Congress has abandoned its promise to afford every citizen life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When the wealthiest nation prioritizes excessive spending on a morally and fiscally bankrupt war in Iraq while the neediest children go without health insurance, we have forfeited our commitment to America.According to a recent CBS News poll, 81% of Americans endorse this bipartisan legislation that would have preserved coverage for six million children currently covered by CHIP, extended coverage to nearly four million uninsured children, as well as ensured dental coverage and mental health parity. This fully funded bill would have allocated $100 million in grants for new outreach activities to states, local governments, schools, community-based organizations, and safety-net providers.“The Bible teaches us that a new day will dawn when the ‘last will become first and the first will be last.’ Today, Congress and President Bush have banished our children and the underserved to the back of the line. We can and must do better.The Congressional Black Caucus, 43 Members from 21 states, representing 40 million Americans, is resolute in our position to ensure health care for 10 million children and to protect the overall health and wellness of our most vulnerable citizens.
re: Bush Vetoes, Spitzer Sues over Children's Health
Congress has written a bitter prescription to American children that should never be filled.Congress has abandoned its promise to afford every citizen life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When the wealthiest nation prioritizes excessive spending on a morally and fiscally bankrupt war in Iraq while the neediest children go without health insurance, we have forfeited our commitment to America.According to a recent CBS News poll, 81% of Americans endorse this bipartisan legislation that would have preserved coverage for six million children currently covered by CHIP, extended coverage to nearly four million uninsured children, as well as ensured dental coverage and mental health parity. This fully funded bill would have allocated $100 million in grants for new outreach activities to states, local governments, schools, community-based organizations, and safety-net providers.“The Bible teaches us that a new day will dawn when the ‘last will become first and the first will be last.’ Today, Congress and President Bush have banished our children and the underserved to the back of the line. We can and must do better.The Congressional Black Caucus, 43 Members from 21 states, representing 40 million Americans, is resolute in our position to ensure health care for 10 million children and to protect the overall health and wellness of our most vulnerable citizens.
re: Bush Vetoes, Spitzer Sues over Children's Health
Congress has written a bitter prescription to American children that should never be filled.Congress has abandoned its promise to afford every citizen life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. When the wealthiest nation prioritizes excessive spending on a morally and fiscally bankrupt war in Iraq while the neediest children go without health insurance, we have forfeited our commitment to America.According to a recent CBS News poll, 81% of Americans endorse this bipartisan legislation that would have preserved coverage for six million children currently covered by CHIP, extended coverage to nearly four million uninsured children, as well as ensured dental coverage and mental health parity. This fully funded bill would have allocated $100 million in grants for new outreach activities to states, local governments, schools, community-based organizations, and safety-net providers.“The Bible teaches us that a new day will dawn when the ‘last will become first and the first will be last.’ Today, Congress and President Bush have banished our children and the underserved to the back of the line. We can and must do better.The Congressional Black Caucus, 43 Members from 21 states, representing 40 million Americans, is resolute in our position to ensure health care for 10 million children and to protect the overall health and wellness of our most vulnerable citizens.