House Democrats managed to pick up a few more votes for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, but not enough to override the president’s veto. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised to keep fighting for the overwhelmingly popular program: “In the next two weeks we will send the president another bill that insures coverage for 10 million children.”

Politico:

Republicans held the line Thursday in sustaining President Bush’s veto of the children’s health care bill, but Democrats plan to ramp up the pressure in a new bid to force a few Republicans to wilt on the next vote.

Democrats came up 13 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to override in the House. But moments after the roll call, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) promised that “in the next two weeks we will send the president another bill that insures coverage for 10 million children.”

Just what will be different in the new measure remains to be seen, but Democrats have been hinting that they’ll make only modest changes — perhaps adding more firm income caps for program eligibility while more clearly banning benefits for illegal immigrants.

Read more

 Wait, before you go…

If you're reading this, you probably already know that non-profit, independent journalism is under threat worldwide. Independent news sites are overshadowed by larger heavily funded mainstream media that inundate us with hype and noise that barely scratch the surface.  We believe that our readers deserve to know the full story. Truthdig writers bravely dig beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that tells you what’s really happening and who’s rolling up their sleeves to do something about it.

Like you, we believe a well-informed public that doesn’t have blind faith in the status quo can help change the world. Your contribution of as little as $5 monthly or $35 annually will make you a groundbreaking member and lays the foundation of our work.

Support Truthdig
In this Article:
#children#democrats#health#health care#house of representatives#insurance#nancy pelosi#republicans#schip#veto