Cliff Stearns: “A new Gallup Poll just came out yesterday, and it really shows what we on this side have been talking about. The poll…”

“A new Gallup Poll just came out yesterday, and it really shows what we on this side have been talking about. The poll indicates that over 55 percent of Americans are worried that the expansion of the SCHIP program would create incentives for families to drop private health coverage and switch to the public program. This goes to the very core of what we've been saying. I was here in 1997 when Republicans created the SCHIP program. The Democrat leadership is creating a future entitlement train wreck, and they would be wise to listen to the American people before tying the hands of our Federal Government with more spending. The poll goes on further to state that over 52 percent of Americans believe that most benefits should go to families making 200 percent below the poverty line. This was the original intent of the law. The American people are asking Congress to follow the original bipartisan plan for the SCHIP program. The American people want to cover the poorest kids first; we do, too. The Democrat leadership needs to understand they're not doing the American people a favor with this program.”