Bush's "Poor Kids First" Kept Sick and Freezing

George W. Bush explained his recent veto of the bipartisan-supported Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, because he says he wants to put "poor kids first."

The president's (and his supporters') logic here is that expanding funding for the popular State Child Health Insurance Plan would mean that more people than those living in rock-bottom poverty might get access to government-subsidized healthcare, and that would be a grievous wrong. He contends that only kids born into the most desperate poverty should get help outside of private, market-priced insurance--whether they can afford it or not.

And now he wants to cut government-subsidized heat to low-income households.

Bush took less than a week to prove through his actions that he could not care less about poor kids at any level of poverty, and is in fact, actively working to keep them sick, freezing, and unable to elevate themselves. "Poor kids first" is hogwash.

Using the pathetic trick of releasing the mean-spirited announcement on a Friday evening, the week's lowest-buzzing moment of news coverage, the Bush Administration wants to cut the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a move which will literally leave 30 million low-income households in the cold this winter.

Oil costs are rising, and the Bush administration's response is to pull the plug on homes that can't afford the market-priced heat.

Reuters reports, "LIHEAP has an interim annual budget of $2.16 billion, but the White House wants to cut the program to $1.78 billion for the 2008 spending year that began on October 1."

LIHEAP was founded in 1981, but its funding has not kept up with inflation or energy costs. If it did, its budget would be $4.2 billion. Rather than expanding the program to meet the needs of struggling Americans, Bush wants to contract it.

The president's fears of middle-class freeloaders getting government help do not apply here. The households using LIHEAP are poor by any American standard. About two-thirds of the households that receive LIHEAP assistance have annual incomes of less than $20,000. One day Bush says "poor kids first," and then the next, moves to shut off their heaters. And you can be sure that no one who supports Bush's cutback has ever himself spent an icy winter without access to heat.

In a stirring Boston Globe editorial, Deborah A. Frank and Joseph P. Kennedy II point out a devastating statistic:

"Young children in poor families who receive energy assistance through the federal LIHEAP are 32 percent less likely to require admission to the hospital on the day of their visit to the emergency room than eligible families who do not receive LIHEAP."

This program lets people live. How can the Bush Administration propose to cut it by 44% from its 2005 funding level? Don't they have money for this vital program?

The answer is yes, they certainly do.

Frank and Kennedy illustrate, "the federal government collected $10 billion dollars in royalties from oil and gas companies in fiscal 2006 - a small fraction of the $77 billion that oil and gas companies received from the sale of oil and gas produced from federal lands and waters."

I teach at a middle school in East Harlem where all of the kids are poor enough to qualify for free lunch. I see their intense struggles every day against the crush of poverty to achieve. It makes me sick to think how much damage would be done to them, medically, emotionally, and educationally, if their government needlessly shut off their heat this winter.

America's citizens--and its media--can't let this tragic and mean-spirited proposal slide by. We may be a "great nation," but are we good?

Dan Brown is the author of the inner-city teacher memoir, "The Great Expectations School: A Rookie Year in the New Blackboard Jungle."

Comments

[cadawa]

Violating all standards of human decency is a Bush specialty.
The question is why we let him get away with it. Is it more important for him to remain in office than to save the lives of America's children?
Impeachment should have been the Democrats first order of business. It is their failure to do their jobs that has brought us to this pass.
Failing to impeach, even at this date, will mean that many more innocent people will die unnecessarily.

[rboylern]

Bottom line: Bush doesn't give a shit about poor people. He has no concept of compassion or kindness. He calls himself a Christian, yet I find nothing that reminds me of Jesus in anything this man says or does.

[adzeman]

Of all the lies bush has told, "compassionate" is the biggest. He doesn't care about the carnage in Iraq, the well being of the American people, or the world for that matter.
He is a selfish narcissist. Calling him a disgusting pig is an insult to farm animals.

[psyopswatcher]

The feds will probably expect the states to step in to fill the void, like they've been doing since this admin took over.

In the meantime, the oil companies will make a killing on the middle class trying to heat their mcmansions and the wasted space of those 2-story vaulted ceilings. If they can meet their sky-rocketing mortgages, that is. Otherwise, they're out on the street too?

[delicado]

The President and Cheney's impeachment should be started before they literally kill children and families for lack of healthcare and heating assistance in poverty homes. His definition of torture is: it is torture only when organs fail(?) (death)of suspected enemy combatants, no Habeus Corpus.Now it's our poorest that he chooses to torture in a subtle way, no heat, in bitter cold, can result in death.Fighting for these families will not deter us from condemning him for his criminal conduct. Both lied about the Iraq war,now Cheney wants to bomb Iran so they won't get knowledge of a nuclear bomb.
When will Pelosi put impeachment back on the table? She says HE isn't worth it. I feel the desecration of our Constitution by these criminals is. If they aren't impeached it will set a dangerous precedent for future presidents. Kucinich has Articles of Impeachment for Cheney, HR 333, that 20 representatives have signed. (Call your rep., ask him or her to sign). Are there rules against both can't be impeached together? They are both criminally liable for their acts. What are other democrats waiting for? Where is their moral responsibility to the American people, to uphold and defend the Constitution? Hillary has become a definite war hawk, Guiliani is for the Bush war, and approved Bush's vetoing the Schip act, and its not being overturned. What kind of Presidential candidates do we have? No diplomacy, just kill more people, innocent women and children, too, by dropping bombs in Iran. When Bush said he was a uniter he lied then too. Every word he says seems to turn into a lie. He told The U.N. General Assembly that he wanted healthy children worldwide - then vetoed the Schip bill. I guess he meant elsewhere, in countries with universal healthcare. OUR country is $10 trillion dollars in war debt. Bush has requested more war funding above the budget. The people need to protest by marching. An election is useless, most potential candidates for President are for war. A few ARE for bringing our troops home and stopping this carnage.

