Bush renews threat to veto children’s health legislation: SCHIP deal would raise cigarette taxes by 61 cents per pack to pay for expanded coverage

Bush renews threat to veto children’s health legislation | By Elana Schor | September 21, 2007

As negotiators closed in on a $35 billion deal to extend health insurance coverage for children, President Bush defied lawmakers with a fresh threat to veto the bipartisan bill that aggravated one senior Senate Republican.
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Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), senior Republican on the Finance Committee, had implored Bush to reconsider his veto vow. But after Bush incorrectly described the children’s health bill as providing coverage for families earning up to $80,000 a year, Grassley fired back.

“The president’s understanding of our bill is wrong,” Grassley said, his voice rising with anger. “I urge him to reconsider his veto message based on a bill we might pass, not something someone on his staff told him wrongly is in my bill.”

The SCHIP deal would raise cigarette taxes by 61 cents per pack to pay for expanded health coverage while taking aim at a Bush administration directive that would restrict states’ ability to raise income eligibility levels for the program. ...