Mitt Romney & Bush vs. Two Million California Kids

From Brian Brokaw:

Mitt Romney wraps up a whirlwind fundraising tour of California today with stops in Long Beach, Santa Barbara and Ventura, a day after the U.S. House of Representatives passed an historic renewal and expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program. The S-CHIP renewal and expansion would secure the coverage of 1,391,400 California children already enrolled in CHIP, while providing essential funding for the state to reach an additional 997,000 children with family incomes under 200 percent of the federal poverty level who remain uninsured. Despite spending several days in the Golden State raking in campaign cash, Romney has failed to say if he would veto the bill as President Bush is threatening to do, and has failed to explain past comments that make it clear he is standing stubbornly behind President Bush's veto threat and against health care for children who need it.

The bill came up for discussion during an August debate in Iowa, "with the entire field siding with President Bush and against the proposed expansion of the federally funded children's health insurance program that passed the Senate last week." [Washington Times, 8/6/07] When asked if he supported the S-CHIP bill, Mitt Romney used a page from President Bush's failed playbook, saying that we need to rely on the private market and that there should be "no more free rides." [This Week, ABC News, 8/5/07] The Bush Administration took the unusual and antagonistic step of warning states they could no longer enroll children in federally funded S-CHIP without first verifying that those children have gone at least one full year without health care coverage. [Washington Post, 8/21/07]

Mitt Romney needs to answer whether or not he would veto the Children's Health Insurance Program, as President Bush is threatening to do, and whether or not he agrees that children should have to spend an entire year without health care coverage before even becoming eligible. California voters deserve to know: is Mitt Romney with the children, or is he against them? California voters deserve leaders who understand that no child should have to go a day without health care, let alone a full year.

Mitt Romney Opposed Health Care Coverage for Low Income Children
At the ABC debate in Iowa, Mitt Romney dodged and weaved in response to a question about the children's health insurance program and stuck to President Bush's argument of relying on the private market, saying "We have to have our citizens insured. Help people buy their own private insurance. Get our citizens insured, not with a government takeover, not with new taxes needed, but instead with a free market-based system that gets all of our citizens in the system. No more free rides." [This Week, ABC News, 8/5/07]