Opinion: The SCHIP was really flying
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A caustic -- some might say classic -- outburst by Rep. Pete Stark (D-Fremont), during yesterday’s House debate over President Bush’s veto of a health insurance program for children is ricocheting wildly around the Internet.
The outburst was part of the ongoing Washington political stalemate over funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, SCHIP, for short. Times expert Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar covered the main story here.
And he also witnessed Stark responding to a GOP lawmaker who tagged the program as ‘socialized medicine.’ Waving his arms, Stark first launched into a rhetorical riff about the Iraq war and its costs.
‘You don’t have money to fund the war or children,’ he thundered, aiming his fire toward the Republican side of the aisle. ‘But you’re going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement.’
A video clip of Stark’s flipout was all over the evening’s TV news broadcasts yesterday, and you can see it for yourself here on YouTube.
The presiding House officer, Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Walnut Creek), cautioned Stark to refrain from such remarks. But she ruled against a Republican motion that would have barred him from the floor for the rest of the day’s debate.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino declined to respond to Stark’s bitter broadside, but the National Republican Congressional Committee called it ‘an outrageous and delusional tantrum on the House floor,’ and demanded an apology to the American people, the troops and their families.
House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio demanded a similar apology and added, ‘Congressman Stark’s statement dishonors not only the commander-in-chief, but the thousands of courageous men and women of America’s armed forces who believe in their mission and are putting their lives on the line for our freedom and security.’
Today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued her own apology. Admitting that emotions were running high on both sides of the House aisle, she said, ‘While Members of Congress are passionate about their views, what Congressman Stark said during the debate was inappropriate and distracted from the seriousness of the subject at hand.’
Stark adamantly remained unapolegtic. ‘I have nothing but respect for our brave men and women in uniform and wish them the very best,’ he said in a later, cooler press release. ‘But I respect neither the commander-in-chief who keeps them in harm’s way nor the chickenhawks in Congress who vote to deny children healthcare.’
See, that’s the problem with today’s politicians. You never know where they stand.
(UPDATE: On Oct. 23, Stark issued a formal apology.)
--Andrew Malcolm