House fails to override Bush's S-CHIP veto

There is not much else to say here, except that the House of Representatives has failed to override President Bush's veto on the S-CHIP bill. From MSNBC News:

WASHINGTON - House Democrats failed Thursday to override President Bush's veto of their pre-election year effort to expand a popular government health insurance program to cover 10 million children.

The bill had bipartisan support but the 273-156 roll call was nine votes of the two-thirds majority supporters needed to enact the bill into law despite Bush's objections. The bill had passed the Senate with a bigger than two-thirds majority.

The proposed $35 billion spending increase over five years for the State Children's Health Insurance Program would expand it from the 6.6 million people -- most of them children -- currently covered. The program now costs about $5 billion a year.

According to the final vote tally, two Democrats opposed the S-CHIP bill, while 154 Republicans opposed the bill. Essentially, the GOP killed this bill. And now it will remain front-and-center in the election-year debate on domestic politics.