And Your Point Is?

The State Children's Health Insurance Program bill is not going away. House leaders announced that they are bringing another SCHIP bill to the floor this week, with minor changes but still expanding the program to cover a total of 10 million kids.

The White House responded by whipping out a fresh "fact" sheet. The headline?

"Just the Facts: 'Over Half the Families in America Are Not Poor.'"

And your point is?

Apparently, this is their point: "Congress' bill would result in 57 percent of children in America and about 53 percent of families with children being potentially eligible for public assistance. The President has said poor children should come first. Over half the families in America are not poor."

Of course, there is no way 57% percent of America's kids would be in SCHIP. America has 74 million kids, and there's only enough funding in the bill to cover 10 million.

More importantly, as far as SCHIP goes, it doesn't matter that the number of those in poverty has risen to "only" 36.5 million people and 12.8 million kids in the Bush Era.

SCHIP has never been about providing health coverage to kids in poverty. That's the purpose of Medicaid. SCHIP is about providing health coverage to kids who are not in poverty, but whose parents still can't afford insurance.

During the SCHIP debate, the White House and its conservative allies have already managed to advertise their complete callousness to the struggles of working families.

Now they are advertising their failures to reduce poverty.

Once again, Mission Accomplished.

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future