Marie C. Barkovic – 10/17/07

This page was last updated on October 17, 2007.

Nation can afford SCHIP; Marie C. Barkovic; Beaver County Times; October 17, 2007.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“I do not agree with Scott Gregg’s letter to the editor on Thursday saying that President Bush was right to veto SCHIP.

“While I do think the program should only apply to the lowest income recipients, I would like to point out that while Bush was vetoing the SCHIP bill he was requesting an additional $30 billion on the Iraq war effort.

“Why isn’t Gregg concerned with the cost of the war as well as the cost to rebuild Iraq from the ground up? What about the billions in tax breaks given to the top 2 percent of the wealthiest Americans? Why no mention of the billions on health care, education and other social programs for illegal aliens who broke the laws that Bush refuses to enforce?”

[RWC] National defense is a constitutional responsibility. Providing healthcare is not.

I agree with Ms. Barkovic’s comment about the tax dollars we spend on social programs for illegal aliens.

“The cost to implement the SCHIP program within strict guidelines is minute compared to the above-mentioned costs.”

[RWC] Based on what she wrote in her letter, Ms. Barkovic should support President Bush’s veto of the new SCHIP program passed by Congress because the expansion passed by Congress extends coverage considerably beyond “the lowest income recipients” and eases “strict guidelines.” As a reminder, President Bush supports extending the current SCHIP program.

“Yes, we will all continue to pay - unless, of course, you’re one of the top 2 percent - for many years to come because of Bush and his policies.”

[RWC] I’d like to know where Ms. Barkovic got her “2%” talking point. IRS data shows the top 5% income earners pay 60% of total federal income taxes, or 12 times their fair share. That’s some break. The bottom 50% pay only 3% of total federal income taxes, less than 1/16 of their fair share.