As everyone probably already knows, GW has vetoed a bill to expand S-CHIP. S-CHIP provides health care to kids in families that earn more than the max income required for Medicaid. It's a great program, known simply as CHIP in PA. 15 votes are needed to override the veto, and every big national group has been fighting to gather the votes needed to override the veto.

MoveOn organized hundreds of vigils earlier tonight, and the one in Philly was co-led by Penn Action (the descendant of CCJ). I got an email tonight from the organizer I though was worth sharing:

Hello Friends of Children's Health Care!

Wow! We had over 300 people at the Rittenhouse Square Park tonight rallying for an override of President Bush's cruel and unnecessary veto of the SCHIP program.

Thanks to all of you who were able to show up. We will not win this fight without visible and energetic support from the grassroots.

Thanks to the American Medical Students Association who contacted busy medical students and medical professionals and turned out most of the crowd tonight. It was great to see so many white coats and scrubs in the crowd. Nobody understands the suffering of the family of an uninsured sick child more than the parents of that child, but doctors come in a close second. They know that we can't let President Bush win this fight and that if he does, it will mean millions more sick children all over the country.

Thanks to our fantastic speakers: Alisa Simon of PCCY --- Dr. Evan Fieldston of UPENN and CHOP --- and the Rev. Robert Shine of Berachah Baptist Church in Philadelphia.

Thanks to the SEIU for leading our chants and getting our energy up! Nobody knows health care and the SCHIP issue like SEIU Health Care PA!

We have one more request of you tonight and tomorrow morning. We need letters to the editors written. We want to know why the local media decided to pass, yet again, on an SCHIP rally in the middle of Philadelphia. Two weeks ago the American Medical Students Association turned out 200 people on this issue. Tonight we had over 300 people in the streets and cheering for funding SCHIP. Where were the papers? Radio? Television stations?

Please take a few minutes to send a letter to the Inquirer at this address: Inquirer.Letters@phillynews.com

Remember to be brief and polite. We need to let them know that their readers care about this issue and that we expect to see coverage of citizen actions as well as what the politicians in Washington are doing. Some handy SCHIP talking points are: (use your own words)

1. 72% of Americans support the bi-partisan, compromise SCHIP legislation vetoed by the President.

2. For what we spend in just one week in Iraq, 800,000 children could get health insurance for an entire year. 800,000.

3. The only a decade old CHIP program is a resounding success – and it only makes sense to build upon that success. It has reduced the number of uninsured children in working families by 35 percent. Focusing on preventive health care, many of the 6.6 million children covered by the program are now getting regular checkups. And their primary care comes from a family doctor, not from an expensive and inefficient emergency room.

4. If the veto is not overridden on Thursday, we want to see NO FURTHER compromise on the SCHIP bill. This is already a bi-partisan, compromise and there is no room left for negotiating any more children away.

5. HUNDREDS of us were on the streets tonight in support of America's working families - where was the press??

Please take the time to send a quick email to Inquirer.Letters@phillynews.com. And thanks again for taking the time tonight to get out to send an important message to Congress. FUND CHILDREN'S HEALTH CARE! We hope that the veto will be overridden on Thursday but if it isn't, then we'll see you again and again until Congress does what an overwhelming majority of Americans want them to do: FUND CHILDREN'S HEALTH CARE!

Stay Strong!
Robin Stelly
Field Organizer
Penn Action
267.240.9819
rstelly@pennaction.org