Nobody in Washington likes to compromise, but when it comes to helping poor kids, you’d think politicians would choose solutions instead of spin. Think again.

Congressional Democrats and President Bush are on a collision course over the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Neither side wants to budge. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has refused to negotiate, and House Republicans are adamant about sustaining Bush’s veto of a $35-billion expansion of the program.

“We’re not going to compromise,” Reid said last week. “That is an insult -- an insult.”

The Democratic leader noted that liberals in the House already agreed to trim their legislation from $50 billion -- as if a compromise between far-left liberals and mainstream liberals should satisfy the full spectrum of policy views.

Some Republicans are being equally stubborn. Senate GOP leaders, unable to reach consensus among their caucus, decided to reintroduce legislation that stagnated this summer rather than embrace a new alternative. Two key holdouts, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), are giving Democrats the leverage they need.

So where do lawmakers go from here?

At a time when politics routinely trumps policy on nearly every issue, some members of Congress still are serious about getting something done. One of them is Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.). Although conservatives disapproved of Martinez’s approach on comprehensive immigration reform, they should like what he’s proposing for SCHIP.

“We’re at an impasse,” Martinez told Congressional Quarterly in reference to Bush’s veto. “We, as Republicans, can’t just be against something. We’ve got to be for something.” Continued...