Star-Tribune Editorial Board

Expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program is the right thing to do, and Wyoming Congresswoman Barbara Cubin should vote to override President Bush's veto.

So should Sens. Mike Enzi and John Barrasso, if they want to do what's best for low-income, uninsured Wyoming children. But supporters of the bill already have enough votes to override the veto in the Senate, with or without Wyoming's senators. The critical override vote will take place in the House on Oct. 18, and that's where Cubin could make a difference.

Cubin didn't vote on the bill when the House passed it, but she has expressed support for Bush's veto. Since that time, though, many other Republicans have abandoned the president's politically precarious position.

SCHIP was created in 1997 with bipartisan support, and it now needs to be expanded to make health insurance available to more children. It's a worthy bill that shouldn't have become a political flash point.

The White House has offered a variety of reasons to oppose the bill, all of which have been batted down. Republican Sen. Orin Hatch of Utah, one of the nation's most conservative senators, scoffed at Bush's claim that expanding SCHIP would lead to "socialized medicine." In fact, the SCHIP bill would provide insurance to an additional 3.8 million youngsters, largely through the same private companies Bush claims he wants to protect.

As many pundits have pointed out, if the president is worried about the federalization of health care, why did he push prescription drug benefits for Medicare recipients?

Also: If SCHIP is socialized medicine, why does the leading opponent of government-run health care - the American Medical Association - endorse the bill?

Enzi and Barrasso were among the Republicans who complained that families earning up to $83,000 a year would be eligible for SCHIP. That theoretically could happen in New York, where the cost of living is exorbitant. But each state sets its own income guidelines, and you can be sure Wyoming won't subsidize wealthy families.

Opponents who say SCHIP shouldn't cover adults ignore the fact that several states - including Wyoming - already cover adults, through waivers that the Bush administration approved. Under the bill Bush vetoed, adults would be shifted off SCHIP within two years.

More than 5,800 children are enrolled in our state's program, Wyoming Kid Care CHIP. Another 6,000 are eligible but not enrolled. Many of these kids will be harmed by Bush's veto, because the program can't sustain even its current service level without the money this bill would provide.

There's no reason for Cubin to carry the White House's water on this issue, since Bush can't run for re-election. The congresswoman has opposed the Bush administration on several occasions, including restrictions on how Wyoming spends the Abandoned Mine Land money Congress voted to return to the state.

If Cubin votes to sustain the president's veto, it's because she opposes a program that will help insure more Wyoming kids. She can cast that vote, but Cubin should realize she will have to come home and defend it. The number of Republicans willing to do that is shrinking rapidly.