Pyrrhic Victory

This afternoon the House passed a revised SCHIP reauthorization bill 265 to 142, or 7 votes short of a veto proof majority. The revised bill limits coverage to children whose parents earn 3 times poverty or less, it deals with the issue of illegal aliens receiving benefits, and it phases single adults out of the program within a year. In short, it addresses nearly all of the Republican talking points. It just doesn't follow the Decider's dictates.

The AP is touting the vote as a victory for the Bush Administration. Given the extraordinary popularity of the SCHIP program before the Republican talking points were addressed, one has to wonder how many more such victories the Republican party can endure.

The yeas and nays are posted by the AP here.

What do you know, Sam Graves hung with the President. Missouri's 6th District lemming is determined to lose the next election. Hooray for Kay Barnes.