A "quiet" veto?

Ever since President Bush's controversial veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan (SCHIP), an expansion for children's health insurance, critics and talk show hosts have delighted in forecasting what impact this will have on the 2008 presidential campaign.

The AP story on our Web site begins:

President Bush rejected a politically attractive expansion of children's health insurance, triggering a fierce struggle with the Democratic-controlled Congress certain to reverberate into the 2008 elections.

"Congress will fight hard to override President Bush's heartless veto," vowed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

Both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, Comedy Central's coveted "fake" news shows, took aim at the decision in their broadcasts this week. (Click here to watch a clip of Colbert's segment, which uses clever video editing and child actors to have children "question" politicians about SCHIP.)

Now WebMD has jumped into the fray, providing a new feature that compares head-to-head the candidates' campaign promises on health care. (To save you a trip, most Dems' positions read: "Supports universal coverage" while most Republicans' positions state: "Believes answers to health care problems should be found in the private sector.")

Mitt Romney, however, has stated he wants to place the burden to reduce health care costs on the individual states and their insurance markets.

Anyone out there agree with either the veto or the emphasis on individual states? We'd love to hear from you.

-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor