As Children Are Left Behind

A month ago, I blogged enthusiastically about Congress passing the bill that extends SCHIP that will cover few more millions of uninsured and impoverished children. I thought, thank goodness, Congress is going for something that is obviously right. Apparently, between then and now, some renegotiations took place to make the bill palatable to Republicans who needed to vote for the bill to get re-elected but could not in their good political conscience turn their backs to their lofty republican ideals. To make the story short, the bill is now once again being voted on in the Congress with some changes that should make everyone happy - including medicare recipients whose benefits were erstwhile in danger of being reduced to finance the SCHIP expenses. Everyone, that is, except the president who threatens to veto the bill as soon as it passes. He claims that the bill which would provide health care to millions of children at the expense of increased excise tax on cigarette smokers is "an incremental step" towards the federalization of health care. I have not given much thought to federalized health care, but I intuitively know that health care to millions of uininsured and poor children should not be denied. I find myself agreeing with NPR's Danile Schorr commentary on the issue- please listen to it on this link:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14663820

I find it distastefully sad that children and their health care and other needs are used as platforms on which politicians stump their selfish agendas at will. It is particularly appaling to see how politicans can politicize the issue of health care - an issue of life and death to some ill children and their families - and somehow think that they are doing the most people a benefit.
It is unknown to me how many Filipino-Americans and other Asian-Americans stand to benefit or suffer from the outcome of the impending SCHIP debacle. But nonetheless, I urge all of you to be aware of issues such as this, because if they are willing to turn their backs on sick children, only God knows, who's next.

New York Times also ran a story about it on 9/25th, here is the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/25/washington/25health.html?ex=1348459200&en=9656c7715fd92fd2&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink