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Congress: After smearing a compassionate conservative in their attempt to override President Bush's veto of an overloaded SCHIP bill, Democrats promise to try again. Maybe next time they will tell the truth.SNIPUnder the Democrats' proposed expansion, says the National Center for Public Policy Research, "it is not inconceivable that a parent with one child with an income of $13,690 will be funding benefits for two children in a family of four with an income of $82,600." "Isn't that sad for America's children?" Pelosi said of the prospect of Bush's veto being sustained. Well, no, not if Pelosi is willing to...

Pelosi: Radio attacks on boy unfair By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent 53 minutes ago Seeking support for a vetoed children's health insurance bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi charged Tuesday that "hate radio has made a vicious attack" on a 12-year-old Baltimore boy who receives coverage through the program. Pelosi said the allegations were "beneath the dignity of the debate" that surrounds the legislation. Democrats hope to enact the measure over Bush's opposition, and a House vote scheduled for Thursday. A two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress is required to override a veto, and supporters of the measure appear...

On the conference call, Dara admitted to me that she and Brian had been talking about having children since before they were married. She further admitted that after they were married she voluntarily left a job at a country club that had good health insurance, because the situation was “unmanageable.” From there she took a job at a restaurant with no health insurance, and the couple went on to have a baby anyway, presuming that others would pay for it and certainly long before they knew their daughter would have heart defect that probably cost the gross national product of...

If you thought for a moment that Harry Reid and the Democrats might have obtained some wisdom and maturity over the weekend and put down their child-sized human shields, think again. The presidential veto override vote on the S-CHIP entitlement expansion is set for Thursday. Though they admit they probably don’t have the votes, Democrats are already crowing about this “defining moment.” They have vowed to introduce yet another bill if their override fails. Meanwhile, their universal health care minions continue to inundate the airwaves with noxious “Bush vs. the children” ads. Hollyweirdos are cursing their heads off at critics...

Mark Hemingway discusses the people who hate children enough to give them MCS. We here at NRO are in fact deeply concerned about the world our children will live in. But of all the arguments we have presented against SCHIP, we’re most deeply troubled by the fact SCHIP does nothing to protect kids, who like Graeme Frost, suffer from MCS — Manipulated Child Syndrome. Perhaps the gravest public threat endangering our youth, MCS occurs whenever insubstantial claims of child endangerment are substituted for real political argument. Though MCS has gone largely untreated, the signs are readily visible. Every time you...

A Volvo SUV, a Chevy Suburban and a Ford F-250 may finally bring to an end a long and bitter flame-war between conservative and liberal bloggers over the S-CHIP veto. Michelle Malkin explains, the blogger chorus joins in, and Don Surber sums it up in a song: (To the tune of frosty the snowman) Halsey the SCHIPman Was a workingman, they plead He wasn't made of dough But the children know How he drove 3 S-U-Vs. . . .

I received an unsolicited e-mail this week from a neighbor of the Frost family, the family held up by Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and the entitlement expansionist Democrats. He wrote: They’re good people. Terribly misguided, pathetically leftist buffoons, but still good people. It was a terrible accident and Bonnie is quite beat up with guilt over the events. Lots of neighbors pitched in to cook meals and help out… Bonnie works half time doing freelance editorial work and Halsey, an incredibly disorganized lovable goofball, just can’t seem to hold down a proper job or, when he’s tried, to run a...

Conservatives claim to be in favor of stable families, small businesses, hard work, private schools, investment and homeownership. So why in the world are so many on the right attacking the family of Graeme Frost? Frost is the 12-year-old from Baltimore who delivered the Democrats' reply to a radio address by President Bush in September. The seventh-grader pleaded -- in vain, it turned out -- that the president not veto Congress's $35 billion expansion of the children's health care program known as SCHIP. A car crash in December 2004 left two of Halsey and Bonnie Frost's children comatose, Graeme with...

Using human shields is the work of cowards. This is true whether it’s Islamofascists hiding behind civilians to carry out attacks on American troops, knowing that our rules of engagement forbid firing into non-combatants, or people who use women and children as cannon fodder to advance their own political ends. Nevertheless, the urge to do so seems to be irresistible to the Left. It’s become a staple of humor to assume a headline in the New York Times or the Washington Post if God were to announce the end of the world: “End of the World, Women and Children Worst...

This may be interesting: The Frosts joined the debate through family acquaintance Vinnie DeMarco, the president of the Maryland Citizens' Health Initiative. DeMarco introduced them to the pro-SCHIP organization Families USA, which put them in touch with Pelosi's office. So who is Vinnie DeMarco? A busy lefty activist with more than the expansion of S-CHIP on his mind. He even has time to go after Wal-Mart, along with guns and higher taxes. He brags about changing the nation by beating on business here. Around two years ago the Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative (MCHI) stepped into the breach with the bold...

