Right before heading off to our Calitics Q3 Quarterly tonight, Russ Warner sent off this press release about David Dreier's vote against children's health:
David Dreier stood with George Bush and Big Tobacco and voted against reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). As a result of this vote, hundreds of thousands of California families will likely lose health insurance for their children in the coming months.
"At a time when we are spending $450 billion on the war in Iraq, David Dreier's unwillingness to invest in California's kids shows how out of touch he is with the priorities and concerns of people in the 26th district," said Russ Warner, Democratic candidate for Congress in the 26th district.
Currently 850,000 children in California receive health care coverage through the SCHIP program in California, called Healthy Families. Dreier voted along party lines against the reauthorization of the program and a proposed expansion that could have extended health care coverage to another 650,000 children in California currently without health insurance.
David Dreier said this legislation, which is supported by groups such as AARP, the American Medical Association, and Easter Seals - is an "expansion of the welfare state."
"After 27 years in Congress, all David Dreier has to offer are outrageous comments and unwavering support for George Bush's failed policies," said Warner.
"The money invested in covering children's health today will save California money tomorrow, in identifying and catching illnesses earlier and in eliminating unnecessary emergency room visits."
"The people of the 26th district are ready for a representative who will fight for their interests - not the interests of George Bush and Big Tobacco," continued Warner.
Me likey the rapid response. This will be a defining issue in a lot of campaigns next year.
Russ Warner's campaign has informed me that he'll be participating in a liveblog here later today about S-CHIP and children's health care. Health care is maybe the most pressing domestic issue in California and the nation, and I'm pleased to see one of our Democratic Congressional candidates engage us on this issue. He'll post a diary and then stick around in the comments to answer questions. It should be a good way to get a sense of his policy ideas. When I get an exact time I'll update.
Any legislator or candidate can do this simply by posting a diary, and I'm hopeful that this will be the first of many of these live chats. Rather than supporting anyone with a D in front of their name, it's important to really engage and understand the views of those who wish to represent us. On the endorsement front, I can say little other than the Hoyt Hilsman campaign has contacted the editorial board and decisions are in the process of being made.
Seems like a great deal of things are happening on the health care front, but I don't think any of them point to significant reform in this legislative session. In fact, people are trying to scramble for alternatives.
Dan Weintraub has a feature on Fabian Nuñez' attempts to get through to the Governor that the other side of the aisle is simply not interested in compromise. As Julia noted the other day, Nuñez will put the Governor's plan up for a vote tomorrow, and nobody will vote for it.
The speaker says he intends to package the governor's plan as legislation and present it to the Assembly, where it will surely die. In fact, Núñez said, his own vote for the bill, which he will cast as a "courtesy," will likely be the only support the governor's plan receives.
"I'm going to take him from the stratosphere, and I am going to ground him," Núñez told me in an interview in his Capitol office. "He needs a little grounding. Nobody likes his plan."
I don't know how the Governor is going to respond to this, but clearly observers aren't thinking it will end in sweetness and light. They're making other plans. over...
Without a health care plan of his own that any legislator would back, Arnold Schwarzenegger is left to mold the Democratic leadership plan in his image. He came out strong yesterday in the opening salvo in the negotiating process:
