Bush Veto: Veto Override Vote To Occur

In a jagged disagreement with Congress, President Bush on Wednesday vetoed a bipartisan bill that, if passed, would have significantly expanded children's health insurance program by $35 billion.

Describing Bush's action as a "heartless veto", Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "Never has it been clearer how detached President Bush is from the priorities of the American people. By vetoing a bipartisan bill to renew the successful Children's Health Insurance Program, President Bush is denying health care to millions of low-income kids in America."

However, President Bush believes that the federal-state health insurance should available to low-income Americans who need it, but not to everyone. He expressed outrage that the SCHIP bill would "subsidize" rich families. Bush had asked for a $5 billion-a-year program expansion.

The proposed bill would have expanded health coverage to over 4 million more children by the end of 2012. Moreover, the eligibility of couples earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) would have increased to couples earning 300 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), i.e. approximately $62,000 for a family of four.

Meanwhile, U.S. Republicans plan to vote to overturn Bush's objections to the bill. The veto override vote is scheduled to occur on October 18.

This is the fourth veto in Bush’s presidency. The first came in last summer when he impeded expanded federal research of embryonic stem cells. Later in May, he vetoed a spending bill that required troop withdrawals from Iraq. Bush then vetoed another bill, in June, that relieved restraints on federally funded stem cell research.

The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is a joint state-federal effort that was developed and designed by President Bill Clinton in 1997. Created with the purpose of helping the uninsured, the SCHIP program provided health cover to 6.9 million low-income children last year.

SCHIP is designed to be re-authorized every 10 years. Its legislation expired September 30.