Conservatives often complain that republicans back down, that they have no spine, that they wilt when faced with criticism of "but its for the children!" Will the fight over the S-CHIP expansion veto be a repeat? Many media outlets and left wing blogs are crowing about all the supposed falsehoods contained in my original post. Before you go running for the hills, tail between your legs, can we at least take a look at each and every point made in that post? You know, the one that "attacks a 12 year old boy". I keep hearing how all my info...

This has been an interesting debate. But the debate appears to be mainly on one side. The Right/Conservative/Moderate side debates the merits of socialized medicine. The Left screams and lies. Mark Steyn: Both The Baltimore Sun and The New York Times have stories on the Frosts this morning, and the interesting point is the matter of whether they do, in any useful sense, represent the "working poor":Mr. Frost works intermittently in woodworking and as a welder, while Mrs. Frost has a part-time job at a firm that provides services to publishers of medical journals.Mr Frost works "intermittently". The unemployment rate...

Mr. and Mrs. Frost, On behalf of everyone involved in the SCHIPS program debate allow me to express my sincere condolences for the unfortunate experiences that have befallen your family. It is excruciating for any parent to experience severe injuries to children and the financial needs that accompany such calamity can be tremendous. Gratuitous personal attacks on your family that have nothing to do with this issue have no place in the debate and those making them should be ashamed. On the other hand legitimate questions have been raised concerning some of your claims which apply directly to your past...

Update 11:50am Eastern 10/10. Here’s the Baltimore Sun’s nutroots-approved follow-up piece on the Frost family, using a single, rotten comment by a stupid RedState commenter to tar all conservative bloggers as hatemongers. Interestingly, the Sun asked the Frost parents to verify their claimed income and the couple declined. Also, the Sun reported that all four of the children attend private schools, not just two. The paper is silent on when the family started receiving claimed tuition breaks and how much the family spent on private-school tuition each year prior to the accident–i.e., at a time when they chose not to...

When Halsey and Bonnie Frost agreed to go public with how the State Children's Health Insurance Program helped them after a car crash left two of their children comatose, the Baltimore couple expected to hear from critics of government-funded health care. But while the Frosts were helping a bipartisan majority in Congress sell a plan to expand the program, they were not prepared for...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 — There have been moments when the fight between Congressional Democrats and President Bush over the State Children’s Health Insurance Program seemed to devolve into a shouting match about who loves children more. So when Democrats enlisted 12-year-old Graeme Frost, who along with a younger sister relied on the program for treatment of severe brain injuries suffered in a car crash, to give the response to Mr. Bush’s weekly radio address on Sept. 29, Republican opponents quickly accused them of exploiting the boy to score political points. Then, they wasted little time in going after him to...

Context, people, context: This is the inevitable M.O. every time bloggers and commentators on the right have challenged the Absolute Moral Authority of the Democrat poster child du jour. It happened with Cindy Sheehan. And the military recruiter-bashing thugs at Santa Cruz. And MoveOn.org. And the phony soldier saga. Crush Rush is just the tip of the iceberg. Just ask the mom-and-pop Cafe Press owners who got those cease-and-desist letters from MoveOn.org’s lawyers for daring to defend Gen. David Petraeus.

Hello everyone, its been an interesting few days. I had no idea my post about the family used by democrats to push for expansion of the S-CHIP program would cause such a stir. There have been many questions and comments raised about me and my simple Google research that I thought I'd deal with them all on this post if it's ok with the Mods. My interest in the S-CHIP issue came about because of the way it's portrayed in the media. President Bush's veto was of an EXPANSION of this health insurance program to include higher income families. It...

RUSH: I had some rudimentary information on this two weeks ago, and it wasn't enough for me to trust going with. But since then, it has been verified, and most of it's been verified by a "Freeper" at Free Republic. Everybody is writing about this now, since the Freeper posted it over the weekend. This 12-year-old kid that the Democrats used in the Saturday radio address to whine and moan and cry to President Bush about the S-CHIP children's health program, it turns out that the family of this kid sends its kids to "one of Baltimore's expensive private schools."...

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked the federal government Tuesday for disaster aid because of an ongoing cold snap that has destroyed nearly $1 billion worth of California citrus, and industry officials said shoppers will feel the sting through higher prices for oranges, lemons and other produce. Visiting a Fresno orange grove, Schwarzenegger said he was asking the U.S. government for disaster status, which would allow California to seek aid from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Small Business Administration to offset losses to growers and other businesses. "This is not just about the crop this year. It...