Governing, GOP style

This is what passes for leadership in Bushworld: Catering to Big Tobacco and opponents of universal healthcare by threatening to veto a bill that would ensure healthcare coverage for millions of uninsured American children.

George W. Bush is readying to veto a bipartisan bill expanding health insurance for children. Here's the state of play: The Senate Finance Committee has drafted, on a bipartisan basis, a reauthorization and expansion of SCHIP that the Congressional Budget Office estimates would extend coverage to 4.1 million currently uninsured children. The expansion of SCHIP would cost $35 billion over the next five years, to be paid for by an increase in the tobacco tax.

Bush's reasons for vetoing the plan are purely and explicitly ideological. "The proposal would dramatically expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program, adding nonpoor children to the program, and more than doubling the level of spending,” complains White House spokesman Tony Fratto. "This will have the effect of encouraging many to drop private coverage, to go on the government-subsidized program."

So the literal argument here is that the SCHIP change will encourage children to move onto SCHIP, and as a matter of principle, the president wants as few individuals on government-based insurance as possible. Charming. And remember, this all happens in the context of an insurance market that has left over 9 million children without coverage. This is the market Bush sees it as his duty to protect.

This is what they mean by "compassionate conservatism": Denying healthcare to millions of children. It might make more sense to call the Bush administration's style of governing "fuck you conservatism." But that would be redundant, wouldn't it?

If you think that it's only the universally detested Bush that's craven enough to oppose providing healthcare to children, it's not.

Six Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee voted for the SCHIP expansion, which is being heavily opposed by the tobacco industry. But “in an unexpected turn of events,” the conservative leadership announced that it is caving to President Bush’s demands and is objecting to the legislation.

You mean they were for it before they were against it? Well, yes. But what do you expect? Unprincipled people do unprincipled things.