Leavitt told the USA TODAY editorial board that Bush will veto a Democratic plan emerging from Congress that would add $35 billion in taxpayer subsidies to the Children’s Health Insurance Program over five years. In doing so, Leavitt said, Bush will urge Congress to join him in seeking coverage for all Americans.

“He’d like to see the larger debate begin,” Leavitt said. “The very best opportunity we have may well be in the next 15 months.”

USA Today

I guess everyone better warm up to the idea that this is coming, like it or not. The American people are too dependent on government in the 21st Century to live without the nanny anymore. The plan Clinton unveiled will cost $110 billion a year, which means it will really be closer to 200 to 300. This is fiscally abhorrent considering that we are nearing a national debt of $9 trillion dollars.

Now, Bush is evidently jumping on the bandwagon, no doubt in part to thinking that this is a way to pull people back to the GOP. I’m sure his idea is that if they can pass this during a Republican administration people will credit his party for “delivering health care to all Americans.” Of course, it’s just the opposite that will be true as the Republican base will be alienated even further than they already are and the fiscally conservative Libertarians and independents will be mortified.

Yes, welcome to yet another unsustainable entitlement, courtesy of Washington. Enjoy the waiting lists you’ll all be on to see your doctor. Hopefully, you don’t need an MRI. You’ll be waiting six months like they do in England. If you’re lucky, Grandma won’t need a hip replacement because she’ll be sticking it out, suffering for over a year like they do in Canada. Oh, and ladies, hopefully you won’t be in the situation that Karen Jepp was.  She had to drive from her home in Calgary down to Montana to deliver her quadruplets because the hospitals in Calgary were short neonatal beds.  At least she had the U.S. to drive to, though.  Where will you go?

You only have to look at every other nation that has a socialist system to see the failure that it is, but facts have never mattered much to the pro entitlement lobby. We need only look at the fiscal mess that Social Security and Medicare have become to know what the future of nanny state health care will hold.