Bush veto healthcare bill

[EB]

Anyone agree with this veto???
I wonder why he did it. People unjustly rely on the gov. to pay their bills already (no offense... some really need it....some voluntarilly work less to get it)... this bill isn't going to change that - just allow people in that middle range that can't get gov $$$ and don't make enough to pay for healthcare to get it for their kids.
Do I have this right?
What is the problem here?
How would he adjust this to his liking (he said he would like to sit down and revise the bill).

I love the idea of raising cig. tax for healthcare.

[Kensington]

Often when a person has never been in a financial position that keeps him from being able to afford proper healthcare for himself, his wife & kids, he doesn't have any idea what it's like to live without it. If your bootstraps have been handed to you from day one, you don't know what it's like to be told to pull yourself up by them.

[kb]

He's an asshole, that's why.
Oh, sorry, that was rude of me. I love his reasons - the budget (since when has he tried to balance the budget?) and big government (as if the government snooping in my personal business isn't "big" as in "big brother").
I do, however, have an issue with taxing the cigarette tax. It's a sin tax, and it puts a huge burden on, ironically, the poor. Obviously there are plenty of middle and upper middle class people that smoke, but these people have more resources to quite smoking, and the poor do not. Why not tax cigars that are ridiculously priced. Or fine wine?

[gone]

I think that two of the reasons were:

:wand The bill wasn't a new proposal- it was a request for money to expand the current program. (The current program is fully funded right now and will be for the next five years). From what I understand, some of the expansions included healthcare for people in their mid-twenties, in upper middle class situations. I have issues with that, because I think that people in their mid-twenties who are healthy are able to get a job that provides healthcare. They aren't children. Give healthcare to children who need it- but don't give it to adults who can work and get it themselves.

:wand The cigarette tax was not popular.

I've been in situations before where I didn't have healthcare and it was really scary. But that is a separate issue from making a decision about whether the bill is the right thing for the country or not. The bill has a lot of problems, and I can understand why it was vetoed.

[EB]

At issue is the fact that, added together, the spending bills exceed the president's own budget by some $******** billion. (NPR)
He has a budget???? Since when? :wacky

[EB]

On Tuesday, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee said that if there is a spending problem, it is the White House asking for nearly $************ billion in war funding.

"If the president is really concerned about stopping red ink, we are prepared to introduce legislation that will provide for a war surtax for that portion of military costs related to our military action in Iraq," Rep. David Obey (D-WI) proposed.

If President Bush does not like that cost, he added, he can shut down the war. (more NPR)

[kb]

Greenangel,

It's extended through November b/c of Congress.
Also, Bush thinks that it will be extended to families who make eight two thousand dollars, but that is not true. Yes, it's being extended to families who make forty two thousand and have three children. I don't know where you live, but in many parts of the country, that is living pretty much at poverty, if you have children.

His main reasons are that he fears that it would move the healthcare system to a socialist model - even though doctors and most of the healthy industry support it.

[MorningSmiles]

This makes me so mad.
He didn't even understand the bill! He said things about it which were completely incorrect.
How can you veto something that you don't even understand?

Kb already gave the examples... This could change people's lives for the better. He thought that it will be extended to families who make eighty two thousand dollars (which isn't true), and he made a comment about how that isn't that poor.

Um? When have you ever survived on that income? Let alone forty two thousand. Those people need our help.

:ugh

[Jennnifer]

I heard that in two states, seventy percent of people on the chip program aren't children... they are adults!

I don't know how that factors in, but it might be a factor.

Also, with all bills, people throw in all kinds of stuff... pet projects, etc, at the back end of the bill... so it is also possible that some of those things are a problem.

Now, if Bush is arguing that spending is an issue.. that just makes him an idiot since he's spending billions on the futile war on drugs and the iraq war.

[sflathinker]

I didn't read the bill but my thoughts are that certain things for CHILDREN should be covered. But let's be fair....'free' is a loose term, it usually means that it's coming from taxes, which taxpayers (ie, us) pay for. I am against socialized medicine and I wonder whether approving this could mean we are headed in that direction.

[gone]

I think the healthcare industry needs to be reformed- in a major way. Most polls reflect that people want healthcare reform. But that doesn't mean that they all want socialized healthcare. There are a lot of different ways to reform healthcare. I hope that the presidential candidates are willing to explore all of these different solutions, instead of saying that it's either the current system or socialized healthcare.

[kari]

Bush just pisses me off. At least we can be reasonably certain that the next president, Democrat or Republican, will do something about the state of health care in this country.

[Sylphlover]

Because he is an embarrassment to this country.

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/video/********.aspx

numbers are fiftyfive

Hillary Clinton will...

she already learned what works and doesn't work regarding health care... when she was the first lady and after.. why train a new person to figure health care out when we can get a pro...

[stealthycat]

I think the problem is that Bush & the neo-cons have an ideological problem with the idea of spending any money on those of us who are poor, disabled, have chronic illnesses, and so on. They find it far more ideologically agreeable to lower the taxes of the already extremely - taxes which would help pay for basic requirements that the poor people NEED.

Bottom line is that if you're a foetus, the neo-cons want to save you!

Once you've been born, however....the hell with you!!

[springflower]

Hmmm, I don't neccessarily agree that only people who are privelged would be against this bill. My parents grew up both extremely poor, and both of them are against socialized medicine. The are very much conservatives, and it has nothing to do with being "rich" cause they aren't. I think that that is pretty simple minded to think that way. I was an econ major and there are a lot of really important factors that you have to consider when starting to give out free health care. I am also against socialized medicine, mostly because of my economics background. That doesn't mean I don't care about the poor...on the contrary a good portion of my time and money is given to charitable organizations, but I am against large government. (eventhough Bush is totally an example of large goverbment...but thats another story) There are always repurcussions to anything. To me, the greater affect of a socialized health care system is worse than the current system. It makes me angry when people assume that you can only be against something because you have never experienced the alternative or you are somehow priveliged. Some people have looked at the facts and made their decisions based on that. I wish people would respect that and not jump to conclusions about people.