Barack Obama signed an expansion of the government’s children’s health insurance program into law Wednesday, calling the measure a “down payment” on his plans to provide coverage for all Americans.

“I refuse to accept that millions of our children fail to reach their full potential because we fail to meet their basic needs,” Mr. Obama said at a White House signing ceremony.

“In a decent society, there are certain obligations that are not subject to tradeoffs or negotiation, and health care for our children is one of those obligations.”

We are a decent society Mr. Obama and we’re also sick of your “America Bad” remarks at every turn. (Read our previous post on S-Chip)

Mr. Obama said the program’s expansion is the first step in his long-stated goal of remaking the U.S. health-care system.

“It is just one component of a much broader effort to finally bring our health-care system into the 21st century,” Mr. Obama said.

More like moving America back to the 7th-Century after we go completely bankrupt in our opinion.

The anticipated $33 billion five-year cost of the expansion will be financed by an increase in tobacco taxes, including a 61-cent-a-pack increase in cigarette taxes that would raise the federal excise tax on a pack of cigarettes to $1.

Republican opponents complain that the measure would allow legal immigrants to access Schip, eliminating a current five-year waiting period in the law. President George W. Bush twice vetoed the expansion.

Some Republicans also have expressed concern that the expansion of Schip would “crowd out” the private insurance market, giving some middle-income families incentive to select a government program over private insurers.

“Why would you take someone who has private health insurance and move them to a government-run program?” asked Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX).

Answer: Because Barack Hussein Obama is a Marxist and he plans on a Socialist society as soon as he can get it. Health care is one of the quickest vehicles to his plan while constantly telling Americans how bad they have it.

We will have more on why Schip is bad for America and place added emphasis on government in charge of the people.