$400 billion $540 billion and No Extra Votes?

Sometimes crass politics turns out to be bad politics. Bush first lies about the cost of the Medicare Drug Bill, then rams it down conservatives’ throats, having the House Republicans hold the vote open into the wee hours of the night, then bribes and threatens a congressmen, then creates and distributes fake news reports, and now seniors don’t even have the decency to be enthusiastic about it:

Local senior citizens say they might have been more excited about the new Medicare discount drug card that rolled out yesterday – if only they knew what they were getting.

“It’s too complicated,” said Shirley Cox, as she finished a craft project at the Police Athletic Senior Center in Jamaica. “I am interested in getting the card, but I need someone to sit down and explain it. There are too many things that need to be explained in plain terms. It’s confusing,” said the Medicare client.

It’s so unfair. Somehow this must be the liberal media’s fault.

AB

P.S. As the graph in this post shows, seniors probably won’t be much happier when and if the full benefit rolls out in 2006.