NEWS: Oops. Medicare Drug Benefit Costs $720B Not $400B

POLITICS: Oops. Medicare Drug Benefit Costs $720B Not $400B

In another triumph of mendacity and deception over common sense and accountability, the Bush White House released projections estimating the cost of Bush's much vaunted Medicare drug benefit at $720 billion dollars over the next 10 years. (free login: sgnews/sgnews) The original estimate provided when Congress enacted the benefit late in 2003 was $400 billion for 2003 - 2013. In early 2004 the estimate was raised to $534 billion.

I wonder if now, finally, true fiscal conservatives will catch on to the fact that Bush is not a fiscal conservative at all, but one of the most reckless spendthrifts in the history of the United States.

bush

Liberals have been predicting this since the beginning. Didn't Bush fire someone a year or two ago for having the audacity to say this outloud?

Obviously “facts” and “math” are part of a liberal conspiracy. How else could you explain the discrepancies between the Administrations plans and this so called “reality?” I mean really. Oil for Food, Cost of the Iraq war, Prescription Drug benefit, and Tax Cuts are all exactly as promised. Privatization of Social Security, uh I mean personal savings accounts, will work exactly as promised.

(This is my first directly anti-administration post. What a strange feeling. Molon Labe!)

I hate this administration. Hate, Hate Hate.

ARRRGGHHHHH!


And he's going to go down in the history books as a great Presideent! Our children's children we will taught to revere the Great WHite Terrorist Hunter!!!
This thought alone makes me want to join my French-Canadian heritage in the Homeland...

He's going to go down as one of the worst presidents who won reelection by the smallest (percentage) margin in history, presided over a divided country, fomented a cultural civil war, destroyed the value of the dollar, abrogated the US's role as economic leader of the world, started unnecessary and unjust wars, violated international law, committed war crimes, and only got reelected because the democrats fielded exactly the wrong candidate at the wrong time.

[Edited on Feb 09, 2005 by HenryTMensch]

The thing about it is that this isn't the Bush Administration forgetting to carry a zero or an error of any sort -- they intentionally went with the most lowball estimate of the cost of that.

In short, it was a total fucking lie.

The Bush administration lies! Film at 11.

Nothing they could do any more would remotely surprise me.

I hope so. But when I think of the adage, "when truth becomes legend, print the legend", well...I'm not so optimistic.

that's how the rest of the world will (and already does) view him... but i'm not so sure about american history books...

What do you figure will get cut first? The Missile Defense Program or this?

"Bush is not a fiscal conservative at all, but one of the most reckless spendthrifts in the history of the United States."

You're being sarcastic right?

Starting to think the only way to make the federal government solvent is to set up a Logan's Run type scheme, except at age 55 or 60. The old just soak up so much in entitlements, and it becomes a vicious cycle. Government subsidizes life-extending drugs........which means the old will collect social security and take Medicare benefits longer.......so we'll have to borrow to meet unfunded obligations......which increases debt payments..........

Ugh.

Or we could just get off smoking's back. Cigarettes alone could kill off enough people to save medicare and social security. Seriously.

No. Are you?

Not that I like Bush or anything but why should we let facts or context get in the way of a good Bush bashing?

White House Press Briefing

$723 billion? What happened to the original $400 billion?!

It's a sad thing that Republican and Democratic politicians are cumbags who pander to seniors in order to stay in office at the expense of decency and on the backs of younger workers. But the pandering is bi-partisan and for a democrat to now point the finger at the whitehouse.... did no Democrats pander to their voters extolling the virtue of this new benefit?

From the Libertarian think-tank the Cato Institute

"The Mother of All Big Spenders: Bush Spends Like Carter and Panders Like Clinton"

This is what I heard on NPR on the way to work this AM, as translated into english of sorts by me.

They didn't lowball the costs, but they included last year and this year in the original 10 year projections and - hey - presto - they're not BUYing drugs for Medicare this year or next year - so when they did the 10 year projections - well lookie there, they're cheaper cuz we skip the first two years.

Now that we've added a new year we're paying for drugs and taken out a year we're NOT paying for drugs - amazing! it costs more!

I did wonder WTF they were up to skipping first two years, now I understand - devious buggers!

There are theoretically some costs savings that offset the "full" costs, but that's all BS and savings on paper anyway, we still haveta shell out all 120billion or whatever it was.

taxpayer at work!

I should say because of medicare/medicaid my parents can afford to put my grandmom into a retirement home so she can be taken care of - atleast so far, they're talking about cutting those costs now.

fiscal conservatism means cutting government cost, administering entitlements at the state level (at most), low deficits, and strong protectionist policies. he has done none of these things. conservatives, he lied to you too.

This is just one example of why I despise the Left versus Right political mentality in America. Besides carrying the worst traits of the stereotypical "Right Wing Nutjob" (zealously religious, bigoted, war mongering) just how is Bush Jr. or his policies conservative?

when and if they get called on this, i imagein the prez will say something about how god/pusbag has told him to cut medicare entirely so that we can continue the war on togo. and then go back to the two minutes hate.

(i've decided that any reference to bush by me will be accompanied by a reference to god/pusbag decreeing something.)

For all you people claiming fiscal conservatives were 'lied to' by Bush, I challenge you to find one quote where Bush claims to be a fiscal conservative, and one member on this site who claimed Bush was a fiscal conservative or that they were voting for him based on his economic policies.