Battle Revs Up To Override Bush's Veto Of Kids' Insurance
BY JOHN TOSCANO

Despite the bipartisan support in Congress for an override of President George W. Bush's veto of a children's health insurance measure, enough votes to do it do not seem to be forthcoming.

But opposition to the bill is so strong that Democrats vow they'll make it a defining issue in the 2008 election campaigns. They'll also have the support of advocacy groups who are planning a radio, television and text messaging campaign against Republicans who opposed the bill.

The bill would have extended an existing program to provide an additional $35 billion for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). SCHIP covers mostly low-income kids, but the bill extended its coverage to higher-earning,

middle-income families.

Bush opposed adding $30 billion more than he wanted the program to receive and he also objected to broadening the coverage.

Governor Eliot Spitzer, who led a coalition of Democratic state lawmakers in pushing for the bill, said the president preferred to ignore the realities facing 11 million uninsured children and their families.

Instead, the president said in his veto message, needy kids can go to the emergency room of their local hospitals.

Congressmembers Joseph Crowley, Carolyn Maloney and Gary Ackerman issued a statement blasting the president's veto.

Also finding the president's action "immoral at best" was George Gresham, president of 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. Gresham's condemnation of the veto also signals that there will be strong labor support for pressing the issue in next year's elections if the override scheduled for October 18 is unsuccessful.

Trying to turn undecided Republican supporters in his direction, Spitzer was calling GOP congressmembers upstate last week. He wasn't having much luck.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was using the same pressure tactic on eight Republicans in competitive districts. The Democrats planned to blitz their targets with a series of automated phone calls and radio advertisements.

It was also reported that beginning the past Monday, a coalition of labor groups had started a $1 million national advertising campaign on cable and other stations.

Meanwhile, the four leading Republican presidential hopefuls backed the president's veto, risking their campaigns by publicly siding with the president, who is so low in voter esteem at the moment.

Among the GOP presidential aspirants, Sen. John McCain (R- C, Arizona) questioned the soundness of the $35 billion increase in the program.

A spokesman for Fred Thompson said Thompson had strongly defended the veto.

Rudy Giuliani said that many of the children targeted to be added to the SCHIP program already have insurance, and Mitt Romney said the proposed program expansion was "a wasteful duplication".