Suffer the Little Children No More

Late next week, or soon afterward, four million American children, whose health care has been held hostage by George W. Bush's deep sympathy for the profits of private insurers, will finally get the coverage Congress has been trying to give them for almost a year and a half.

Today, the House passed an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which now goes to the Senate for quick approval by the new president, who greeted the news thus:

"In this moment of crisis, ensuring that every child in America has access to affordable health care is not just good economic policy, but a moral obligation we hold as parents and citizens. That is why I’m so pleased that Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives came together to provide health insurance to over ten million children whose families have been hurt most by this downturn. This coverage is critical, it is fully paid for, and I hope that the Senate acts with the same sense of urgency so that it can be one of the first measures I sign into law when I am President."

In his exit interviews this week, Bush is not bragging about his "philosophical" veto-wielding victory for free enterprise at the expense of children's health and lives. But today's legislation is a quick payoff to voters for getting rid of him and his ilk in the White House.