Even though people say that politicians always break promises, it is rare that these broken promises have been so explicitly laid out. President Bush, in his 2000 campaign talked about compassionate conservatism, which supposedly meant that he would be conservative, but would not eliminate government programs that help the neediest among us. Today, he did just that. Don't let the right wing megaphone fool you. The SCHIP bill, which passed with overwhelming support, isn't a path to universal health care. It isn't even enough to cover 2/3rds of the uninsured children in our country. It is also not government run health care, it is a public-private partnership. Three quarters of the SCHIP patients are covered by private insurers. So those insurance blowhards will still get their money anyway. For crying out loud, this bill is supported by the American Medical Association. The legislation is a modest step that expands a popular program to cover 8 million more children, for a fraction of the cost of the disastrous Iraq War. Today Mr. Bush silenced any of the lingering believers, who thought that Bush just might care about people.

  Why did Mr. Compassionate veto this bill? There are several answers. First, he wanted to reestablish his fiscal conservative credentials, after totally blowing it during his first six years in office. Second, he has misread the bill, mistakingly thinking that it has changed eligibility, when in actuality it is only adding funding. Most importantly, however, he vetoed the bill because he believes in a strict right wing ideology. This ideology states that any Government program is fundamentally wrong but it "gives" benefits to people who somehow don't deserve them. I will never understand people like him, who don't understand the real lessons of the bible, that if you don't help the least of these brothers of mine, you are not helping me. Or better yet, love thy freaking neighbor. The President and his conservative bretheren will never understand what most people, including our founding fathers, did. That is, even if you didn't do anything to deserve it, simply by being human, you are entitled to basic rights. I think this absolutely applies to children, who through no fault of their own, do not have health insurance.

 Finally, let's think about the kids who would be benefitting from the SCHIP bill. They are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, meaning their parents are working. Odds are, if you look at the parents' income level, they are working at blue collar jobs, putting in hours so that their family can live more comfortably. I hope everyone joins me in believing that the President's ideology is cold-hearted, at best.