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Hurt Boy at Center of Political Firestorm

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN,
The New York Times
Posted: 2007-10-10 12:06:37
WASHINGTON (Oct. 9) - There have been moments when the fight between Congressional Democrats and President Bush over the State Children’s Health Insurance Program seemed to devolve into a shouting match about who loves children more.

So when Democrats enlisted 12-year-old Graeme Frost, who along with a younger sister relied on the program for treatment of severe brain injuries suffered in a car crash, to give the response to Mr. Bush’s weekly radio address on Sept. 29, Republican opponents quickly accused them of exploiting the boy to score political points.


Then, they wasted little time in going after him to score their own.

In recent days, Graeme and his family have been attacked by conservative bloggers and other critics of the Democrats’ plan to expand the insurance program, known as S-chip. They scrutinized the family’s income and assets — even alleged the counters in their kitchen to be granite — and declared that the Frosts did not seem needy enough for government benefits.

But what on the surface appears to be yet another partisan feud, all the nastier because a child is at the center of it, actually cuts to the most substantive debate around S-chip. Democrats say it is crucially needed to help the working poor — Medicaid already helps the impoverished — but many Republicans say it now helps too many people with the means to help themselves.

The feud also illustrates what can happen when politicians showcase real people to make a point, a popular but often perilous technique. And in this case, the discourse has been anything but polite.

The critics accused Graeme’s father, Halsey, a self-employed woodworker, of choosing not to provide insurance for his family of six, even though he owned his own business. They pointed out that Graeme attends an expensive private school. And they asserted that the family’s home had undergone extensive remodeling, and that its market value could exceed $400,000.

One critic, in an e-mail message to Graeme’s mother, Bonnie, warned: “Lie down with dogs, and expect to get fleas.” As it turns out, the Frosts say, Graeme attends the private school on scholarship. The business that the critics said Mr. Frost owned was dissolved in 1999. The family’s home, in the modest Butchers Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, was bought for $55,000 in 1990 and is now worth about $260,000, according to public records. And, for the record, the Frosts say, their kitchen counters are concrete.

Certainly the Frosts are not destitute. They also own a commercial property, valued at about $160,000, that provides rental income. Mr. Frost works intermittently in woodworking and as a welder, while Mrs. Frost has a part-time job at a firm that provides services to publishers of medical journals. Her job does not provide health coverage.

Under the Maryland child health program, a family of six must earn less than $55,220 a year for children to qualify. The program does not require applicants to list their assets, which do not affect eligibility.

In a telephone interview, the Frosts said they had recently been rejected by three private insurance companies because of pre-existing medical conditions. “We stood up in the first place because S-chip really helped our family and we wanted to help other families,” Mrs. Frost said.

“We work hard, we’re honest, we pay our taxes,” Mr. Frost said, adding, “There are hard-working families that really need affordable health insurance.”

Democrats, including the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, have risen to the Frosts’ defense, saying they earn about $45,000 a year and are precisely the type of working-poor Americans that the program was intended to help.

Ms. Pelosi on Tuesday said, “I think it’s really a sad statement about how bankrupt some of these people are in their arguments against S-chip that they would attack a 12-year-old boy.”

The House and Senate approved legislation to expand the child health program by $35 billion over five years. President Bush, who proposed a lower increase, vetoed the bill last week. Mr. Bush said the Democrats’ plan was fiscally unsound and would raise taxes; the Democrats say he is willing to spend billions on the Iraq war but not on health care for American children.

Mr. Bush’s plan could force states to tighten eligibility limits, but it seemed likely that the Frost children would still be covered.

The New York Times

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Republicans on Capitol Hill, who were gearing up to use Graeme as evidence that Democrats have overexpanded the health program to include families wealthy enough to afford private insurance, have backed off.

An aide to Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, expressed relief that his office had not issued a press release criticizing the Frosts.

But Michelle Malkin, one of the bloggers who have strongly criticized the Frosts, insisted Republicans should hold their ground and not pull punches.

