The Princess Has No Clothes on SCHIP

Casting aside any concern for how carrying the Bush Administration's water might marr her attention-grabbing coutour (does being conservative ever mean prêt-à-porter?), U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) perpetuated myths to discard a SCHIP increase, even dragging in some immigration red meat to make partisans gnaw on children's health care:

I am not supportive of taking the SCHIP program, which is a good program, expanding it, having it available to illegal immigrants, having it available to adults, having it available to those that are not underprivileged American children

The U.S. Senate Finance Committee has their own bone to pick with her:

According to a Finance Committee news release, the bill does not raise the income eligibility level to qualify for SCHIP. If states go above three times the poverty level, or $61,950 for a family of four, the state gets a reduced match from the federal government. “It’s all there in black and white,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking member on the Finance Committee, in prepared remarks made on the Senate floor. “Anyone who suggests this bill is an expansion to higher income kids or other populations is simply not reading the bill.”

Of course, Ms. Blackburn does not prefer black and white in her fall ensemble. She likes to mix and match.