BS: Bush Medicare Bill based on illegal lies

Subject: BS: Bush Medicare Bill based on illegal lies
From: Nerd
Date: 08 Sep 04 - 04:06 PM

From the New York Times:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 - The Bush administration illegally withheld data from Congress on the cost of the new Medicare law, and as a penalty, the former head of the Medicare agency, Thomas A. Scully, should repay seven months of his salary to the government, federal investigators said Tuesday.

The investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, said Mr. Scully had threatened to fire the chief Medicare actuary, in violation of an explicit provision of federal appropriations law.

The conclusion came in a formal legal opinion by the accountability office, an investigative arm of Congress formerly known as the General Accounting Office. The agency applied its interpretation of the law to factual findings previously made by the inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Bush administration did not quarrel with those facts, but said on Tuesday that it was unconstitutional for Congress to compel the disclosure of data over objections from the executive branch.

Mr. Scully, who now works for a law firm and a private investment firm, has registered as a lobbyist for Abbott Laboratories, Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Caremark Rx and other health care companies, but says his actions in government were motivated solely by a desire to help Medicare beneficiaries and taxpayers.

Senator Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey, one of 18 Democratic senators who requested the legal opinion, said the administration had purposely hidden information about "its flawed Medicare plan," and he asserted, "This was a corruption of the process at the highest levels."

President Bush signed the Medicare law, widely seen as one of his major domestic achievements, on Dec. 8. Less than two months later, the White House said the law would cost much more than Congress had assumed - $534 billion over 10 years, as against $400 billion.

Lawmakers of both parties said the law would not have passed in its current form if Congress had known of the higher cost estimates, prepared by the chief actuary, Richard S. Foster, a career civil servant who has worked for the government since 1973 and received an award for outstanding service in 2001.


Nerd adds:
And the great thing is, Bush is acting to protect Scully by invoking executive privilege. Executive privilege to lie to Congress! Executive privilege to threaten a civil servant!

Subject: RE: BS: Bush Medicare Bill based on illegal lies
From: katlaughing
Date: 08 Sep 04 - 04:27 PM

it was unconstitutional for Congress to compel the disclosure of data over objections from the executive branch. When did this become true?!! No checks and balances??!!

Subject: RE: BS: Bush Medicare Bill based on illegal lies
From: GUEST,Frank
Date: 08 Sep 04 - 05:20 PM

The bill was for the benefit of the Pharmaceutical Companies. They can legally raise their rates with impugnity. Their lobbies own Bush Administration.

Ostensibly, raise rate for R and D but that's false. They spend a relatively small amount for R and D. Somewhere around 8%.

Foster is a whistle-blower. Scully culpable.

Frank

Subject: RE: BS: Bush Medicare Bill based on illegal lies
From: DougR
Date: 08 Sep 04 - 05:25 PM

Wow, Nerd, now you've went and done it! Posted an article from the New York Times critical of the Bush administration. How quaint.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Bush Medicare Bill based on illegal lies
From: DougR
Date: 08 Sep 04 - 05:59 PM

You will note, however, that the Bush administration is not "quarreling with the facts." Executive priviledge does exist you know. And Bush is not the first president to use it.

Are you sure this article was in the September 7 issue of the New York Times? It seems to me I read this same story WEEKS ago in our local newspaper. I cannot imagine for a minute, though, that The Arizona Republic would scoop The New York Times.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Bush Medicare Bill based on illegal lies
From: GUEST,GROK
Date: 08 Sep 04 - 07:21 PM

Nerd,

I am fast becoming your most avid reader. Give 'em hell.

Subject: RE: BS: Bush Medicare Bill based on illegal lies
From: mack/misophist
Date: 08 Sep 04 - 09:02 PM

Ditto. Double.

Subject: RE: BS: Bush Medicare Bill based on illegal lies
From: Bobert
Date: 08 Sep 04 - 10:56 PM

The Mediacare reform legislation is the joke of all time... Like how is it gonna cost anything? 90% of deniors can't figure it out, it rrewards the drug companies and the insurance companies for 10% that can.

Throw in the now-yer-covered-now-yer-not-now-you-are-now-yer-not-now-yer-covered-now.......

Geeze...

Written by a bunch of bozos...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Bush Medicare Bill based on illegal lies
From: Nerd
Date: 09 Sep 04 - 02:19 AM

The news element, DougR, is that Scully was just found guilty and told to return his pay. The article you read weeks ago was probably when he was charged by the GAO.

True, executive privilege does exist. But should it really be used to block an auditor from giving the correct cost estimates of a bill to Congress? Or to protect someone who knowingly lied to Congress in order to pass a piece of pet legislation?

I don't think even YOU would argue that, DougR!

Subject: RE: BS: Bush Medicare Bill based on illegal lies
From: Bev and Jerry
Date: 09 Sep 04 - 09:08 PM

The bill would have been passed even if the true cost estimate had been known by congress.

First, the bill, hundreds of pages long, was voted on hours after it was printed so that no one could actually read it. Second, the vote was held around 2:00 in the morning. Third, what was announced as a fifteen minute voting period was extended to several hours while the Republican majority in the house literally bribed opposition congressmen until they achieved a tiny majority.

With tactics like this, the content of the bill was totally irrelevant as was the cost.

Bev and Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Bush Medicare Bill based on illegal lies
From: Nerd
Date: 10 Sep 04 - 12:19 AM

Not so, Bev and Jerry.

If it had passed easily and openly, you would have been correct: the cost would not have mattered.

The very fact that the Republican leadership had to resort to such elaborate measures to pass this bill shows that the bill barely, barely passed, and that it would not have passed unless all these measures were taken, including hiding the true cost.

Several lawmakers who voted yes, on both sides of aisle, now say they would have voted no had they known the true cost. If they are telling the truth then the bill would have died.

Subject: RE: BS: Bush Medicare Bill based on illegal lies
From: Bev and Jerry
Date: 10 Sep 04 - 12:55 AM

Nerd:

It just means the bribes would have had to be bigger. If they swallowed the subsidies to drug companies and insurance companies, the ban on drug importation from Canada, the ban on Medicare negotiating prices with drug companies, and the ridiculous discount cards, surely a little more arm twisting and/or bigger bribes would have got them to swallow the cost, too.

Bev and Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Bush Medicare Bill based on illegal lies
From: Nerd
Date: 10 Sep 04 - 01:08 AM

The point is they could not have held the voting open forever, Bev and Jerry. Eventually they would have had to give up. The situation came very close to that already.