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Opinion: Saving babies, one veto at a time

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In a strange turn of events, a bill’s supporters are planning to let the legislation get vetoed ... in order to see it pass.

Democrats in Congress can’t come to a consensus over the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which provides healthcare for children whose families can’t afford private healthcare but don’t qualify for Medicaid. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed reauthorization bills this summer (since the program expires in two weeks) but they have to reconcile the two versions and then send a final bill to the White House to sign, or veto.

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The problem is, President Bush is set to reject the bill, so Congress needs a compromise version with enough support to override the presidential pen. That’s where the trouble starts: While the Senate version flies high over Bush’s veto threat with a two-thirds majority, the House bill is so bogged down by costly Medicare proposals that it just can’t get off the ground.

Senate Democrats (and Republicans) are worried about just that. So, perhaps in an effort to make the House see reason, they’re taking our advice and trying to streamline SCHIP.

Here’s where it gets twisty, though: If a weaker compromise bill passes, Senate Dems are actually going to let Bush axe it. But that’s just one layer in the veto strategy, according to the Kaiser Network:

Democrats have acknowledged that a stopgap funding bill for SCHIP will be needed before the end of the month to continue funding for the program, but they want the extension to result from a presidential veto, rather than a stalled conference committee, according to Democratic aides, CongressDaily reports. Under the assumption that Bush will veto any significant expansion of SCHIP, House leaders ‘will have little choice but to play ball with’ [Senate Finance Committee Chair Max] Baucus and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)

And if this does cause House Dems to cave and compromise, that reborn SCHIP bill could almost certainly rack up veto-proof support.

So essentially, these legislators are using Bush’s main weapon against him. That’s either a sneaky political trick, or very zen.

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