This SCHIP thing has the leftwing chorus singing in harmony, on cue. Here’s an example from a mailing list I’m on:
Leftwing choir member: “I think everyone should have access to health care, but our top priority should be children’s health care.”
My response: “For the same reason that predators pick on the young and infirm of their prey species?”
Maybe the following example can help us think about it. It’s a made-up example, but it’s based on something I heard from a caller on Dr. Laura’s show many years ago.
Suppose you have a family of two boys and three girls, and that you parents are having a tough time of it, financially. Your kids have to do without a lot of the things their peers have, not that it’s keeping you from having a family life together. But you wonder how they’re possibly going to be able to go to college, given that they don’t seem to be doing anything special that would attract scholarships.
Let’s also suppose that the middle daughter is an especially vivacious, pretty one. And the well-to-do neighbor down the street has noticed it, too. He says hello to the family whenever there is an opportunity, and always pays special attention to the middle daughter.
One day he tells you he’d like to make a gift to your middle daughter. He’d like to give her an allowance of $100/week for spending money, set up a fund for her college education, and provide her with a medical insurance policy. He’s not asking for anything in return. It’s a gift just for her, because he’d hate to see her have to do without those things.
You can imagine what Dr. Laura advised the caller to do in a similar situation, and you can imagine why the parent thought it necessary to call Dr. Laura about it in the first place.
But if you’re having trouble thinking about this, and how it relates to SCHIP, here are some questions to get the wheels turning:
1. What would this do to the relationship between parents and middle daughter?
2. What could Mr. Neighbor’s agenda possibly be?
3. Suppose the offer was made for ALL the children, not just the pretty middle one. What difference would it make, if any?