It’s official, George Bush will veto S-CHIP, quietly, sometime tomorrow.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino confirmed that President Bush plans to veto the legislation “tomorrow or so.” When asked whether there will be a ceremony, Perino replied, “I would not anticipate that there would be any ceremony.” She added, “The President will probably veto it quietly.”

It’s not surprising that Bush is hoping no one notices his veto, which will deny health coverage to four million children. Over 70 percent of Americans support Congress’s proposed SCHIP increase.

(more info on S-CHIP & Adam Putnam here, and here and Putnam’s partisan twistings here.)

So What Will Putnam Do?

A strong turn-around, just a little pressure from their conference chair, and and the hold-out GOP house members will join with a bipartisan super majority of their colleagues and override the veto. (S-CHIP passed with a veto-proof majority in the Senate, but was a handful of votes short of 2/3 in the House). The handful of Dems who voted against it, plus a few swing GOP members will be switching their votes, which means as little as 4 or 5 more GOP defections would make this incredibly popular bill a law.

But Putnam has said he won’t do that. Why? So Bush’s veto can stand. It’s a little sickening.

Update: The dirty deed is done. Bush has vetoed health insurance for 10 million children, and it’s up to the Congress to override him.

Here’s a video from Families USA about the veto, replace the words “bush” with “putnam” and it’s just as true.

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 @ 3:58 pm Partisan Politics, video
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