[lgillooly]

Until the MSM is not corporate owned we will not hear about these things on TV.They have taken over the Government and the media.The first thing a Democratic President must do is reinstate the Fairness Doctrine and neutralize the power of hate radio,fox and other branches of the RNC.

[Archie1955]

There is no reason that poor Americans have to freeze this winter, just have them apply for foreign aid to Venezuela and I'm sure Citgo will be happy to help them out.

[Hoelder]

Anybody surprised? Not really, because there is a social Darwinism on the rise again in this country. Especially those who hate evolution came to embrace the social part which means that the fittest will survive and the poor, mentally ill, children will die. They combine with the ultra right Jesus interpretation that the Lord will greet them in heaven and whoop - dee - doo, we have something like this: "Poor people don't deserve to have kids if they can't afford them" or "well, they have to die than" - It's the survival of the fittest applied to the people that are successful business people have the better genes. Folks I am not making this up, I heard it on talk shows. Of course fascism and Nazis come to mind. When I heard that I was taken back and shocked. You know there are people preparing for climate disaster when food and water will become the major battle front. So we do not have to shed tears for a starved shell of a dying child. This is another indicator of bad times coming.

[Xysea]

I have some experience with LIHEAP. In my former position, I used to work with low-income families who had trouble meeting their bills - including utilities.

Bush is not compassionate. I doubt he knows what the word 'compassion' means, let alone how to put it into practice.

With the fuel prices set to go higher this winter, higher than ever before, he may well be condemning poor children and the elderly

*to death.*

That is not an exaggeration. Some of these people will catch pneumonia. Some of them may catch the flu. Some of them may die of exposure.

As a direct result of his horrible, cruel, thoughtless and misguided policy.

He is the *worst President to ever disgrace the Oval Office.*

[The Impartial]

He doesn't know anything. Not even how to read speeches prepared for him.
He doesn't know Maths. Proof: He's asking for $42.3 Billions more for ONE year of war and VETO a bill asking for only $35 B/5 yrs for SCHIP.
The U.S citizens should be mad.

[TJTelecaster]

We must Nationalize the American Oil Industry and really all energy...

That would create and economic boom that would benefit every American across the board...

It would send more than $50 billion every year to new technologies and also allow us to cut the cost of Oil related products by 30% or more..

It is an answer to so many of our problems..

Vijay Vaitheeswaran said as much as well today on C-span Journal this morning..

His new book is Zoom...

[research]

Now we see the awfull, pitiful truth about the GOP: they are incompetent, heartless, deceitfully, power mad, sociopaths. Conservatism is a miserable failure intellectually, fiscally, morally, diplomatically, and constitutionally. Contact congress and tell them to condemn the GOP and Bush&Co now!

[Boyaca]

Yup, he has 190,000,000,000 for war and new attack toys for the military, but has to squeeze a 2,000,000,000 budget for home heating. How obscene is that ? Also has no more money for the S-chip program, a measly 35,000,000,000. How obscene is that military budget now?

[yappnmutt]

no problem. venezuela's chavez is more than willing to fill the gap. besides, the more the adversity the better the character. sick, hungry and freezing builds great character. i mean, look at bush. its obvious how much character building he experienced growing up.

[knowhelpnow]

I'm on a fix income that does not keep up with the real inflation of this country. I keep my heat at 60* or less and my bills jumped by 1/3 on equal payment plan. I guess I will have to lower it to 55* but I'm getting older and it is like I'm freezing everyday at least at night I have an electric blanket. If COLA's used food and energy included in them the government would have to show that we are going down the tubes. I can't imagine how the poor are going to pay for their heat. I'm just sick at the thought that this President that talks to God hasn't heard him say help the poor. Stop the war and take care of your own people at home.

[mjjcpa]

If we had opened ANWAR five years ago it would be pumping a million barrels of crude a day which is the equivalent to what we get from Saudi Arabia. Surrendercrats care more about caribou than people.

[Rebels1958]

The oil from ANWAR would have been sold to CHINA. Nowhere in the senate bill would the oil belong or be required to be used in the USA. Mobile Exon is a global corporation that gladly accepts US tax dollars. Go watch the oil CEO"s on cspan.

[Xysea]

Are you mentally ill?

Opening ANWAR has NOTHING, NOTHING at all to do with heat for poor children in wintertime.

Another conservative trying to cloud the issue, because his 'facts' are made up to justify his positions - not the other way around.

Opening ANWAR would not have stopped the invasion of Iraq. It would not have prevented the rise in utility bills for long, if at all.

You can't be seriously saying President Bush cares about the average American, can you?

After SCHIP? After cutting LIHEAP?

'President Bush cares more about oil profits and war profiteering than people.'

[rabb046]

If we had quit giving tax breaks/credits for people to buy giant SUVs, then we wouldn't need to open ANWAR.

http://www.taxpayer.net/TCS/whitepapers/SUVtaxbreak.htm

[momilitia]

Rush, you posting again?

[thinkgra]

I think Bush's comment is shorthand for "Kill poor kids first." That way, you see, he can say politically acceptable-sounding things without being accused of lying. All he did was leave out one crummy little word.
Liberal nitpickers. Sheesh. (This is irony, BTW.)
This all goes back to John Calvin, whose theology included the notion that since everything was predestined by God, the only way of keeping track of one's status in the eyes of the Almighty was by measuring your financial success, as "The abundance of the Lord descends upon the Righteous."
Skipped over the Book of Job and most of the new Testament, apparently. Anyone surprised?