This president's veto deserves an override

The bipartisan spirit that created the children's health insurance program a decade ago ought to be rekindled to override a presidential veto of an expansion.

President Bush painted himself into a lonely corner on this issue. The States Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is universally supported for providing health coverage for children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private health insurance. About 9 million children nationwide lack health-care coverage. Congress' $35 billion expansion of the program would sharply reduce this number. It would also boost efforts here led by Gov. Christine Gregoire and the state Legislature to insure all children by 2010. Of the 73,000 kids without insurance in this state, just over 52,000 could receive it under the expansion.

Washington's congressional delegation backs the plan, with the lone exception of Republican loyalist Doc Hastings. Let this issue serve as an example of how out of touch Hastings is with the needs of his Central Washington district.

A sense of urgency dictates action. SCHIP runs out of money next month. The Congressional Budget Office predicts 846,000 children would then lose coverage.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle get this. Why Bush doesn't is a question raised by prominent Republicans such as Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah, Charles Grassley of Iowa and Pat Roberts of Kansas.

Playing political hardball appears to be the White House's strategy. Bush has tried to sell Congress on a broader health-insurance initiative linked with tax breaks. The president made it a significant piece of his State of the Union address and aides lobbied to have it attached to the SCHIP bill. Congress demurred. Kids are caught in the middle.

The insurance program grew out of a Republican-controlled Congress a decade ago. That appears to be of little significance to this administration, which has had its guns out for SCHIP. New federal restrictions have stymied efforts to grow the program.

Gregoire announced this week that Washington would join a handful of other states in suing the federal government over the issue.

An override vote is set for Oct. 18. Between now and then, Republican holdouts ought to ask themselves if they really want to follow Bush off the cliff on this one.