Bush Holds Firm to Drug Benefit Deadline

By Aussiegirl

Just a few short weeks ago we were deriding the French for being so attached to the nanny state teat that they rioted rather than give up their bennies. Just to demonstrate what a one-way ticket to perdition socialism is, I have a question to ask: if it was proven that this program would bankrupt the national budget-which it will according to Bruce Bartlett -- how many would be willing to give up these benefits? Or do people feel entitled no matter what? Why should drugs be free? People need food too -- why shouldn't that be subsidized by the government? How about home heating? You can get by without some prescriptions (and you might be more healthy) but you sure can't get by without food. This is one program that should be means tested so that only needy people are eligible. There are plenty of well-off seniors who can afford their own meds. Where did we get this idea that health care should be free for seniors? And how about children buying some meds for their parents? Sadly, it's the seniors who are leading us all down the road to entitlement, socialism and eventual bankruptcy.

Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | Bush Holds Firm to Drug Benefit Deadline

By JENNIFER LOVEN
Associated Press Writer

SUN CITY CENTER, Fla. (AP) - President Bush has heard pleas for an extension of the deadline to sign up for new Medicare drug coverage from lawmakers, seniors advocacy groups and finally two women in his audience Tuesday. He's rejected them all.

``Deadlines are important,'' the president said at a retirement community, less than a week before the last day for most seniors and the disabled to enroll in the program without facing higher prices. ``Deadlines help people understand there's finality and people need to get after it.'' [....]

Bush's aggressive promotion of the Medicare benefit - and his refusal to push back the deadline - is likely about politics as much as policy.

The White House and congressional Republicans are hoping that the glitches of the program's early days and the confusing signup process will have faded to a distant memory by the fall midterm elections, replaced by widespread satisfaction with having help from Medicare with prescription drug costs for the first time.

As the controlling party in Congress, Republicans hope seniors - who play an outsize role in non-presidential elections - will give them credit in the voting booth for enacting a popular new benefit.