Sit Up And Beg, Sheryl

I have a question for Clark Hoyt, the public editor of the New York Times; where does it state in the job description of reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg that she must receive Bushco stenography unchallenged and write it up accordingly for publication?

(Warning: this is familiar territory - SCHIP, yet again - but as Atrios says, “zombie lies never die.”)

As noted in Stolberg’s report…

To achieve (the) goal (of maintaining SCHIP enrollment of 6.6 million kids), the Congressional Budget Office says Congress would need to provide at least $5.8 billion, $800 million more than the current spending. The bill that Democrats sent to Mr. Bush would have increased spending $35 billion, bringing the total to $60 billion over five years, and would have added four million children to the rolls.

Oh, and I should note by the way that, while President George W. Milhous Bush tries to pinch pennies regarding the health of our kids, the cost of his Iraq war grows by $200 million every day at a minimum (according to this article).

Of course, money isn’t really what’s behind the pretzelnit’s ultra-stupid behavior on SCHIP, as Paul Krugman notes here.

But for now, back to Stolberg…

Mr. Bush, however, argued that the measure would push people with private health insurance into a government plan and would change the original purpose of the program by allowing it to cover adults. He likened it to a move toward socialized medicine.

Interesting that the quotes are missing around the phrase “socialized medicine,” a tipoff that Stolberg either doesn’t know that that’s a Republican catchphrase or doesn’t care (and SCHIP covered adults previously, since that’s the best way to cover kids also).

“This Congress failed to send the president legislation that puts children first, and instead they sent for a second time one that would allow adults onto the program, expand to higher incomes and raise taxes,” his press secretary, Dana Perino, told reporters, in announcing the new veto.

Sounds like Perino knows as much about SCHIP as she does about the Cuban Missile Crisis (yes, I know it’s old, but so are her SCHIP attacks).

This Think Progress link tells us the following...

Center for American Progress health care analyst Jeanne Lambrew notes that the section 106 of the bill specifically ensures that there will not be any expansion of eligibility. “It overwhelming(ly) targets resources to low-income children and it discourages expansion to families with more moderate incomes by lowering the share the federal government will pay for such coverage.”

And I love this line from Stolberg at the end (trying to surmise motives of the Democrats here, forgetting of course – as always – that two Congressional leaders of this fight are Repug Sens. Orrin Hatch and Charles Grassley)…

Democrats calculate that Mr. Bush will look heartless by vetoing health care for children and that Republicans will suffer at the polls.

Democrats are taking the lead in trying to pass legislation providing health insurance for our kids. That’s the only “calculation” involved here.

And I should note also that Stolberg wrote a “story” about the latest developments with Barney, the White House dog, that appeared right next to the SCHIP piece in the Times’ print edition. It seems that someone in Bushco came up with the bright idea of filming some of the “lighter moments” of White House life from the dog’s perspective (reminiscent of what David Letterman did years ago on his old NBC show).

I will be kind to the animal since it can’t help the stupidity of its owner. However, I’d like to note the following…

Like all things Bush, the Barney Cam has a message. Barney and Miss Beazley, the Bushes’ other Scottish terrier, dream of becoming junior park rangers: a plot that fits in nicely with this year’s White House Christmas theme of national parks and, not coincidentally, Mr. Bush’s plan to invest more than $1 billion in the parks over the next decade.

In case anyone forgot, the interior secretary, Dirk Kempthorne, is on hand with a reminder. “It’s going to allow us to spruce up the parks,” he tells Barney, “and we’re going to bring on new park rangers.”

I seriously hope Dirk does a better job “sprucing up the parks” than he did “protecting” the Atlantic Rim in Wyoming from development for oil and gas exploration, though what else can we expect from someone who, as a former Senator, earned a 0 rating from the League of Conservation Voters (noted here)?

And as also noted in the link, Dirk favors his own particular type of “exploration” with the ladies also (wonder if he has an “interview couch” for prospective female park rangers?).