# Republicans don't give a CHIP about children's health care **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 27, 2017, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986 "2017-10-27T12:29:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/21 "2017-10-27T14:24:03Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > The missing section of the Sermon on the Mount: > > And Jesus said unto the multitude: Blessed are they who tax their fellow citizens to pay for government programs in order to do _ **what I fucking told you folks to do on your own, GOD DAMN IT!!!** _ Jesus didn’t preach in a large industrial society. We set up governments to do what we as individuals simply cannot do. A few needy people in a rural society, sure it might be that people just step right in. Any modern nation, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/22 "2017-10-27T14:24:28Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > There is no constitutional authorization for meat inspectors either General Welfare clause. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/23 "2017-10-27T14:25:10Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > And it has never occurred to you that CHIP should not exist in the first place? There is no constitutional authorization for government welfare or insurance. Please cite the article and section of the Constitution that limits what the government can spend money on. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/24 "2017-10-27T14:57:13Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > And it has never occurred to you that CHIP should not exist in the first place? There is no constitutional authorization for government welfare or insurance. > > Programs like this belong at the state level if they belong anywhere at all. So you must be in favor of FEMA pulling out of Houston. Go preach that on street corners or local TV. Put up signs outside your McDojang. Get the word out that you and your fellow citizens won’t suck at the gub’mint teat any longer. Advocate for higher local taxes to fix the storm damage. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/25 "2017-10-27T15:09:17Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > This is foolishness, the typical liberal idiocy at work. “Who cares about the money? We have A Cause! If you oppose my Cause, you are Evil!” > > The business of government involves allocating dollars for a kajillion worthy causes. You think that dollars just magically appear, and if they don’t, well, just tax the rich some more. > > Idiot. Do you think CHIP is too expensive? Do you think it is ineffective? Do you think we ought to not provide for the families/children who rely on it? Do you think the families who receive it don’t actually need it? Do you think that America would be a better country if we ended CHIP and gave that money back to the more wealthy as tax cuts? Otherwise, what’s your point? All ‘doing’ involves work/cost. It’s pretty clear that the OP is saying “this program costs relatively little yet provides a great service to some of the most needy, and it feels shameful that our government is ending it for the sake of lowering taxes on the upper class.” I don’t see “who cares about the money” or “if you oppose my cause you are evil” anywhere, unless I gaze down at the strawmen in post #2. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/26 "2017-10-27T15:20:05Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > S.1827 was introduced 12 days before the expiration of CHIP. It was sponsored by Orrin Hatch (R) and 5 Democrats. Excluding Senator Hatch it currently has 20 sponsors, 5 of which are Republicans. I hereby amend my previous statement that Republicans hadn’t given any consideration to mitigating the consequences of the expiration of CHIP. Some apparently have, albeit too few, too little and too late. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/27 "2017-10-27T15:22:18Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > It’s pretty clear that the OP is saying “this program costs relatively little yet provides a great service to some of the most needy, and it feels shameful that our government is ending it for the sake of lowering taxes on the upper class.” Just to add some precision, I think it’s pretty clear that the Republicans are either ending CHIP just for the hell of it, or are planning to use it as a hostage to force the Dems to agree to other bad shit. Bringing in the tax cut is just to point out how bullshit the notion is that this is somehow about the money. A tax cut for the most wealthy that’s 200 times the cost of CHIP is no problem, but CHIP - health care for poor kids - has to be paid for while the tax cut doesn’t. Yeah, **Bricker** , it’s the Party of Evil. If you disagree, tell me about all the _good_ things they’ve done this year. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/28 "2017-10-27T15:43:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > This is foolishness, the typical liberal idiocy at work. “Who cares about the money? We have A Cause! If you oppose my Cause, you are Evil!” > > The business of government involves allocating dollars for a kajillion worthy causes. You think that dollars just magically appear, and if they don’t, well, just tax the rich some more. > > Idiot. Republicans don’t seem to worry too much about spending hundreds of billions on expanding our military, that is already as expensive as the next dozen most expensive militaries combined. That money magically fucking appears, alright. At least my cause is intended to help people live, instead of help people die. But, keep trying to convince yourself that helping people die is a more justifiable cause. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/29 "2017-10-27T15:52:30Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > And it has never occurred to you that CHIP should not exist in the first place? There is no constitutional authorization for government welfare or insurance. Have you actually read the constitution? There’s explicit constitutional authorization for congress to provide for the general welfare of the United States. I don’t mean any kind of paraphrasing, I mean the word “welfare” is literally right there in the text. > [@U. S. Constitution Article I](#): > > The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/30 "2017-10-27T15:52:33Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > **Republicans don’t give a CHIP about children’s health care** 'Course not. Children can’t vote, much less vote Republican. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/31 "2017-10-27T15:55:26Z")
Also, they’ve been born and therefore are of no use to Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/32 "2017-10-27T15:57:39Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > That supposed Christians are _standing in the way of_ renewing a program to take care of sick kids that we’ve been easily able to afford for the past 20 years…well, that’s why I use the descriptor ‘supposed.’ And that’s why Christianity in the U.S. has an increasingly terrible reputation. > > Jesus didn’t spend much time condemning adultery or sexual licentiousness, but he repeatedly condemned hardness of heart. And that’s practically the defining characteristic of conservative ‘Christianity.’ The reason that so-called christians like bricker want to remove any form of social support is because they know very well that their piddly little charitable contributions will do nothing whatsoever against the systemic issues of poverty. They like poverty. They like to have the poor around them, to feel superior to. They need the poor around, so that they can be the ones to decide who is worthy of being fed or clothed. If the gov’t did it, the gov’t would do it without considering whether they were “worthy”, and that is something that these hateful fucks that call themselves christians like bricker just cannot abide. Christian means christ like, it means to follow in the steps of christ. It means to love your neighbor, as yourself. While I do not believe in the divinity of Jesus, I am a christian in that I do my best to follow the footsteps of a man (who may have never existed) who serves as an example to others in how to be a better person, how to improve the lives of those around you, and how to overall just be an actual positive contributor to society. This selfish attitude that bricker expresses in his very first post of this thread shows that he does not have any desire to be a good person, has no desire to be a positive force for his community, but that he only cares about what he can take from others for his own hedonistic pleasures. People like Bricker call themselves christian, because they think that if they keep doing that, they will convince others that they aren’t selfish pieces of shit who don’t care about the lowest amongst us any more than they need to lift their leg to step over them in the gutter. Their ultimate goal is to convince _themselves_ that they aren’t a piece of shit, and that is a life long process that usually ends with them on their deathbed, recounting the sins and trespasses they have committed against others, and hoping that if there is a god, that he will buy their pathetic excuses. If he is following in the steps of a divine power, he is very wrong as to which side he is working for. This is not to say that all christians are pieces of shit like this. Most aren’t, in fact. I know quite a number of christians who do actually do what they can to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, thought they admit that they stumble like the rest of us. The problem is that there are enough of these selfish fuckers hiding amongst the actual followers of christ that it gives them cover for those who only wear the title to further their own goals, not because they believe in anything that Jesus actually taught. For those who want to see religion go away, it is examples like bricker who fuel that desire. It is examples like bricker who make secularists and those with less strongly held beliefs wonder if it is worth giving preferred tax status to those who have no interest in improving their community, but simply amassing their own power and wealth, at the expense of their community. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > Just to add some precision, I think it’s pretty clear that the Republicans are either ending CHIP just for the hell of it, or are planning to use it as a hostage to force the Dems to agree to other bad shit. > > Bringing in the tax cut is just to point out how bullshit the notion is that this is somehow about the money. A tax cut for the most wealthy that’s 200 times the cost of CHIP is no problem, but CHIP - health care for poor kids - has to be paid for while the tax cut doesn’t. > > Yeah, **Bricker** , it’s the Party of Evil. If you disagree, tell me about all the _good_ things they’ve done this year. Using children as hostages to get tax cuts for the wealthy. Yeah, that’s noble. I’d say that they should be ashamed, but they have no shame. They have souls, but they know that they are already damned, so all they can do now is to try to take the rest of us with them. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/33 "2017-10-27T16:30:43Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Christian means christ like, it means to follow in the steps of christ. It means to love your neighbor, as yourself. While I do not believe in the divinity of Jesus, I am a christian in that I do my best to follow the footsteps of a man (who may have never existed) who serves as an example to others in how to be a better person, how to improve the lives of those around you, and how to overall just be an actual positive contributor to society. That’s great to hear. > [@](#): > > This selfish attitude that bricker expresses in his very first post of this thread shows that he does not have any desire to be a good person, has no desire to be a positive force for his community, but that he only cares about what he can take from others for his own hedonistic pleasures. Yep, very Christ-like. I can almost hear Jesus adding them to the Beatitudes. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/34 "2017-10-27T16:31:07Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > This is foolishness, the typical liberal idiocy at work. “Who cares about the money? We have A Cause! If you oppose my Cause, you are Evil!” > > The business of government involves allocating dollars for a kajillion worthy causes. You think that dollars just magically appear, and if they don’t, well, just tax the rich some more. > > Idiot. I assume you have already condemned the Republican Party for failing to take the only correct position (to explicitly vote the abolish the program and to trumpet this action with as much fanfare as possible), then. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/35 "2017-10-27T16:36:34Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Please cite the article and section of the Constitution that limits what the government can spend money on. Articles I-VII and Amendments 1-27. Ain’t there? Federal government can’t do it. The federal government is one of limited, enumerated powers, as distinct from state governments’ plenary legislative authority. Did they not teach you that in Bleeding Heart Spendy Liberal 101? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/36 "2017-10-27T16:40:01Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > I assume you have already condemned the Republican Party for failing to take the only correct position (to explicitly vote the abolish the program and to trumpet this action with as much fanfare as possible), then. [Do you consider it a matter of established fact](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=439071) that I should do this? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/37 "2017-10-27T16:41:50Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Articles I-VII and Amendments 1-27. Ain’t there? Federal government can’t do it. > > The federal government is one of limited, enumerated powers, as distinct from state governments’ plenary legislative authority. Did they not teach you that in Bleeding Heart Spendy Liberal 101? To you consider things like the TVA and the Interstate system to be unconstitutional? How about FEMA, weather satellites, and the like? Government funded research? Under a strict reading of the Constitution, the US would never have developed. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/38 "2017-10-27T16:51:33Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Articles I-VII and Amendments 1-27. Ain’t there? Federal government can’t do it. IOW, you’ve got nothing. > [@](#): > > The federal government is one of limited, enumerated powers, as distinct from state governments’ plenary legislative authority. Sure, but where is the Federal government’s **spending** power limited? As I asked\*\* Clothahump\*\*, specify article and section. Guess you’re no better than **Clothy**. > [@](#): > > Did they not teach you that in Bleeding Heart Spendy Liberal 101? I learned that calling the other guy names is what you do when both the law and the facts are against you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/39 "2017-10-27T16:57:40Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The federal government is one of limited, enumerated powers, as distinct from state governments’ plenary legislative authority. That is indeed an ideology popular in certain antebellum quarters, but contrary both to our history and to the text of the document. ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-dont-give-a-chip-about-childrens-health-care/799986/40 "2017-10-27T17:00:40Z")
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