Sunday, October 21, 2007

Does Garrett Want to End SCHIP?

When Representative Scott Garrett uses the phrase "paper over", it seems he's advocating defunding or eliminating a program. From Herb Jackson, this was part of his statement he released after voting to uphold the President's veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program:


I am hopeful that when we do, we don’t simply tinker around the edges – papering over the barriers to access that so many children and families now face, but will take a good, hard look at fixing our healthcare system.

As I've pointed out before, Garrett has a desire to defund the Department of Education. This is what he says regarding No Child Left Behind:


While some in Washington are interested in slightly altering the federal mandates in the law, fiddling around the edges isn’t going to fix the problems our teachers, parents, and students have been experiencing these past five years. That approach will simply paper over some the current grievances without getting to the root of the problem.

Garrett's solution to NCLB's issues is introducing a bill that would defund the Department of Education, including cutting funding for school districts serving poor children. A use of a phrase, or seeing NCLB in the same light as SCHIP?

I've actually seen other examples of Garrett using this phrase, but I can't remember where I saw them. If I find them again, I'll post it. In the meantime, it's an interesting question to ask.

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