The decider has vetoed legislation that would have expanded the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by $35 billion dollars, effectively denying 4 million children from moderate-income families health care benefits. There are currently 6.6 million children who are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid that are covered by the program.
The legislation would have reversed rules passed in August by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Eight states are suing the Bush Administration over the new rules. Governor Jon Corzine (D-NJ), said the "Bush administration has gone beyond its regulatory rights." President Bush defended the veto, explaining that "the policies of the government ought to be, help people find private insurance, not federal coverage." read more »
The Florida state Democratic Party is determined to "make it count" with a primary election on January 29th. Except that the Democratic National Committee has already stripped the state of its 210 delegates to the convention for not setting the date later. With no delegates at the convention, nobody will be present to nominate the state's choice for president. 
The US military is now targeting heaps of flawed contracts in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. Of the total contracts currently being audited or under investigation, $6 billion worth of deals are suspected of criminal misconduct. Over half involve procurement fraud- when a company overcharges, misrepresents, or does not deliver equipment or services. 
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), was among the speakers at the UN climate change meeting on Monday. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that climate change was "directly and constructively discussed at the highest level for the first time in history." Ban worked to build consensus among 80 of the world's top leaders, leading up to climate treaty negotiations this December in Indonesia. 
Blood diamonds aren't nearly as nutritious as blood bananas! The paramilitaries of Columbia are some of the most brutal and vicious criminal gangs in the world today. Chiquita is being fined 25 million bucks by the US Government for paying 1.7 million in protection money to a listed terrorist group. The Self-Defense Committees of Columbia collected the cash between 1997 and 2004.
An aide to Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) gave adult film star Jenna Jameson and her boyfriend Tito Ortiz a tour of the Capitol on Thursday. The couple visited troops at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center before Ortiz presented awards for the USO later that evening. Jameson, who recently retired from making films, is supporting Senator Hillary Clinton in the race for the presidency. 
Senator Larry Craig isn't wrong for soliciting sex from another man in the airport bathroom. He's wrong for lying to his wife, family, and constituents. He's wrong for voting against legislation supporting civil rights for homosexuals, and he's wrong for voting against himself. 
