Posted on 01/09/2006 7:11:25 AM PST by visitor
BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
It is said only in hushed tones and not by anybody of prominence, but a few brave souls in the Bush administration admit it. President Bush's Medicare drug benefit that went into effect Jan. 1 looks like a political blunder of far-reaching consequences. Furthermore, these critics assign major responsibility to Karl Rove.
(Excerpt) Read more at suntimes.com ...
Novak. Stopped reading right there.
More unfunded liabilities. Oh well, we just go bankrupt quicker, that's all.....
If (and I realize it is an "if") this program, by facilitating the purchase of prescription drugs, is able to reduce later more expensive corrective medical care, then it will MORE than pay for itself.
The way I understand it, doesn't it allow for more of the private sector to be involved, too? That is a good thing, imo.
see post 4
It was a flat out attmpt to out-liberal the liberals and BUY votes with hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars of our tax money.
I'm with him there. Given the insanity being expressed by the Democrats, we should have a vastly stronger majority in Congress. That Bush beat a traitor like Kerry by such a thin margin is truly scary. The foray into Hispandering is a similar bad move. Then there are Rove's machinations in California in appointing Gerry Parsky, which have turned so bad in Schwarzenegger that I would prefer a weakened Davis had stayed in office! IMO Rove has been a disaster.
How?
I've heard it before. It doesn't work because human nature gets in the way.
The propensity to consume anything (including meds) increases exponentially as the price approaches zero.
Also, it misses the point that something eventually kills you and that something is usually expensive. So if the cholesterol drugs saves someone a heart surgery eventually they'll get sick with something else that will cause catastrophic medical bills.
Before this bill we had projected unfunded liabilites of 50 trillion, now it is 60 trillion. The projection would not have increased that dramatically if this was a cost saver.
No one wants it. Old people don't like choice, it confuses them, and conservatives don't like robbing the younger generation to pay the older one.
This program is a fantastic example of "how to make no one happy"
Blunder?
Attempting to buy votes with tax dollars a blunder?
What is it called by republicans when the democrats created new entitlements in an effort to capture a voting block?
The respendican party strikes the tax payers again.
Unfortunately, as Novak says, that is bad for political fortunes. What SHOULD have been bad for political fortunes is reaction to the naked purchase of Florida in the electoral college.
Yeah, but blaming Rove is accepting the idea that GWB is a brainless puppet. Hmm, come to think of it...
If you criticize the new benefit system, it is because you hate Bush.
Regards, Ivan
Well the problem is, at it's heart the voters. The voters want more welfare state despite the fact that we cannot afford the current one, or even the smaller 2001 one.
And politicans are basically cowards. They could try to educate the voters about how over extended we are but they fear the voters would then turn them out of office.
Will it cause you to vote for a Democrat?
What will be the fallout?
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