George Bush! I can't wait until he is out of office

Actually...if you research it, underprivileged children already get free health coverage and a bill providing healthcare for children is redundant. People are playing up the hype to get votes, they are not peddling reality. Any family on foodstamps or receiving other types of assistance can get free health coverage for their children through medicare/medicaid. Many states have programs where lower income families can receive health coverage for children even if they don't meet the income requirements through other forms of assistance. Also, there are many lower income children who get coverage through the employer of the parent, step parent, or grandparent. In Massachusetts, one of the individual hospitals and their applicable family practitioners have a plan also that the children and lower income adults can receive healthcare if they go to their affiliated offices and hospitals. Sure, it may take a few phone calls, or to just ask what is available to you - but coverage is there for the ones that truly need it. Also, many bills nowadays are not straightforward. For example, this bill may have had porkbarrel items added in there somewhere. It could have said something about healthcare, but there could have been a line about subsidies for farmers in Iowa, or for funding for a road in Delaware in there as secondary and small items. There was an example recently and I want to find it - where all sorts of unrelated things were added in. Also, would you really want the government to be a healthcare provider? I certainly would not. It would make government bigger, there would be no competition so there would be no reason for coverage to ever get better, more convenient, etc.