“The bottom line here is that this family has considerable assets,” Ms. Malkin wrote in an e-mail message. “Maryland’s S-chip program does not means-test. The refusal to do assets tests on federal health insurance programs is why federal entitlements are exploding and government keeps expanding. If Republicans don’t have the guts to hold the line, they deserve to lose their seats.”

As for accusations that bloggers were unfairly attacking a 12-year-old, Ms. Malkin wrote on her blog, “If you don’t want questions, don’t foist these children onto the public stage.”

Mr. and Mrs. Frost said they were bothered by the assertion that they lacked health coverage by their own choice.

“That is not true at all,” Mrs. Frost said. “Basically all these naysayers need to lay the facts out on the page, and say, ‘How could a family be able to do this?’ S-chip is a stopgap.”

Copyright © 2008 The New York Times Company
2007-10-10 09:33:00
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9785 comments

mmfincon 11:57:24 PM Oct 16 2007

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The Hall Shame for these republican operatives, who by attacking the American Children and the Working middleclass . This stradagy would only back fire. Giving voters one more reason to Vote for the Democrats. Weepy Keep it up . We love it .
You have been exposed for what you are..........Dex

Aza2 07:44:29 PM Oct 16 2007

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what middleclass?

dmpolis 07:02:10 PM Oct 16 2007

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Conservative? Are they not supposed to have family values? Where is all the christian attitudes when it comse to kids? What is important to remember these are American kids. Its ok when we dump millions on other countries but not at all accepted by the Republicans when it is for AMERICANS CHILDREN? Pay now or pay later when we have a lot of sick adults who cannot take care of themselves becasue of neglect in childhood. How miserable can one be to take a chnace for a healthy life away from anyone but especially a child. Hey Bush so much for family values or no child left behind.

patguff 05:43:51 PM Oct 16 2007

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I'm afraid that Ol' Bush has "bottomed out" with me, I couldn't think any less of him nor despise him any more than I currently do...he is just a low-life despicable piece of crap in a suit.

AForbes713 05:33:53 PM Oct 16 2007

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I suppose I am one of the lucky ones. I am a single mother of 2 and my ex husband provides health insurance for our kids. Good thing too, If I were to provide coverage for them my single insurance that costs me now $300.00 a month would go up to $600.00. I don't make that a week. How can families afford what the insurance industry has set for prices. We should go after them. Its such a scam.

robken61 03:03:34 PM Oct 16 2007

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WHY CAN'T i PRINT THAT THE USELESS DEMOCRAT CONGRESS HAS DONE NOTHING IN 10 MONTHS?

robken61 02:58:05 PM Oct 16 2007

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Here we have Dingy Harry doing what all liberals do wheel some kids or the elderly and tell them how the people on the right are going to take there benefits away.Its there same old ploy its all about the kids.These kids are already on the program but the sleazy mainstream media won't tell you the truth because there in the democrats pocket.Just another push to expand there entitlement programs at the TAXPAYERS EXPENSE.

grahamphot 11:43:41 AM Oct 16 2007

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Bush's war aginst the middle class is the only war he is winning!

grahamphot 11:43:08 AM Oct 16 2007

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Ain't it funny? It's OK when jr bushy uses troops, familys or children to try and make his lies beliveable.

But if a Democrait uses them to prove jr bush's lies the republicans have a fit!

crcaylor 10:29:13 AM Oct 16 2007

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The working middle class poor are slowly becoming extinct. Republicans are sick. Anyone who pours over the financial statements and asset lists of a family who has two children who suffered tramatic brain injuries in a car crash are SICK. Do they have any idea how much lifelong rehab and seizure medications and neurologists visits costs? This is LIFELONG people - it ain't cheap! Think about your own raise last year - what did it cover? Did it cover the gas increase for both your car and home? Did it cover your health insurance premiums and deductibles that rose anywhere from 5-10%? Did it cover the increase in the cost of groceries that rose this past year? Did it cover the increase in the cost of living at all??? Ridiculous how repubs think that if you make a salary at all that you must be OK. They are living in la-la land.

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