Please critique my LTTE on SCHIP

[NewJeffCT]

I'm responding to the letter I posted here from a member of the Bush cartel:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2066687&mesg_id=2066687

Here is my letter so far:>>>

It seems that for Tevi Troy and President Bush, spending $500 billion over five years in Iraq to find weapons of mass destruction that were never there is money well spent, but spending $35 billion over five years on SCHIP for American children is just outrageous.

First, Troy is flat-out lying about the SCHIP bill expanding coverage to families making more than $80,000. The President rejected New York’s request to raise their limit to $82,600 and the bill passed by Congress would make it very difficult for anybody making over 250% of the poverty level, or about $51,000, to be eligible for SCHIP. Any increases over that amount need presidential approval.

Second, SCHIP is not meant to help the poor, who are already covered by Medicaid. It is meant to help working class families who cannot afford to buy their own health insurance. And, with health insurance costing around $12,000 for a family of four and total health care expenses amounting to nearly double that, many of these working class families just cannot afford to wait for a reimbursement from the proposed $15,000 tax break.

Third, Troy is being disingenuous in saying that the bill would be paid for by those who can least afford it. The bill is being paid for by an increase in the cigarette tax, which will go directly to helping pay for the increased medical care. Besides, $35 billion to expand SCHIP pales in comparison to the cost of a $15,000 per family tax break. How would Team Bush pay for that lost revenue, which could amount to trillions?

It seems that the reason President Bush and Tevi Troy have to lie about SCHIP and why the right wing slime machine has to trash 12 year old Graeme Frost and 2 year old Bethany Wilkerson is because there really is not an honest intellectual defense of President Bush’s veto of children’s health care. The real message they are sending to American children is “Drop dead.”

[NanceGreggs]

1. EXCELLENT as always, NewJeffCT!!!

Right to the heart of the matter, with the facts to back it up. Well done!

:applause:

[NewJeffCT]

2. thanks

I'm a stickler for things like facts, which is probably why I'm a liberal.

[NanceGreggs]

3. Now THAT would make a great bumpersticker! n/t

[Justitia]

4. Great letter. What do you think about using "a fraction of that" or "1/7th" or "7% of that same $"?

Instead of saying $35 Billion? Honest inquiry for me framing my own attacks....

Sometimes the uninformed get lost in numbers, so I always use the actual Iraq spending numbers because they are mind-bogglingly huge, but I try to use fractions or percentages for other expenditures to highlight the vast differences in the money being spent. More of a comprehensive picture? What do you think?

IOW: "It seems that for Tevi Troy and President Bush, spending $500 billion in Iraq to find weapons of mass destruction that were never there is money well spent, but spending a fraction of that, 1/7th of that money, on SCHIP for American children is just outrageous."

Whaddya think?

Excellent letter, BTW and kudos to you for writing it.

[NewJeffCT]

5. good idea

But, it is better than 14 to 1, or 1/14...

500/35 = 14+

[Justitia]

6. LOL, well, I'll leave the actual math to you, I haven't had my 2nd cup yet...

;-)

[Warpy]

7. I wouldn't change a thing, although an editor will probably

condense it a bit.

[NewJeffCT]

8. Probably

They normally keep their letters to 200 words or less - but, they do publish longer ones on Saturdays.

[Haole Girl]

9. Great letter!

And, the term "Bush cartel" seems so appropriate.

This illegal war, and the well over $500 billion spent so far (which is a conservative estimate, btw) has far reaching ramifications... which are only just now beginning to be felt. Every child in the U.S, could have had complete health care coverage, for starters, with the money wasted in Iraq.

I wonder, sometimes, who will have to pay the price... next (?),