On any given playground in North Carolina, 13 out of 100 children don’t have health insurance.

That makes it harder to see a pediatrician if asthma makes it harder for them to play on the school soccer team or treat other illnesses like juvenile diabetes.

Today, Republican Robin Hayes and the rest of North Carolina’s Republican delegation made sure that it stays that way.

They voted against overriding President Bush’s veto of the State Children Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

By pushing the red, “no” button, Hayes just denied 116,000 North Carolina children health care.

Republicans try to downplay that ugly reality by distorting the facts, smearing a 12-year-old boy and his family, and accusing Democrats of weaving a gauzy haze of sob stories to confuse the public.

By standing with President Bush and against American families, Republicans refuse to face the cold, hard reality is that even in this land of abundant prosperity real, working families have a hard time making ends meet.

And when families are faced with immediate health care costs from a child being sick or the possibility of lifelong illnesses, it makes it that much harder for them to provide the basics for children, let alone extras like dance lessons, band camp uniforms, or the latest video game.

North Carolina’s program has strict income requirements. Only families whose income fall below 200 percent of the poverty line (that’s about $41,300 for a family of four) can participate.

Contrary to GOP propaganda, no North Carolina family earning $83,000 has been covered under our state’s program.

“Robin Hayes has done a lot of talking lately about blue collar, family values,” said NCDP Chair Jerry Meek. “But when Hayes had a chance to actually do something to make it a little easier for working families to pay for health care costs for their children, he chose to stand with President Bush.”

“By doing so, Hayes and the rest of the Republican delegation have shown how little they value the children on any given playground in North Carolina,” Meek said.