S-CHIP Incease Less Than 8% of What Bush Has Spent on Iraq

If you look on the right of this blog, you will see that we have installed a counter than provides continuous updates on how much the Iraq War is costing American taxpayers. We obtained this counter from the National Priorities Project. As of this morning, the cost of the S-CHIP funding that Bush vetoed is less than 8% of the cost of the war in Iraq. That means that Bush and his Republican allies are unwilling to spend $.08 cents for children's health insurance for every dollar they have spent so far in Iraq. This is a graphic example of the priorities of the Bush and his Republican allies.

Not only do they not want to spend the money, but as Paul Krugman noted in one of his columns in the New York Times, they make jokes about Bush's veto. According to Krugman, this was Bill Kristol's reaction to Bush's veto of the S-CHIP funding bill: “First of all, whenever I hear anything described as a heartless assault on our children, I tend to think it’s a good idea. I’m happy that the president’s willing to do something bad for the kids.” Bill Kristol is the editor of the conservative newspaper the Weekly Standard and an advocate of the Iraq War.

Of course, it is easy for Kristol to joke about someone else's kids not having health insurance, just as it's easy for Bush to veto the bill. Neither of them have ever had to worry about how they were going to pay for medical bills for their children. Even as Bush was bankrupting businesses down in Texas, you can rest assured that "Poppy" Bush and Barbara made sure than his precious twins had health coverage. Well, we suppose we should be grateful for the fact that at least Bush had the decency not to joke about his veto.

UPDATE: See Nancy Pelosi make the point on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace.