How many times can the Democrats publicly embarrass themselves?
Background:
SCHIP Bill can be found here. We showed the Fact vs Myth again just yesterday here and how the politicians thought the public was too stupid to see the misrepresentations in the bill.
The president said he would veto the bill.
From the White House website.
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning.
Today I am signing emergency legislation to fund the Federal government for the next seven weeks. This legislation was necessary because Congress failed in its most basic responsibility: to pass the spending bills that fund the day-to-day operations of the government. There are 12 of these bills this year, and Congress did not complete a single one of them, so Congress had to send me a stop-gap measure before the fiscal year ends this Sunday at midnight.
Congress's failure to pass these 12 spending bills is disappointing, but I do thank the Congress for passing this temporary measure, and for passing it without any new spending, new policies or new projects. It would have been wrong to deny essential government services to the American people while Congress works through its annual spending bills.
I also appreciate the way this bill handles our disagreements over the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Congressional leaders have put forward an irresponsible plan that would dramatically expand this program beyond its original intent. And they know I will veto it. But it is good that they kept the program running while they try to work out a more responsible approach.
Congress now has more time to complete its work on its annual spending bills. Earlier this year congressional leaders promised to show that they could be responsible with the people's money. Unfortunately they seem to have chosen the path of higher spending. They have proposed spending increases that would add an extra $205 billion on top of my Administration's budget request over the next five years. There's only one way to pay for such a large spending increase, and that is to raise taxes on the American people. So it is no surprise that the same Members of Congress who are planning this big increase in Federal spending are also planning the biggest tax increase in American history.
If these members get their way, the tax relief my Administration delivered could be taken away from you. Let me explain what this would mean for an average taxpayer. If you have children, your taxes would rise by $500 for each child. If you're a family of four making $60,000 a year, your taxes would be more than $1,800 higher. If you're a single mother with two children, working to make ends meet, your taxes would go up by more than a $1,000. If you're a small business owner working to meet a payroll, your taxes would increase by almost $4,000. And if Congress allows our tax relief to expire, more than 5 million low-income Americans who currently pay no income taxes would once again have to pay taxes.
These are not the only taxes Congress wants to raise. They're proposing higher taxes on dividends and capital gains. They're proposing higher taxes on cigars and cigarettes. They're proposing to raise taxes on domestic oil and natural gas production. They're proposing new taxes on stock and bond transactions. And they refuse to make the Internet tax moratorium permanent. If this tax ban expires, it would open the doors for State and local officials to impose new taxes on your access to the Internet.
At a time when many American families are dealing with rising mortgage rates, college costs, and health care expenses, it is wrong to take even more money out of your paychecks. Washington's elected leaders can do better. By working together, we can keep taxes low, help keep the economy growing, balance the Federal budget, and build on our record of fiscal discipline and greater economic opportunity for all Americans.
Thank you for listening.
END
The Democrats response shows they are not above using children for their political points. LITERALLY.
Then he did veto this bad bill, which instead of fixing the existing problems in the original bill, decided to expand it and create even more problems.
Caught up? Good.
Which brings us to the Democratic embarrassment of the day.
Here is the "poor" 12 yr olds response to the President's Radio Address listed above, given before the actual veto.
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD CHIP PARTICIPANT ASKS PRESIDENT TO SIGN CHILDREN’S HEALTH RENEWAL INTO LAW
Washington, DC—Graeme Frost, 12, delivers this week’s Democratic Radio Address. Because of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Graeme was able to get the medical care he needed after a serious car accident caused severe brain trauma, paralyzed one of his vocal chords and put him in a coma. He asks President Bush to sign into law the renewal of CHIP that both houses of Congress passed this week with broad bipartisan support.
The text of the radio address, as delivered, is below:
“Hi, my name is Graeme Frost. I’m 12 years old and I live in Baltimore, Maryland. Most kids my age probably haven’t heard of CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program. But I know all about it, because if it weren’t for CHIP, I might not be here today.
“CHIP is a law the government made to help families like mine afford healthcare for their kids. Three years ago, my family was in a really bad car accident. My younger sister Gemma and I were both hurt. I was in a coma for a week and couldn’t eat or stand up or even talk at first. My sister was even worse. I was in the hospital for five-and-a-half months and I needed a big surgery. For a long time after that, I had to go to physical therapy after school to get stronger. But even though I was hurt badly, I was really lucky. My sister and I both were.
“My parents work really hard and always make sure my sister and I have everything we need, but the hospital bills were huge. We got the help we needed because we had health insurance for us through the CHIP program.
“But there are millions of kids out there who don’t have CHIP, and they wouldn’t get the care that my sister and I did if they got hurt. Their parents might have to sell their cars or their houses, or they might not be able to pay for hospital bills at all.
“Now I’m back to school. One of my vocal chords is paralyzed so I don’t talk the same way I used to. And I can’t walk or run as fast as I did. The doctors say I can’t play football any more, but I might still be able to be a coach. I’m just happy to be back with my friends.
“I don’t know why President Bush wants to stop kids who really need help from getting CHIP. All I know is I have some really good doctors. They took great care of me when I was sick, and I’m glad I could see them because of the Children’s Health Program.
“I just hope the President will listen to my story and help other kids to be as lucky as me. This is Graeme Frost, and this has been the Weekly Democratic Radio address. Thanks for listening.”
The media jumped all over that 12 yr old and his plight and his plea, but they forgot one very important thing in their desire to further the Democratic politicians agenda.... FACT CHECKING.
Bonnie Frost works for a medical publishing firm; her husband, Halsey, is a woodworker. They are raising their four children on combined income of about $45,000 a year. Neither gets health insurance through work.
