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God bless Texas!

If it weren't for it, New Mexico would have the highest rate of uninsured children in the country. But thanks to our big-ol' free-market-lovin' neighbor to the east, we are only the second worst at providing health coverage for kids. Yee haw.

Given his home state's poor performance, one would think President Bush would be fighting for more help from the feds to cover kids. Got it wrong, Little Doggie.

The proud father, former governor and current president is leading the fight against expansion of a federal program that would help more kids get health insurance.

The State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, is up for reauthorization this year. Last Thursday, the powerful Senate Finance Committee approved $35 billion for the program to help maintain current coverage for the 6.6 million children now in the program and add 3.2 million more children over the next five years.

Perhaps more surprising than the proposed funding - which was about seven times what the President is proposing - was the fact that most Republican members of the committee voted with the Democratic majority passing the proposal on a 17-4 vote. President Bush has promised to veto any appropriation above the $5 billion he has recommended.

Research shows SCHIP has been one of the most effective tools at providing more access to health care and keeping kids and families out of poverty. It was created in 1997 with strong bipartisan support and covers children whose families make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but do not have access to private insurance.

To be sure, Bush has never been a big fan of the program. As Texas governor, he fought to restrict funding for the program. He was outfoxed by the Democratic Texas state legislature and the program was fully funded. Bush has continued his opposition as President even though a new poll shows the overwhelming majority — 91 percent — of Americans favor increasing funding for the program. The poll results crossed party lines, making opposition to SCHIP expansion hard to defend for Republican members of Congress, not to mention Bush.

Never one to bow to the winds of public opinion, Bush argues that expanding SCHIP to kids in families at more than twice the poverty level (i.e. more than $40,000 per year) would crowd out private health care providers — even if their parents have no health insurance. He and his advisers say increasing funding and flexibility for the program would be one step closer to government-run health care.

While Bush takes a hard line, New Mexico's congressional delegation is split on the issue. Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman has been a strong supporter of the program and supports full funding. Republican Sen. Pete Domenici has not made a final decision. In the House, Republican Rep. Heather Wilson says she supports parts of SCHIP reauthorization, but she has yet to commit to funding the program at the level proposed by the Senate. Democratic Rep. Tom Udall has been a strong supporter of the program. It is not clear where Republican Rep. Steve Pearce will come down, although it is likely he will support the President, as he has on most everything.

This time the Bush stubborn streak and his threat to veto any bill that proposes more than $5 billion may finally be enough to force a serious break in the Republican ranks. Several key Republicans say Bush could face an override if he vetoes legislation increasing funding for SCHIP.

In a time when most Americans think health care is the biggest issue facing our nation, it is foolhardy to be against providing insurance for America's children based on ideological reasons. If Bush wants to take his stand against public intervention in the free market, he may want to do it somewhere else. Leaving millions of kids without health insurance is not worth proving a neo-conservative point. Even in Texas.