Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Pelosi Lashes Out at Limbaugh
Seeking support for a vetoed children's health insurance bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi charged Tuesday that "hate radio has made a vicious attack" on a 12-year-old Baltimore boy who receives coverage through the program.
Pelosi said the allegations were "beneath the dignity of the debate" that surrounds the legislation.
Democrats hope to enact the measure over Bush's opposition, and a House vote scheduled for Thursday. A two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress is required to override a veto, and supporters of the measure appear well short of their goal in the House.
Speaking at a news conference attended by singer Paul Simon, Pelosi, D-Calif., did not identify the targets of her criticism by name. Numerous conservative commentators in recent days have questioned whether the 12-year-old boy, Graeme Frost should qualify for the program for lower-income children.
Democrats enlisted Frost to speak on a recent weekly radio program, where he said the children's insurance program allowed him to get medical help after suffering brain injuries in an automobile accident.
"I just hope the president will listen to my story and help other kids be as lucky as me," he said at the time.
One blog, Free Republic.com, posted a report that said Frost attended a private school where tuition was $20,000 a year, that the family lives in an area where one home recently sold for nearly $500,000, and that a photo and "shows what appears to be a recent remodeling job with granite counter tops and glass-front cabinets."
Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh also commented. "This family owns a house in a neighborhood of homes valued in the 400,000 to 500,000 range," he said on Oct. 8.
"They send the kid out to lie," Limbaugh said of Democratic supporters of the legislation. "He's 12-years-old! They will use anybody! They'll corrupt anybody, to get where they're headed. That's who they are, folks."
The boy's parents, Halsey and Bonnie Frost say they earn between $45,000 and $50,000 a year, a level that places them within the insurance program eligibility guidelines for a family of six in Maryland.
They say their children attend private schools on scholarships and that they purchased their home for $55,000 in 1990 and it has appreciated in value since.
"Because of the intelligence and the aptitude of the son who was in the accident he goes to a private school, because he's on scholarship there ... because the house of the family appreciated, they bought it for 50,000, they make 45,000 a year or something like that ... they are calling them wealthy," Pelosi said of critics of the family.
The vetoed bill would expand an existing insurance program for lower-income children by $35 billion over five years. The Congressional Budget Office says the measure would reduce the number of uninsured children by 3.8 million.
Seeking support for a vetoed children's health insurance bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi charged Tuesday that "hate radio has made a vicious attack" on a 12-year-old Baltimore boy who receives coverage through the program.
Pelosi said the allegations were "beneath the dignity of the debate" that surrounds the legislation.
Democrats hope to enact the measure over Bush's opposition, and a House vote scheduled for Thursday. A two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress is required to override a veto, and supporters of the measure appear well short of their goal in the House.
Speaking at a news conference attended by singer Paul Simon, Pelosi, D-Calif., did not identify the targets of her criticism by name. Numerous conservative commentators in recent days have questioned whether the 12-year-old boy, Graeme Frost should qualify for the program for lower-income children.
Democrats enlisted Frost to speak on a recent weekly radio program, where he said the children's insurance program allowed him to get medical help after suffering brain injuries in an automobile accident.
"I just hope the president will listen to my story and help other kids be as lucky as me," he said at the time.
One blog, Free Republic.com, posted a report that said Frost attended a private school where tuition was $20,000 a year, that the family lives in an area where one home recently sold for nearly $500,000, and that a photo and "shows what appears to be a recent remodeling job with granite counter tops and glass-front cabinets."
Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh also commented. "This family owns a house in a neighborhood of homes valued in the 400,000 to 500,000 range," he said on Oct. 8.
"They send the kid out to lie," Limbaugh said of Democratic supporters of the legislation. "He's 12-years-old! They will use anybody! They'll corrupt anybody, to get where they're headed. That's who they are, folks."
The boy's parents, Halsey and Bonnie Frost say they earn between $45,000 and $50,000 a year, a level that places them within the insurance program eligibility guidelines for a family of six in Maryland.
They say their children attend private schools on scholarships and that they purchased their home for $55,000 in 1990 and it has appreciated in value since.
"Because of the intelligence and the aptitude of the son who was in the accident he goes to a private school, because he's on scholarship there ... because the house of the family appreciated, they bought it for 50,000, they make 45,000 a year or something like that ... they are calling them wealthy," Pelosi said of critics of the family.
The vetoed bill would expand an existing insurance program for lower-income children by $35 billion over five years. The Congressional Budget Office says the measure would reduce the number of uninsured children by 3.8 million.
