Editorial: He just doesn’t get it

Wednesday, July 25, 2007 | 7:16 a.m.

In threatening to veto legislation that would expand a federal health insurance program for children whose families are poor, President Bush is showing just how out of touch he is.

"The immediate goal is to make sure there are more people on private insurance plans," Bush said July 10 in what news reports have characterized as an unscripted speech to Cleveland business people. "I mean, people have access to health care in America," the president said. "After all, you just go to an emergency room."

Millions of U.S. children have no access to health insurance coverage, and this is Bush's answer to this crisis?

At issue is the State Children's Health Insurance Program, called SCHIP, that provides health insurance coverage for children whose families earn too much to be eligible for Medicaid but cannot afford to purchase private health insurance. Federal money is matched by states, which then purchase insurance for children whose families fall into the income gap. The program expires Sept. 30 unless Congress renews it. Failure to do so will leave 6.6 million children nationwide - including 40,000 children in Nevada - without health insurance.

Members of Congress, led by Democrats, want to do better than just renew SCHIP. They want to expand the program to include 3 million more children and pay for it by raising taxes on tobacco products.

Pinning this important program's success on increasing taxes on tobacco, a potentially volatile source of revenue that could decline if more people stop smoking , wouldn't be our first choice. Nonetheless, the Democrats at least have a source of funding to get the crucial program expanded immediately, something we support.

Bush, however, has promised to veto any expansion of SCHIP - and proposes to cut funding for the existing program - because he doesn't believe in government-funded health care. That's a strong conviction for a man who had no fewer than five physicians attending the removal of polyps from his large intestine Saturday at the federally funded National Naval medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Bush evidently doesn't struggle philosophically to accept government-funded health care for himself. It only violates his principles when poor children need it.