Using poor children as pawns is the nastiest sort of partisan politics. That Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), once a poor child himself, would stoop to this level by voting against the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) shows that his desire to become president has surpassed his ability to support progressive values.
This bill would have expanded an already successful program to provide health insurance to millions of children across the country. It takes some twisted logic for someone who claims to support health care coverage for all to oppose this necessary and overdue move in the right direction.
It wasn't perfect, Kucinich expounded, because it didn't include children who are legal aliens. He took the opportunity to promote his own universal health care bill, HR 676, which would cover both children and adults as a better choice - despite the fact that it is not going anywhere soon.
Does he think omitting legal aliens (reportedly a Democratic compromise to get Republican votes) is reason enough to vote against the needs of the many children in his own district who desperately need health care coverage? Even if S-CHIP was only going to cover the children living below the poverty line, it would affect 25.5 percent of children in Cuyahoga County, in which his district is located. Ohio has planned to expand the program to cover children at triple the poverty level, so the number of children affected skyrockets.
On one hand, President Bush vows to veto the bill, and on the other, Dennis Kucinich votes against it because he doesn't think it goes far enough. This is a perfect example of what is presently wrong with Washington decision-making. Polarizing positions work against functional compromise, resulting in a government that cannot serve in the nation's best interest.
While fringe politicians like President Bush and Congressman Kucinich rant like petulant children, the nation remains stagnant and desperately needs effective leadership. Unfortunately, children in Kucinich's Northeast Ohio district and around the country will pay the price for their obstinate actions.
His contrary vote on S-CHIP is only one of a series of grandstanding votes he's made recently.
First he missed the vote to implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations and was the only member of Congress other than Republican gadfly Ron Paul in refusing to condemn Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for saying Israel should be "wiped off the map." Kucinich claimed it was a bad translation, that Ahmadinejad didn't really say that.
Days later, he was the only Democrat to vote against the US Competitiveness Bill which would provide billions for science education and research including additional funding for NASA, which has a major presence in his hometown of Cleveland, OH. His reason for opposing the bill was that it included a mention of nuclear energy, and Kucinich opposes all things nuclear, even peaceful purposes.
When the Census Bureau released its poverty statistics and found Cleveland to be the fourth poorest city in America, he was off at yet another presidential campaign event, this time in Disney World.
On the eve of the sixth anniversary of the September 11th attacks, he was the only member of Congress to vote against honoring the fallen heroes of that dreadful day. He did so because the resolution didn't mention that September 11th had been used by the Bush Administration as a pretext for the Iraq War.
You can easily make the case that Dennis's votes, as bizarre and embarrassing as they were, were not needed in those cases, so his vying for the spotlight to promote his presidential campaign was no problem.
Last night, the situation changed. Congress needed to show strength to try to avoid a Bush veto on the S-CHIP bill.
Last night, Kucinich played the nastiest sort of "me-me-me" politics.
Last night, Dennis voted against the children.
Rosemary Palmer is the Democratic challenger to Dennis Kucinich in Ohio's 10th Congressional District. www.rosemarypalmerforcongress.com
