HEALTH CARE
Bush Vetoes Kids...Again

There will be no Progress Report tomorrow. We'll be back on Monday, Dec. 17.

For the second time in three months, President Bush yesterday vetoed bipartisan legislation that "would have expanded the State Children's Health Insurance (SCHIP) program "by $35 billion over five years and would have boosted its enrollment to about 10 million children." It was the seventh veto of Bush's presidency and the second veto of a children's health bill. In an October press conference, Bush explained that he will continue vetoing bills simply to "ensure that I am relevant. That's one way to ensure that I'm in the process." Similar to his last rejection of SCHIP two months ago, Bush vetoed the bill yesterday "in private." Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) responded, "This is indeed a sad action for him to take, because so many children in our country need access to quality health care." "In case there was any doubt that President Bush's priorities could not be farther from those of the American people, he has vetoed yet another bipartisan bill to renew the successful [State] Children's Health Insurance Program," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said yesterday, adding, "We will not rest until the President joins us."

CONGRESS ACTS, BUSH DOES NOT: Last October, after vetoing the first version of SCHIP legislation, Bush complained that the White House had been left out of negotiations and was not "dialed in in the beginning." "I'm surprised I hadn't been asked about SCHIP," Bush said. But "telephone logs and e-mail messages show that Republican senators and their aides had frequently consulted White House officials as the bill took shape." After checking their calendars, lawmakers said that they and their aides had "more than 35 meetings and telephone conversations" on the issue with the White House. While the SCHIP bill "has changed substantially," Bush's criticism "has not, and this frustrates lawmakers like Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) who said the president had been 'given some pretty bad advice' by his staff." After the House sustained Bush's veto two months ago, Press Secretary Dana Perino celebrated it as a victory, proclaiming, "We won this round on SCHIP." 

PLAYING POLITICS: After Bush vetoed the SCHIP legislation in early October, he argued, "When it comes to SCHIP, we should be guided by a clear principle: Put poor children first." By all accounts, SCHIP has been successful in accomplishing this mission. Since 2000, while 6.8 million people lost health coverage, "SCHIP and Medicaid ensured that the proportion of low-income children without health insurance actually declined during this period, from 20 percent in 2000 to 14 percent in 2005." The second version of SCHIP that Congress passed sought to address Bush's major concern about the bill "by capping eligibility at 300 percent of the federal poverty line -- slightly more than $60,000 for a family of four." Yet Bush trotted out the same excuse yesterday for vetoing the popular and successful health insurance program. "This bill does not put poor children first," he said, "and it moves our country's health care system in the wrong direction." The administration apparently views the confrontation over SCHIP as "making for good politics." The New York Times reported, "The White House, convinced that Republicans lost Congressional seats last year because the public was fed up with government spending, calculates that Mr. Bush will please fiscal conservatives by drawing the line against a big expansion of the program."

WHAT'S NEXT: Authorization for SCHIP expired on Sept. 30 and has twice been extended by continuing resolutions passed by Congress to keep the federal government operating. "But the second extension is due to expire on Dec. 14, and no one is sure what will happen next." The fate of this critical program "remains undecided," as lawmakers negotiate a new five-year funding package that can win Bush's approval or draw a veto-proof majority in the House and Senate. If Congress cannot win over Bush's support, leaders from both parties are expected to "pass a one-year extension of the program" with the aim of including "enough money in the measure to maintain current levels of enrollment, estimated at 6.6 million children." While campaigning in 2004, Bush pledged, "In a new term, we will lead an aggressive effort to enroll millions of poor children who are eligible but not signed up for the government's health insurance programs." Now, Bush has become the one man standing between 10 million low-income children and their health insurance.

Under the Radar

ENERGY -- SENATE CONSERVATIVES BLOCK ENERGY BILL: This morning, the Senate failed to invoke cloture by one vote on a groundbreaking energy bill that has already passed the House. The bill would have raised corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards and create significant incentives towards renewable energy for the first time in 30 years. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said the Senate would take up the bill again today after taking out the provision shutting off tax loopholes to oil companies, which faced objections by Senate Republicans and President Bush. After the vote, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), said, "The future just failed by one vote. ... The oil companies now are celebrating in their boardrooms. ... They continue to have a deathgrip on this Senate." "The bill represents a historic opportunity to ease America's dependence on foreign oil and to take steps in the battle against global warming, and its passage would send a message to the worlds' negotiators in Bali that Washington is at last getting serious about climate change," The New York Times noted. The Senate's vote today will likely add to others' frustration with the U.S delegation in Bali, as European nations at the conference on climate change have "threatened to boycott U.S.-led climate talks next month unless Washington" agrees to specific targets for reducing greenhouse gases. Former vice president Al Gore said today that the United States "is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali."

