Bush administration to children: suck it

Let's start with President Bush vetoing an expansion of SCHIP, the State Children's Health Insurance Program. SCHIP provides health insurance to children whose parents can't afford it. The bill presented to the president would have expanded enrollment from 6.6 million to 10 million by covering children who are just above the poverty line. Those who opposed the bill argued that it's a step toward socialized medicine.

And?

As I pointed out last week, we already have socialized medicine in this country. Medicare, Medicaid, VA hospitals, and those great health plans that members of Congress get -- these are all government-run healthcare programs! Michael Moore's Sicko has undoubtedly frightened Republicans (and Democrats!) who get money from healthcare companies. More than anything else, Moore's film has galvanized popular support for some kind of government-sponsored healthcare program, as poor Republican voters realize that they're being screwed by the private healthcare system. There isn't a single Republican presidential nominee who has a plan for providing some kind of government-backed healthcare; the Democratic nominees, meanwhile, are falling over each other trying to promote their own plans. Of course, in primary season, the goal is to appeal to the base and then, in the general election, try to get everyone else to latch on. It could be that the Republican nominee will succumb to popular demand for healthcare reform after the primaries, so time will tell.

Supreme Court not as conservative as previously thought

Monday, the Supreme Court refused to grant certorari to a case involving birth control, healthcare plans, and religion. Catholic Charities, Inc. -- a private company affiliated with the Catholic Church -- didn't want to provide birth control as part of its healthcare plan to employees. The state of New York disagreed, saying that Catholic Charities is not a "religious employer" as defined by the Women's Contraception Equality Act, and therefore is not exempt from not providing birth control for religious reasons.

This same issue was brought up over three years ago in the California Supreme Court, and they came to the same conclusion. By denying a writ of certiorari, the lower court's ruling stands. And you thought this court was going to be super-conservative!

I thought contractors were contractors

The House of Representatives today passed a bill that would allow prosecution of private contractors in civilian courts. According to NYT, opponents of the bill -- all of whom were Republicans -- argued that "it would insert civilian investigators into areas better covered under military law." But Blackwater contractors are not part of the military. Even though they work under contract for DoD, they're still civilians, and as such should be subject to the same laws as civilians. Giving them a free ticket results in -- oh, guess what? The very kind of activity that occurred last month, prompting the Iraqi government to throw them out of the country.

Thankfully, the bill passed with only 30 "nay" votes, which makes it veto-proof (in that house, anyway) in the event that President Bush vetoes the bill due to his vice president's intimate involvement with Halliburton, Blackwater's parent company. No doubt a veto would be justified with a bunch of BS about contractors needing to do their job effectively without fear of prosecution (although, as we have seen, contractors in Iraq have a nasty habit of not doing their jobs effectively).

UPDATE: Scott, SEDHE's Chief Information Auditor, informed me that Blackwater is not a subsidiary of Halliburton.