Intimidating Kids Backfires Miserably

After liberal bloggers [1] called out the conservative smear job on the Frost family, the New York Times [2], USA Today [3] and Baltimore Sun [4] picked up the story.

And all conservatives have accomplished is to shine a brighter light on the struggles of working class Americans:

From USA Today: [3]

[Conservative b]loggers said the house was worth more than $400,000. It turns out it was bought for $55,000 in 1991 in a Baltimore neighborhood where "there were drug dealers and prostitutes on our street," Bonnie Frost said. Halsey Frost, a woodworker, did most of the renovations, which are "still not done," Bonnie said.

Bloggers said Graeme and Gemma go to private Park School, where tuition costs about $20,000. Graeme gets a scholarship, while Gemma's brain injuries were so severe that the city pays to educate her at a school for children with disabilities, the couple say.

The commercial property, which bloggers noted was bought for $160,000 in 1999, was intended to house Frostworks, Halsey's business. It folded soon after, he said — partly because of the cost of health insurance.

He has worked for small companies and is trying to restart his own business. She works part time for a consulting firm. The couple — who have four children in all —earned about $45,000 last year, well below the $55,220 limit for a family of six set under the original SCHIP program. Maryland's program goes higher, to nearly $83,000 for a family of six. "We are struggling," Bonnie Frost said. "We live paycheck to paycheck. "

And the New York Times: [2]

Certainly the Frosts are not destitute. They also own a commercial property, valued at about $160,000, that provides rental income. Mr. Frost works intermittently in woodworking and as a welder, while Mrs. Frost has a part-time job at a firm that provides services to publishers of medical journals. Her job does not provide health coverage.

...

In a telephone interview, the Frosts said they had recently been rejected by three private insurance companies because of pre-existing medical conditions. “We stood up in the first place because S-chip really helped our family and we wanted to help other families,” Mrs. Frost said.

“We work hard, we’re honest, we pay our taxes,” Mr. Frost said, adding, “There are hard-working families that really need affordable health insurance.”

This, of course, is the whole point.

You can be in a responsible working family in America today and still not be able to get health insurance. And that's why SCHIP is so critical.

SCHIP has successfully helped prevent 6 million kids, like Graeme and Gemma Frost, from going without health coverage.

The Frosts simply wanted to show the nation how SCHIP helped them deal with a tragic accident.

Conservatives didn't want people to know how SCHIP has worked, and wanted to intimidate the Frosts and others from sharing their stories.

But the opposite happened. Even more Americans know how SCHIP helped the Frosts, and the Frosts have not been intimidated.

As the Baltimore Sun [4] reported, "Speaking from their cluttered front room yesterday, the Frosts said they would continue to advocate for government-funded health care."