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DEL.ICIO.USChambliss: Why I voted against the S-CHIP legislation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Over the weekend, the Gainesville Times had a Q&A with U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss discussing his re-election, immigration reform and other topics.
Democrats have tried to generate some heat over Chambliss’ vote against an expansion of a federal-state program to offer health insurance to the children of the working poor.
Here’s Chambliss’ explanation:
The Times: Last week you and Sen. Isakson voted against the SCHIP legislation which funds Georgia’s PeachCare program. What was the reason behind your vote?
Chambliss: Johnny (Isakson) and I wound up voting against it because of three reasons. One, they spent way too much money. They’re going from capping the program at 250 percent of the poverty level to 300 percent and allowing waivers for up to 400 percent.
Instead of insuring a family of four with an income of $30,000 to $35,000, like Georgia does, New York has an application for a family of four with an income of $80,000. I don’t think Georgia taxpayers ought to be subsidizing a family in New York making $80,000 a year.
At the same time, it’s a very sensitive issue because the PeachCare program works. What Johnny and I supported was an amendment that would increase spending by $10 billion over the current $25 billion level. It would expand PeachCare to the point that every uninsured child in Georgia would have coverage and we could do it without raising taxes.
The second reason we voted against it was they wanted to raise taxes, albeit on cigarettes and cigars. But raising taxes is raising taxes. If the increase in cigarette taxes achieves its desired result, you’re going to see revenues start coming down and we know who’s going to pay that tax if the program is going to continue. The American taxpayer is going to pay it.
The third reason we voted against it was that under the current program that has been in effect for 10 years, 14 states have asked for and gotten waivers to insure adults. Most of the adults are the parents of uninsured children. But some states, like New Jersey and Indiana, have covered uninsured adults. This is a children’s program designed to cover children. It’s not a welfare program.
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