President Bush's long war against health insurance for U.S. children from families which earn less than average is not won yet. Blow after blow, Bush managed to grossly underfund the program, change the SCHIP rules to eliminate many from eligibility, and block Gov. Spitzer from using SCHIP to achieve universal coverage for New York kids, among others.

"I do want Republicans and Democrats to come together to support a bill that focuses on the poor children," Bush said after vetoing just that bill. The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), created in 1997, covers about 6 million children whose families earn too much for Medicaid but too little to afford private insurance. There are still some 9 million children without health insurance in the United States. It's well known health insurance costs have dramatically outstripped average wages in the past decade.

Also, it is a fact that children who drop out of SCHIP cost states more money because they shift away from routine care to more frequent emergency care situations, as a 2007 study has found. The Bush veto on H.R.976 was the fourth of his administration, striking down a bill which was created with strong bipartisan support to include an additional 4 million more currently uninsured children. In the U.S. Senate, a veto-proof majority voted for the $35 billion spending increase. The money needed for the program's expansion would come from a 61 cent increase in the federal excise tax on cigarettes.

However, the House is about 15 votes short of overriding Bush's veto. Diane Watson of Los Angeles voted "present," or as she put it, "P for protest" that the bill didn't go further. She has said that she will vote to override Bush's veto, which means there are only 14 more votes needed in the House. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who led governors in support of the bill, said he was "deeply disappointed" by the veto. California provides insurance for 1.1 million children.

A broad campaign was launched to persuade those who voted against the bill to change their vote and override Bush's unscrupulous veto. The media, a wide array of groups and Democratic leaders are all pushing to persuade 14 Republicans to do what's right and override Bush on October 18.