Thursday, August 09, 2007

No Child Left Behind*

One of the problems with being an unpopular president, is that anytime anything connected to the executive branch looks hinky, you take the blame. Much like the popular president who gets to take credit for the good things coming out of executive branch agencies.

The current issue lies with the President's threats to veto the State Child's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Coincidentally, shortly after his threat to veto, four regional directors of the Department of Health and Human Services (where I once had to show my military ID in order to use the restroom) issued copycat letters spreading apparent misinformation about the program (link is from the Huffington Post). The letters misstate the effect of the law and spout similar concerns expressed by President Bush. The idea seems to be to frighten people into criticizing this bill that would provide health insurance for children who can't otherwise afford it.

I prefer to operate under the ounce of prevention concept, that providing insurance for children will result in better treatment for those children, which will make for healthier adults who will be able to work more, have fewer ailments, contribute more to the economy, and ultimately save money. That's not a big price to pay, IMO, for the potential future payoff.

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