Don’t Let SCHIP Supporters Fool You

Okay, so this SCHIP wreck is getting out of hand.  There is much debate over this topic, so I’ve got to put my two cents in too.  First, I am not opposed to federally subsidized health care.  Not at all.  Nor are any of the opponents to the recent SCHIP expansion proposal.  SCHIP has been a relatively successful program that has helped millions of children receive health care that normally wouldn’t have.  Great!

What I am opposed to, is having a minority of the population fund the $35 billion expansion that has been proposed.  No one is saying, “Don’t give health care to those children.”  What we’re saying is, “Find a different way to pay for it.”  Now, I say this with the understanding that health care should not be nationalized.  I don’t care how well people think it works in Canada and England, it won’t work well here.  Back to paying for SCHIP: taxing tobacco is the wrong way to go about paying for this program.  For a few reasons:

1) It’s not a fair tax.  Smokers, and smokers only, will have to foot the bill for America’s youth.  Health hazards of tobacco aside, smokers should not be solely responsible for the health care of America’s children.  This is a definite ploy to push a social and health issue agenda by our legislators, and it’s wrong!

2) It’s not fiscally responsible.  Let’s face it, there are fewer smokers.  And as the smoking bans come in droves across America, there will be even fewer smokers, which means fewer people buying tobacco, which then leads to less money accumulated from this ridiculous tax, which then means an under-funded program which still leaves the children behind.

The supporters of this SCHIP expansion would have you believe that the Senators and Congressmen and women who don’t support this bill aren’t supporting America’s children.  Well, they’re wrong.  What they aren’t supporting is the blatant attempt to unfairly tax and ostracize many of their constituents while also poorly funding this program.  Instead, what many of our legislators are doing is looking for different ways to pay for this program.  Senator John Cornyn of Texas is trying to find a way to curb government’s wasteful spending and use the money it’s already receiving.  Sounds like a better plan to me.

 Don’t be fooled people.  The supporters of this program want you to see a side to this that shouldn’t even be there, and it’s all about the politics.  Hey, isn’t there a big election coming up next year?  Hmmm…..

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