WASHINGTON — Democrats cited the nation’s economic problems as a reason to expand a popular health insurance program for children on Wednesday, but their effort failed as the House sustained President Bush’s veto of a bill to provide coverage to nearly four million uninsured children. The vote for the bill was 260 to 152. Supporters were 15 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass the measure over the president’s objections. ‘Amid this economic downturn, with skyrocketing energy costs, a record number of mortgage foreclosures and fewer new jobs, the rate of unemployment has jumped dramatically,’ said Representative Allyson Y. Schwartz, Democrat of Pennsylvania. ‘Two-thirds of unemployed individuals lose health care coverage for their families when they lose their jobs. In times like these, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program is needed most.’ Republicans said the vote was a political stunt, intended to embarrass Mr. Bush before his State of the Union address next week. The bill would pump $35 billion more into the child health program, providing a total of $60 billion over the next five years. The money would allow states to cover nearly four million children, in addition to the six million […]