Texas’ GOP Congressmen Abandon Poor Children

It should come as no surprise that the Republicans in Texas’ congressional delegation still haven’t grasped that the CHIP/SCHIP program is a hot-button issue for Texas voters of all social classes and across party lines.

Evidently, they also haven’t noticed that their colleagues at the state level like Talmadge Heflin, Martha Wong, and a host of other State Representatives have been booted out of office by voters for, among other things, their failure to support the program at the state level.

I say this because the Republicans in the Texas Congressional Delegation just handed each of their 2008 opponents a huge bucket of mud to sling at them by voting against HR 976, which would reauthorize and expand the SCHIP program.

Congressmen Joe Barton (R-Ennis), Kevin Brady (R-The Woodlands), Michael Burgess (R-Flower Mound), John Carter (R-Round Rock), Mike Conaway (R-Midland), Jeb Hensarling (R-Dallas), Ralph Hall (R-Rockwall), Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth), Kenny Marchant (R-Coppell), Mike McCaul (R-Austin), Randy Neugebauer (R-Lubbock), Ron Paul (R-Surfside), Lamar Smith (R-San Antonio), and Mac Thornberry (R-Clarendon) all voted against HR 976. Rep. Ted Poe (R-Beaumont) probably would have voted against the measure as well, but he was absent for the vote.

Eye On Williamson sums up, in reference to John Carter, something that will resonate in each of the GOP members’ districts:

Obviously Carter thinks his constituents won’t hold him accountable for voting against making sure more children have health care.

In CD-10, Dan Grant, who is seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination to vie to unseat Mike McCaul, .

SCHIP is sure to become a major issue in the General Election in CD 10, as both Dan Grant (in a guest blog over at Burnt Orange Report on another topic) and Larry Joe Doherty (in an earlier press release) have already made an issue of Mike McCaul’s SCHIP votes. Grant and Doherty are vying for the Democratic Party’s nomination to oppose McCaul.

Of course, CD 10 won’t be the only district where this vote will be a major issue. Those Republicans seeking to unseat Ralph Hall (R-Rockwall) in Congressional District 4’s GOP Primary may also elect to make this an issue in that district, since it is something that will no doubt resonate with the voters in the rural areas of that CD 4 in Northeast Texas.

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