Heller proud of vote against SCHIP, Bush wants to talk about spending

Lucky (?) Minx, was among those chosen by Nevada Representative Dean Heller (R-NV2) to participate in his constituent “conference call.” And, what to her wondering ears should occur than “Heller was very proud to announce that he is one of the “sweet sixteen,” a group of conservative congressmen who have voted “no” on every “pork” project, and he was especially proud that he voted against SCHIP, so proud in fact, that he brought it up himself.” [R&D]

One more time, please? He’s so proud of that vote that he brings it up without being asked, the result of which 10 million children will be without health care coverage, 6.6 million kids currently in the program will not be covered? Pregnant women could not be covered under state option programs? States will not be provided incentives to lower the rate of uninsured low income children? And, he’s proud of this? At least the President has the graciousness not to crow about his impending veto. “PERINO: The President will probably veto it quietly. And then, as you know, he has a public event tomorrow. As I mentioned, he’s going to go to Lancaster and have an event where he talks about spending and the budget.” [TP] That’s Lancaster, not New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Miami, Chicago, St. Louis, Denver, Los Angeles…Lancaster.

The President wants to talk about “budgets and spending?” OK, the SCHIP bill would cost $35 billion over the next five years, or about $7 billion per year additional investment in children’s health. We are spending $8 billion per month in Iraq. We could pay for additional health care coverage for children for one entire year with what we’re spending on the occupation of Iraq in one month.

About that other bill Heller opposed, H.R. 3567 the “Small Business Expansion Act of 2007,” that would reauthorize the New Markets Venture Capital Program, amend the surety guarantee program, establish the Angel Investments Program to provide venture capital to groups working with small businesses in local communities, and study ways to support entrepreneurship in both urban and rural areas? The Congressional Budget Office estimated the entire package would need $8 million in FY 2008, and a total of $102 million over the entire 2008-2012 period. [CBO] That’s 1.275% of what we are spending per month in Iraq. This isn’t pork; compared to the cost of the Iraq occupation it isn’t even left-over bacon grease.

The “Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2007” (H.R. 3121) is porcine? The projected expense would be about $3.00 for every American in FY 2009. More precisely, the CBO estimates that H.R. 3121 would cost $725 million in FY 2009, and about $1.8 billion over its 2008-2012 time period. [GovTrack] The entire expense estimated for this program over the next five years is 22.5% of what we are spending in Iraq in one month.

How about the Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act, H.R. 2881? The President’s threatened a veto on that one too. The legislation would modernize our aging air traffic control system, reduce flight delays, and protect consumers by reducing over-scheduling, as well as improving the system to address complaints. [The Gavel] Representative Heller apparently thought this was “pork” too. [GovTrack] The CBO estimated that implementing this bill would cost approximately $51 billion over the five years from FY 2008 through FY 2012. Enacting H.R. 2881 might also increase revenues by about $18 million over the first five years, and reduce them by a total of $122 million over the FY 2008 through FY 2017 period. Revenues aside, we are burning through the total five year cost of modernizing our air traffic system in 6.375 months in Iraq.

Indeed, one can hope that the President, and his Sweet Sixteen cohorts in Congress want to discuss spending and the budget. However, when they chose to do so someone needs to remind them of the 800 pound Budget Eating Gorilla in the room: The Iraq Occupation.