Steve Benen has a great piece on another sad day for Americans at the hands of too many traitorous representatives who care more about the interests of multinational corporations than the American people:

In September, the House passed the bipartisan expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) by a wide margin, 265 to 159. But in the wake of a Bush veto, would proponents have the votes to override?

Regrettably, no. Just moments ago, the House voted 273 to 156 in support of the bill. Supporters picked up eight additional votes over the last month, but came well short of the 289 votes needed to override. A total off 44 House Republicans broke party ranks to support the legislation, while two House Dems voted with the minority.

Here's the key number to keep in mind: last month 45 House Republicans voted for his bill. Today, that number dropped to 44.

In other words, after weeks of media scrutiny, public debate, constituent phone calls, right-wing smears of innocent families, and intense lobbying, the Republican Party ended up going backwards on providing healthcare for low-income kids.

Backwards...hmmm. Like on stem cells, evolution, freedom of choice, understanding of foreign policy and proper use of a public restroom in a Minneapolis airport? No, not these guys!

Again, the GOP is nothing so much as a paranoid cult at this point, whose full devotion to an artificial cowboy has led to one tragedy after another. As one smart Republican lawmaker said last week, this will be their undoing:

"It's stupid politics," he or she said. "The leadership is putting pressure on Members [to sustain the veto], promising to rebuild the brand. I don't know why our guys are following [Bush] into the sea like lemmings."

You just ensured more kids will needlessly suffer and die, to be frank. Helluva platform to run on guys.

Heckuva job moralizers! 

Note: As for Jim Marshall and Gene Taylor, the two "Democrats" who voted for this bill. We'll have an ever-larger majority after this next election. We don't need them around diluting our brand. They should kindly be asked to leave the party.