At least Bush didn't tell the whole city to go screw itself, just the kids (from here)
ScienceBlogling Mike Dunford describes why a family making $83,000 per year needs S-CHIP despite Little Lord Pontchartrain's claims to the contrary:
After all of that [basic living expenses], the family of four has $17,550 left for insurance - assuming no unforeseen expenses, no savings, no college fund, etc.The absolute, rock-bottom, cheapest HMO rate that NY State lists for Queens comes in at a bit over $17,640 per year. The average comes in at over $28,000 per year. Even the cheapest plan puts our family of four making an "unreasonably high" $83,000/year in the hole, and that's before they cough up a single copay.
If, after looking at all that, you still think it's unreasonable for the government to help New York families making $83,000 pay for insurance, I'd love to know why.
It isn't unreasonable at all. But Bush is more concerned that people will like government-funded healthcare than he is with keeping children healthy.
Speaking of kids... Help Public School Kids by Funding my Challenge at DonorsChoose
But think of all that can be accomplished if that money is spent on abstinence-only programs.