The Truth About Children’s Health

President Bush is on the warpath again, vowing to veto pending legislation in Congress to expand the very successful children’s health care program.

Yes, this man, who opposed providing healthcare to kids while he was governor of Texas, is now opposing expansion of the federal children’s healthcare program — even though it has broad bipartisan support in Congress, and support of most of the nation’s governors, both Democrat and Republican.

But here’s the worst part. Bush claims that members of Congress don’t want to provide healthcare just to poor kids. Over and over, he claims Congress plans to extend coverage to kids of families making $83,000 a year.

But that number’s false — and he knows it. Actually, it comes from a request to Congress by New York state to expand coverage up to families making $83,000 — but that request was turned down by Congress, which insisted on limiting children’s healthcare to low-income families.

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) has repeatedly told the White House the truth. Bush knows the number’s false. Yet he uses it anyway.

Sound familiar? It’s just like Bush’s claiming Iraq was trying to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger, when he’d been told by the CIA it wasn’t true.

How convenient. It’s no problem for George Bush when he doesn’t have the facts on his side. He just lies.