Bush follows Fossella's lead, opposes insuring children

Yesterday we covered a recent NO vote by Fossella on a bill to extend health insurance coverage to millions of children currently uninsured, as well as providing additional support to Medicare for senior citizens. Well it turns out President Bush agrees with Vito Fossella and is now threatening to veto the bill. If it is not clear, Bush is just as independent of a thinker and leader as Fossella.

Clearly insuring children threatens the fabric of our nation and it must be stopped at all costs or so that is the message of the Bush/Fossella plan. The Bush/Fossella plan suggests that uninsured Americans get insurance! It is simply brilliant in its simplicity and yet pathetically selfish in its caving to corporate interests. Since when did we start listening to private insurance companies financial interests over allowing a child access to a doctor?

He [Bush] favours a system of tax breaks that encourage uninsured people to take out private insurance.

I recently was without a job, although financially better off that those considered low-income households in America, and in Fossella's district. I paid out of pocket $600 a month for basic insurance coverage, not including deductables and co-payments. The Bush/Fossella plan calls for those who work at jobs such as Wal-Mart, which Fossella is actively helping bring to Staten Island, that does not provide insurance for its employees, to buy their own insurance. A worker would be looking at two weeks of work to have the income to pay for one months worth of insurance at the rate I paid into my COBRA plan. So the Bush/Fossella plan calls for tax cuts to help those Americans pay for their insurance. I know the last time President Bush talked tax breaks I certainly didn't see any money, so I find it ominous to ask my neighbors to trust them this time. Further, even if there are tax breaks, are these families really paying 25% of their income in taxes, and are they then going to see a full 100% tax break, because otherwise the tax break on $30,000 a year really does not cover the $7,200 annually I was paying into private health insurance. And that was just for myself, no children to cover.

The alternative is the bill that passed, despite Fossella's opposition.

The scheme grants federal money to help states cover the health insurance costs of families who are just above the earning limit for the state sponsored Medicaid but don't earn enough to pay for private insurance. It is estimated this will continue coverage for 6 million children and extend it to another 5 million or so uninsured children. [via Medical News Today]

You can not support the needs and build a better future for our children and support Rep. Vito Fossella.