Nothing To Say

The House floor debate over the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program is underway. (All the live action is on C-Span.)

And conservatives looking to block the expansion don't seem to have any actual arguments against the program.

Instead, they're focusing their time whining that the Republican ranking member on the Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Joe Barton, didn't have a seat at the table when the final compromise was being hashed out, and therefore the bill isn't bipartisan.

Never mind that the bill has considerable bipartisan support in the House and Senate, and the process was upended because Senate Republicans blocked a formal House and Senate negotiation from happening.

But conservatives planning on trying to sustain President Bush's veto better ask themselves if they want to answer constituents asking "Why did you prevent more kids from getting health insurance?" by complaining about the bill-writing process.

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