One step at a time, in the days leading up to an Obama presidency .. we are getting closer and closer to government healthcare in this country. The latest step is the House passage of the Children's Health Insurance Plan bill (SCHIP). Now it's off to the Senate for approval. Then it is off to Obama's desk for him to sign once he is sworn in.

Don't forget that this is the bill Henry Waxman says, "This bill is a down payment, a down payment on health care for all Americans." Healthcare for all Americans is just another way of saying "healthcare that is run by the government."

Forty Republicans in the House said yes to the bill, despite some of the following criticisms ..

First of all, Republicans had little to no input into the bill. There's something they are going to have to get used to. Republicans claim that the bill would allow states to enroll families with incomes upwards of $80,000. Another reason they opposed the bill was because of "a provision in the measure that would lift a ban on providing the benefit to legal immigrants who have resided in the United States for less than five years." And finally, they were upset with a provision that would prohibit doctors from referring patients to hospitals that they (the doctors) have an ownership interest in. So we are talking about physician-owned hospitals. The private sector shall have a limited role in health care - how dare these providers of medical care actually own a facility for providing medical care? This makes about as much sense as forbidding a mechanic from owning the garage where he works.

As Waxman says, this bill is a down payment. This gets the foot in the door. And it is all happening without many Americans even batting an eye or picking up a phone to call their Senators.