Have you been following the fight to reauthorize and expand the State-Child Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP)? Tuesday, a large majority of Congress members voted for a House-Senate compromise which will make lower cost health insurance available to millions of children who are, at present, without any. UPDATE: Thursday night, the Senate voted for S-CHIP 67-29; greater than two-thirds majority. Every GOP Senator in a tight bid for reelection in 2008 voted for S-CHIP and against Mr. Bush. President Bush, that deplorable politician, has promised a veto. The problem progressives face is that, even with 45 GOP votes, we are 24 votes away from a veto over-riding two-thirds majority. Peter King and Vito Fossella, perhaps with a wish to avoid political extinction, voted for the bill (They’d voted against earlier versions in the House). Two NYS GOP Congress Members voted with Mr. Bush against Child Health: John "Randy" Kuhl & Thomas Renyolds. A Century Foundation poll shows voters want to spend more to insure more children and oppose a Bush veto. Moveon.org-Politcal Action* is preparing to fight back, if Mr. Bush vetos. I’ve agreed to help put on a Manhattan Rapid Response Rally at 6PM the day after the Bush veto. We’ve decided to rally at the West Side of Columbus Circle in front of the Time-Warner building. We are still begging for permits. More than 150 others are planned. Please click here to sign-up and help. More suggested action and background post-jump. The Service Employees International Union plans a Monday Oct. 1, demonstration at the White House to urge Mr. Bush to sign the bill (which has been endorsed by Catholic Bishops, the AARP and the AMA). The Children’s Defense Fund has played a key role in the fight for the expanded S-CHIP and you can learn more from them. In addition they have a page for you to write your Congress members . For general background on S-Chip click here and for a NY Times editorial setting out the state of play as of Monday, click here. We should be clear: the bill passed by the House and Senate is a compromise. The original House bill would have recouped significant funds that Mr. Bush has overpaid to private insurers and been a better model for health service planning. I agree with the statement of Robert Greenstein of the Center on Budget Policies & Priorities who said:

We are disappointed that the package does not include the courageous Medicare reforms that the House passed, which reined in excessive payments to private insurance companies and thereby extended the program’s solvency, lowered Medicare premiums for most beneficiaries, and financed needed improvements in Medicare, particularly for low-income elderly beneficiaries. These reforms were a model of how to make tough but compassionate choices and set appropriate priorities. The Senate needs to step up to the plate and work with the House to enact such changes later this year.

Are you a glutton for detail? The bill itself is here and the house roll-call vote is here and the Senate here . I've also collected the NY Times coverage here but if you've read this far you can likely do your own searching. * I was not a fan of the now-famous Moveon ad, but I remain enthusiastic about Moveon's work.