A sinking SCHIP

OPINION:

In their zeal to eke out an override of President Bush’s veto on a bloated children’s health insurance program, Democrats have sunk to a new low.

With just days left until the scheduled Oct. 18 override vote, Democrats and their allies have launched a multimillion- dollar nationwide campaign, particularly in vulnerable Republican districts, hoping to dredge up the 15 or so Republican votes needed to override Mr. Bush’s veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

Perhaps the most shameful episode in this campaign is the case of Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Florida Republican. This week the Florida Democratic Party issued a news release and the national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee made press calls attacking Mr. Diaz-Balart for helping nine disabled Ukrainian children obtain prosthetic limbs from generous Floridians. The children’s travel arrangements, prosthetics and medical care were all paid for by private donors. Mr. Diaz-Balart also arranged a trip to a Miami Seaquarium for the children.

Florida Democrats were snide at Mr. Diaz-Balart’s goodwill efforts to obtain care for the impoverished Ukrainian children, many of whom had lost limbs in farming accidents.

“Children in Diaz-Balart’s district deserve access to the same quality health care he arranged for his guests,” Miami-Dade Democratic Party Chairman Joe Garcia said. “Hopefully he’ll learn from the Seaquarium mascot Flipper and change his vote against children’s health insurance when Congress attempts to override the President’s senseless veto.”

Honest, bipartisan policy disagreements are one thing. Insulting a man for bringing hope to ailing children in a country recovering from an oppressive regime is another.

Mr. Diaz-Balart stood by the principles of small government when he voted against Democrats’ proposal to expand SCHIP by $35 billion over five years, a figure seven times higher than Mr. Bush’s proposal to increase the program by $5 billion. The White House blasted the Democratic proposal to extend SCHIP coverage to adults and upper-middle income families with incomes of up to $83,000 for a family of four as a march toward socialized medicine. We agree.

A former member of the then-House International Relations Committee, Mr. Diaz-Balart has a proven record of humanitarian outreach. It is unconscionable that the Democrats are lampooning his beneficent efforts in order to score cheap political points. We hope Mr. Diaz-Balart and his House colleagues will stand firm.