CNN Article on Bush Veto Omits President's Call for Boost to SCHIP

Earlier today President Bush vetoed a bill to expand the federal State Children's Health Insurance Plans (SCHIP) by $35 billion over five years. Reporting the story, CNN.com pulled out all the stops, showing a cutesy photo of kid protesters on Lafayette Square (pictured at right) and rounding up a negative quote from an otherwise conservative Republican:

Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah was among those Republicans who split from the president. "It's very difficult for me to be against a man I care so much for," he told his colleagues on the Senate floor before the vote. "It's unfortunate that the president has chosen to be on what, to me, is clearly the wrong side of this issue."

A Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted September 27-30 found 72 percent of those surveyed support an increase in spending on the program, with 25 percent opposed. The poll's margin of error was 3 percentage points.

No conservative who agrees with Bush on SCHIP was given room for his or her talking point on controlling spending or preventing more federal control of health care.

What's more, at no point in CNN's brief online article is there a mention of President Bush's support for a $5 billion increase (over five years) in funding for the health care initiative. According to the White House's official Web site, President Bush favors a boost to SCHIP amounts to a roughly 20 percent boost in SCHIP spending, while the seven-times-larger Democratic plan would amount to a whopping 140 percent increase.

Photo above from Getty Images via CNN.com. Caption to the photo in the CNN article reads: "Kids pull wagons full of petitions this week asking President Bush not to veto insurance legislation."