Kaine elaborated on SCHIP's importance to Virginia:
... Virginia receives about $94 million from the federal government that pays about two-thirds of the costs for enrolling low income children in the program known as FAMIS, the Family Access to Medical Insurance Security program. It covers about 84,000 children and 850 pregnant women in Virginia households that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but can't afford increasingly expensive health insurance."I think it points out some things about priorities, and I think voters ought to take that into account," Kaine said. "We feel like we've got a short amount of time to get this turned around so this project gets reauthorized and we don't have to kick people off the (FAMIS) rolls."
So, not expanding SCHIP could threaten the health care coverage of many Virginians. This is important, leading House Democratic Chairman Brian Moran to call on Republican leaders in the General Assembly to join in urging Congress to override Bush's veto.
The GOP leader's response? Showing how out of touch they are.
Rather than rally behind Kaine and Moran to defend the Commonwealth's interests, the GOP pretend this isn't an issue they should care about:
... GOP leaders dismissed it as a federal issue and called Moran's comments election-year gamesmanship."This clearly is a federal issue, and once again the Democrats are trying to federalize or nationalize this election because they have no issues to talk about at the state level," said House Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford.
You know, it's possible that something can be both a federal and a state issue. This is the State Children's Health Insurance Program after all. It's ridiculous to call SCHIP a federal issue when its purpose is to provide states with funding!
Even more ridiculous is this GOP response, so boneheaded that the journalist couldn't help provide the obvious rebuttal:
Scott Leake, spokesman for Senate Republican Leader Walter A. Stosch, said state lawmakers had no business calling on Congress to provide the additional money and called it "more of a political grandstand than a serious legislative problem."It's hard not to laugh out loud at these attempt to brush away the SCHIP issue. These guys are going to have to do better than this."Democrats, for as long as I've been working in this stuff, have chosen to mix and blend national and state politics to their perceived political advantage," Leake said.
Virginia governors and legislators, however, often call on Congress to support various programs that benefit the state, particularly highway funding and support for protecting the state's military installations from recent base-closing efforts.
So the House leader thinks this state funding is not a state issue. And the Senate leader thinks he should never seek federal funding for state needs (no wonder we have a transportation problem under these guys.) And these are your legislative leaders, ladies and gentlemen.
It comes down to this: either the Virginia Republicans support Bush's veto of Virginia's child health care funding, or they don't. Not saying either way shows an abdication of leadership. And if they aren't willing to lead as the party that controls the General Assembly, there are some Democrats who are ready to do so.
I'm sure there is no inconsistency whatsoever here, and if there is one, I'm sure it has nothing to do with political grandstanding, nor Virginia Republican desires "to mix and blend national and state politics to their perceived political advantage."
Well, okay, maybe a little.
(Delegate Watkins Abbitt;
20 Years Seniority Working to Improve Health Care
1. Increased Funding for nursing home care for our elderly($7.9 million increase in 2006/2007 budget)
2. Expanded access for women to breast and cervical cancer screening($2.2 million I 2006/2007 budget)
3. Boarding access to health insurance for lower income families through FAMIS Program.
4. Strengthen pediatric health care services for our children($10 million in new funding in 2006/2007 budget).
5. New local Community Health Care Centers to provide more preventive screening to catch illnesses before they become serious.)
Statement number 2, 3 and 4 are Federal programs, yet Watkins uses them as programs he had VOTED into law. In fact if Watkins had anything to do with these programs he backed the Republicnas in cutting Governor Kaine's Budget money to support these programs.
Seems Watkins does not know the Feds alot funds and the states have to match percentages. His group of friends cut Kaine's funding in the budget, thereby reducing the amount the feds give.
What Len Cheney said to John Kerry sure applies here; "Watkins Abbitt is not a nice man"
The republicans huff and puff about government being part of the problem, and proceed to prove their point by making government not work--- the effort to make government NOT work is the basic Republican philosophy here, rather than the high sounding concerns about socialism (with SCHIP) or some other bogeyman (like t-a-x-e-s or s-e-x) on the other.
The Democrats, being attacked as political grandstanders, are actually simply implement9ng a basic political philosophy which says: How can a civilized society work to make things better for its members? This is the flexible, practical approach to living together as social human beings which results in, sometimes, having national policies funded with national money, sometimes a strictly local policy with local funding for local problems, and sometimes a blend of policies or efforts with a blend of local and national funding--- all intended to MAKE THINGS BETTER.
That is, hang the grandstanding of ideologues, let's work together so we can all have better lives. That appears to be what drives Republicans bonkers, and they trot out their usual negative politicizing rhetoric, trying to force an ideology down our throats, instead of dealing with reality.