IRAN -- THOMPSON CALLS THE NIE 'FOOLISHNESS': On Glenn Beck's radio show on Tuesday, former senator Fred Thompson said he doesn't care what the new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran says. Iran is "undoubtedly intent upon nuclear weapons. ... I don't care what this latest NIE says." The former actor then dismissed the intelligence that Iran has halted its nuclear weapons program as "foolishness." Thompson's baseless analysis seems to come straight from his gut rather than any established facts. On the Charlie Rose Show last week, Thompson conjured a conspiracy theory, claiming that Iran "leaked" the intelligence to "divert our attention a little bit." In a posting on Red State, he mused that the NIE was "awfully convenient for a lot of people." Since its release last week, neocons -- who don't have access to the intelligence -- have been questioning the NIE because it doesn't fit their world views. As the National Security Network pointed out, Thompson and his fellow hawks are doing everything they can "to generate smoke where there is no fire" regarding the NIE's credibility. In doing so, they disregard the fact that the intelligence was heavily vetted and overseen by a Bush administration appointee. Even Vice President Cheney has said he doesn't "have any reason to question" the NIE's findings.

RELIGION -- REP. KING JOINS WAR ON CHRISTMAS, CALLS ON AMERICANS TO 'WORSHIP CHRIST': Rep. Steve King recently (R-IA) introduced legislation recognizing the "importance of Christmas and the Christian faith," despite previously opposing resolutions recognizing the Muslim celebration of Ramadan and the Hindu Diwali. Yesterday on Fox News, King went further, decrying an "assault on Christmas" from "secularists" who want to "eradicate Christ from Christmas." Ignoring the Constitution, King claimed America is really a "Christian nation." "[L]et's worship Christ and let's celebrate Christmas for the right reasons," he proclaimed. King attacked the nine "liberal Democrat" "naysayers" who voted against the bill. In response, Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) ripped King's religious zealotry as "another sad attempt by conservative Republicans to skew the line between church and state." King isn't alone. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee both have declared that America is a Christian nation.

Think Fast

European nations at the U.N. conference in Bali, yesterday "threatened to boycott U.S.-led climate talks next month unless Washington accepts" a draft document 'suggesting that industrialized nations consider cutting emissions by 25 percent to 40 percent by 2020."

Twenty-eight retired generals and admirals wrote to the House and Senate intelligence committees yesterday, "urging them to require the CIA to abandon harsh interrogation techniques. Among the signers were two retired Army generals who investigated the Abu Ghraib detainee abuses in Iraq, Gen. Paul J. Kern and Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba."

In 2002, Marine Col. Ralph H. Kohlmann, who is now the chief judge of the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, "wrote a paper on the Bush administration's plan to use military commissions to try Guantanamo suspects, concluding that "even a good military tribunal is a bad idea."

"Diplomatic posts at the State Department and U.S. embassies worldwide will be cut by 10 percent next year because of heavy staffing demands in Iraq and Afghanistan, Director General Harry Thomas informed the foreign service yesterday."

109: The record number of soldiers who "have killed themselves this year, according to Army statistics showing confirmed or suspected suicides."

A new report by the American Institute of Philanthropy says that "eight veterans charities, including some of the nation's largest, gave less than a third of the money raised to the causes they champion, far below the recommended standard."

Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Mark Agrast urges Congress to support the conference report on the FY2008 Intelligence Authorization bill, which would outlaw CIA interrogation methods that are not authorized by the Army Field Manual.

And finally: The new video game "DC Smackdown" pokes "evenhanded fun" at public figures with 17 figures, including Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, and Jesse Jackson. The final two levels of the game involve "combat between former Vice President Al Gore and President George W. Bush. Gore has a 'CO2 fart attack,' while Bush has a Karl Rove attack. Dressed like the grim reaper, Rove passes through and steals the opponent's soul."

Good News

A federal judge upheld a California law "regulating greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks" yesterday. The ruling, which affirms a 2002 law increasing fuel economy, is "another in a string of legal defeats for the auto industry this year."

State Watch

NEW HAMPSHIRE: "Same-sex couples plan to celebrate New Hampshire's new civil unions law by holding a group ceremony the minute the law takes effect Jan. 1."

NEW YORK: Officials announce new checks and balances on the state's public employees' pension fund

NEW JERSEY: Gov. Jon Corzine (D) stands up for paid family leave.

Blog Watch

THINK PROGRESS: White House offers convenient excuse for not talking about Plame leak scandal.

CARPETBAGGER REPORT: A second religious right official exploits the tragic Colorado shooting to attack liberals and the "secular media."

THE BLOTTER: The CIA is "furious" at waterboarding whistleblower John Kiriakou.

CROOKS AND LIARS: Fox News' Bill O'Reilly claims opponents of the Bush administration's torture tactics are just "lost in a fog of...Bush hatred."

Daily Grill

"The leaders of our oversight committees in Congress were informed of the videos years ago and of the Agency's intention to dispose of the material. Our oversight committees also have been told that the videos were, in fact, destroyed."
-- CIA Director Michael Hayden, 12/6/07

VERSUS

"Particularly at the time of the destruction we could have done an awful lot better at keeping the committee alerted and informed."
-- Hayden, 12/12/07

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