Once again, that was left up to bloggers, in this instance, someone from Free Republic (Hat Tip to The Corner) started digging, something the media as well as the Democrats didn't bother to do, obviously.
What the article does not mention is that Halsey Frost has owned his own company "Frostworks",since this marriage announcement in the NY Times in 1992 so he chooses to not give himself insurance. He also employed his wife as "bookkeeper and operations management" prior to her recent 2007 hire at the "medical publishing firm". As her employer, he apparently denied her health insurance as well.
His company, Frostworks, is located at 3701 E BALTIMORE ST. A building that was purchased for $160,000 in 1999. The buildings owner is listed as DIVERSIFIED INDUSTRIAL DESIGN CENTER, LLC whose mailing address is listed as 104 S Collington Ave which is the Frost's home. The commercial property he owns is also listed as the business address for another company called Reillys Designs which leads to the question of whether rental income is included in the above mentioned salary total
The current market value of their improved 3,040 SF home at 104 S Collington Ave is unknown but 113 S COLLINGTON AVE, also an end unit, sold for $485,000 this past March and it was only 2,060 SF. A photo taken in the family's kitchen shows what appears to be a recent remodeling job with granite counter tops and glass front cabinets
One has to wonder that if time and money can be found to remodel a home, send kids to exclusive private schools, purchase commercial property and run your own business... maybe money can be found for other things...maybe Dad should drop his woodworking hobby and get a real job that offers health insurance rather than making people like me (also with 4 kids in a 600sf smaller house and tuition $16,000 less per kid and no commercial property ownership) pay for it in my taxes.
OUCH.
Pretty much proves the points I made yesterday about the bill, instead of needing to expand the people and income levels made allowable, they needed to fix it so it will cover low income families (as it was created to do) and not higher income families that CAN afford private health coverage, but choose not to, so that they can mooch off the government (meaning those of us that pay taxes).
A question about the Frost family:
So with a yearly income of a "supposed" $45,000, and two kids going to a $20,000 a year school, per child, how are they living off of the remaining $5,000 a year....hell that doesn't even cover food for a family of six (correction made) for a full year... maybe someone should check what other "public", government programs they are receiving money from.
You do not have to be a math wiz to figure out that the numbers do not add up.
Some reactions from around the web include but are not limited to;
Don Surber:
This business of “affordable insurance” is socialistic. The Frosts found an “affordable” business building and an “affordable” 3,000-square foot house and an “affordable” private school. Why couldn’t these yuppies afford to cover their own damned kids?
Brutally Honest:
Of course they do... this while the Religious Left attempt to sell Bush's veto of the bill as "Morally Unacceptable".
An incredible bit of chutzpah on the part of the Left in this country... and in the mean-time, Bush is talking about compromise on the bill. Amazing. But one can understand wilting under the constant barrage of criticism.
Bush's political machine needs to get the message out that when the government is spending money on those who really don't need the help, the truly needy are passed over.
And that friends, is what's unequivocally morally unacceptable.
The Corner:
Mr Frost, the "woodworker", owns his own design company and the commercial property it operates from, part of which space he also rents out; they have a 3,000-sq-ft home on a street where a 2,000-sq-ft home recently sold for half a million dollars; he was able to afford to send two children simultaneously to a $20,000-a-year private school; his father and grandfather were successful New York designers and architects; etc. This is apparently the new definition of "working families"
Wizbang:
First, Mr. Halsey Frost, Graeme's father, owns his own woodworking design studio, Frostworks, so his claim that he can't get health insurance through work is shockingly deceptive. He chooses not to get health care for his family. Second, Graeme and his sister Gemma attend the very exclusive Park School, which has a tuition of $20,000 a year, per child. Third, they live in a 3,000+ square foot home in a neighborhood with smaller homes that are selling for at least $400,000.Yet, hardworking taxpayers who sacrifice many things such as expensive private schools and expensive houses in order to buy their own health care for their families are supposed to subsidize this family's health insurance premiums.
ShotGun Blog:
In other words – taking into account the value of the home, the value of the father’s business, the value of the commercial property they own, and so forth minus their mortgage and whatever they might owe on the commercial property (and other sundry debts) an educated guess would suggest that this family has a net worth of somewhere in the neighbourhood of $500,000.And they want the rest of the American people to foot their bill for their health care?
Blue Crab Boulevard:
Why in the world do these people need SCHIP? And how does a $45,000 a year reported income manage to send two kids at once to a $20,000 a year private school? This is a blatant fraud by the Democrats and easily checked. So why in the world did they do this? And what the heck is wrong with the media? They look like utter fools here. They have been rolled and rolled badly. If I was the reporter or the editor, I'd about have smoke coming out my my ears about now.
Protein Wisdom:
I’m glad little Graham and his family were able to get help, and I hope he reaches full rehabilitation. But perhaps the Democrats ought to take more care in the spokespeople they choose, if they wish to tug at our heartstrings.
With all the reactions from the bloggers I see at memeorandum, you know what is missing?
Liberal blogs.
They are eerily quiet about this so far.... probably trying to figure out how to "spin" their way out of the fact that they jumped on the Democrats 12 yr old bandwagon without bothering to do any fact checking for themselves. (Those are just a few examples of how the left leaning blogs automatically assumed that the Frost family needed the SCHIP program and deserved it, simply because the Democratic politicians said so)
Once again the Democrats and their far left liberal supporters manage to embarrass themselves while attempting to embarrass the administration.
Backfired once again.
Tracked back by:
Democratic SCHIP Bull...Lies and Distortions from Miss Beth's Victory Dance...