> Doug Pensinger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Sometime listmember Brad DeLong's take: > http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/
<snippage> > So why, then, is my attitude toward the Bush > administration's Social > Security non-proposal like that of the Dread Pirate > Roberts? Think of the Cliffs of Insanity here... > Experience. We've seen what Bush administration > proposals turn into. We've > seen it turn a surplus into a deficit. We've seen > its idea of a farm bill. > We've seen its steel tariff--bad economics, bad > mercantilism, and bad > politics. We've seen the recent corporate tax > monstrosity. We've seen the > Medicare drug benefit. We've heard from Paul > O'Neill. We've heard from > John DiIulio. The Bush administration is batting as > close to a zero on > economic policy as an administration can--and > economic policy is the > bright spot in this administration. > > So one's assessment of what the Bush Social Security > "reform" plan is > going to be must be more-or-less like this: it may > look cute and friendly > now, but it won't stay cute and friendly for long. > Somehow--we're not sure > how--it's gonna get mean. It's going to get ugly. > And it's going to get > stupid. The chances that whatever the Bush > administration proposes and the > Republican Congressional leadership gets behind will > be good for the > country are indistinguishable from zero. I'm changing "SS reform" to "Medicare drug coverage": http://discuss.agonist.org/yabbse/index.php?board=3%3Baction=display%3Bthreadid=13810%3Bstart=100 By William Neikirk, [Chicago]Tribune senior correspondent. Tamara Lytle of the Orlando Sentinel contributed to this report January 30, 2004 WASHINGTON -- President Bush's new budget will project the 10-year cost of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit at $534 billion, more than a third higher than the figure used when it was narrowly approved by Congress, government sources said Thursday. At the same time, government sources said that the federal deficit this year would be a record $521 billion, dwarfing previous estimates. The new Medicare figure, which came from actuaries at the Health and Human Services Department, differs markedly from the $395 billion estimate of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office that dominated congressional debate... http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/10/politics/10medicare.html?oref=login (You can use brinl as login and password) Feb. 9 - New cost estimates for Medicare's prescription drug benefit prompted members of Congress of all political stripes on Wednesday to demand changes in the Medicare law before the benefit becomes available next year... ...The fine points of accounting were swept up in a political tempest over the 2003 Medicare law, which Mr. Bush often cites as one of his greatest achievements in domestic policy. At the time, many lawmakers worried that the original cost estimate - $400 billion from 2004 to 2013 - might be low. Lawmakers said the new estimate, $724 billion from 2006 to 2015, confirmed their fear that costs would explode... ...In January 2004, less than two months after Mr. Bush signed the law, the White House said it would cost $534 billion from 2004 to 2013. Of that amount, $511 billion was specifically for the drug benefit. For the same 10-year period, the administration now puts the cost of the drug benefit at $518 billion... ...Under pressure from lawmakers of both parties, Mr. Bush's budget director, Joshua B. Bolten, said the White House would work with Congress on measures to control the cost of the drug benefit. Mr. Bolten did not endorse a specific measure. But lawmakers listed several options: imposing a cap on spending for the drug benefit; cutting the federal subsidy for wealthy beneficiaries; requiring the government to negotiate prices with drug manufacturers; legalizing imports of lower-cost medicines from Canada and other countries; and prohibiting Medicare coverage of "lifestyle drugs" like Viagra... ****The 2003 law forbids the government to negotiate directly with drug companies to secure lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries.**** Senators John McCain of Arizona and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, both Republicans, joined Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, in calling for the repeal of that ban. {Not that Kennedy is one of my preferred politcos -- his take on leaving Iraq was particularly pointless/useless}... ...On Wednesday, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, signed on as a co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill to allow imports by individuals, pharmacies and drug wholesalers. Mr. Grassley, the chairman of the Finance Committee, said the United States welcomed imports of other goods and services, so, he asked, "Why not for pharmaceuticals?"... {Especially since _we already get some drugs from overseas/out-of-country_ --like flu vaccine, frex.} Somewhat related, this is an interesting site from "the meanderings of a board certified emergency physician at mid�career�who tumbled into law school�chasing health, law and technology rabbits:" http://www.symtym.com/index.php/symtym/healthcare_sump/ About 50 percent of health care spending is eaten up by waste, excessive prices and fraud, according to a report set for release today by Boston University researchers. Major sources of unnecessary spending include administrative costs and profit in the insurance industry, high prices of prescription drugs and health services and, to a smaller extent, theft and fraud, according to the study... Back to Medicare- http://www.symtym.com/index.php/symtym/2005/01/ Under "Who's New at the Trough:" WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 - The Bush administration has touched off a furious debate with new rules allowing employers to collect billions of dollars in federal subsidies for prescription drug benefits less generous than what many retirees were expecting under the new Medicare law. � The Congressional Budget Office estimates that Medicare will spend $71 billion on employer subsidies from 2006 to 2013. The maximum subsidy in 2006 will be $1,330 per retiree. Medicare officials say the average subsidy payment will be $668 per retiree... Debbi Nonnegotiable My Hinny! Maru UU __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone. http://mobile.yahoo.com/maildemo _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
