Cleaning Up After The Old Boss

The House at least continues to eagerly pass legislation that Bush vetoed over the last couple years in anticipation of Obama taking over next week. First it was the Ledbetter/Fair Play Act, and this week it's SCHIP that's back on the table.

The House is poised to give Barack Obama a quick legislative victory by approving a bill to expand a health insurance program for children, making a down payment on the president-elect's promise to provide coverage to every child in the country.

The bill, scheduled for a vote today, would expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program, a popular initiative created during the Clinton administration that helps children living at or near the poverty line who fall outside the Medicaid system.

The House bill carries an estimated cost of $33 billion over 4 1/2 years and would extend coverage to an additional 4.1 million children, on top of the 7 million who are currently enrolled. It would be paid for primarily through a 61-cent-per-pack increase in the federal cigarette tax.

In 2007, President Bush twice vetoed similar legislation, objecting to its broader reach and its reliance on the tobacco tax hike. Bush's unwavering position was cheered by conservatives but caused political problems in 2008 for Republican candidates in more moderate states and districts.

Obama vowed as a candidate that one of his first acts in the White House would be to sign the long-stalled bill. It will not be ready on Inauguration Day, but congressional leaders hope to complete work well before the program's March 31 expiration date.

Republicans tried everything to kill this, ending in a pair of Bush vetoes that only made the GOP look more and more like a bunch of greedy assholes than usual. Cigarette taxes versus health care for all American kids? No brainer there.

It's nice being able to get this stuff done and passed, instead of turning everything into a two-year plus Very Special Episode of The West Wing.