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-- Bush Threatened to Fire Official for Telling Truth
Bush Threatened to Fire Official for Telling Truth
During this time of record deficits, President Bush promised the country that his drug-industry backed Medicare bill would cost $395 billion.1 But just weeks after he signed the bill into law, his own budget office admitted that the bill would actually cost well over $500 billion.2 And today a new report shows that the President knew that the bill cost more than he had claimed, and yet he deliberately hid the information from the public until the legislation was already signed into law.
As revealed in an exclusive Knight-Ridder report, the White House threatened to fire its own top Medicare actuary "if he told lawmakers about a series of Bush administration cost estimates" that priced the bill at more than $500 billion.3 At the time, conservative Republicans had "vowed to vote against the Medicare drug bill if it cost more than $400 billion." This means that the president deliberately misled members of his own party on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry that pushed the bill and has been a top contributor to his campaign.4 As Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) said, "I think a lot of people probably would have reconsidered" voting for the bill had they not been deliberately misled by the White House.
At Knight-Ridder's website you can see the full text of the 6/26/03 email that Medicare's top actuary Richard S. Foster sent to colleagues informing them of the White House threat.5
Sources:
1. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003...ain570166.shtml
2. http://www.washtimes.com/national/2...15021-1957r.htm
3. http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwas.../printstory.jsp
4. http://www.opensecrets.org/industri...ips.asp?Ind=H04
5. http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/8170927.htm
All the more reason to vote for anybody but Bush or move to New Zealand. Christ he's bringing this country down along side his IQ (not that it was very high to begin with). Gawd what a maroon, next thing you know he's gonna start approving tax cuts and reliefs to the Texas Rangers. It's a good thing some of his officials have a conscious, otherwise this bill would have been passed, then the tax payers would have had to make up the difference.
New Zealand kicks ass. Much higher on the evolutionary ladder than America. Time to move.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm..._to_reaffirm_19
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Bush Administration Opposes 40 Latin American Nations in Agreement on Women's Health; Santiago Conference Poised to Reaffirm 1994 Cairo Consensus Wed Mar 10, 5:53 PM ET WASHINGTON, March 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In a repeat of its widely criticized behavior at the 2002 population conference in Bangkok, the Bush administration today stood alone in opposing a declaration of Latin American countries reaffirming the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (also known as the Cairo Consensus). "Once again, the United States stands alone, turning its back on women, public health and global consensus," said Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Health policymakers from Latin America and the Caribbean gathered today in Santiago, Chile, to reaffirm their commitment to the Cairo Consensus, a landmark international agreement to improve the health, education and economic well-being of all the world's citizens. The final text of the draft declaration is still being negotiated, but it is expected to reaffirm the rights of adolescents to receive medically accurate sexuality education, and support the family "in all its forms," not just as a unit based on a marriage between a man and a woman, two positions opposed by the administration. At a similar regional conference in Bangkok, Thailand, in December 2002, the administration used threats and intimidation in an attempt to compel other nations to join its opposition to the Cairo Consensus. The effort ultimately failed in Bangkok, and the U.S. position was defeated, 30-1. In Santiago, the vote was 40 nations against the United States' one vote. "The Bush administration has systematically put its extreme political agenda ahead of the health and rights of women worldwide," Feldt remarked. "Fortunately other nations have seen through this attempt to scale back individual rights, and so do most Americans." ------ Planned Parenthood Federation of America is the nation's largest and most trusted voluntary family planning organization. We believe that everyone has the right to choose when or whether to have a child -- and that every child should be wanted and loved. Planned Parenthood affiliates operate nearly 900 health centers nationwide, providing medical services and sexuality education for millions of women, men, and teenagers each year. http://www.usnewswire.com/ -0- /� 2004 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ |
"Politics" isn't even on the Bush Administration's agenda anymore. Its just religion. No other country in the world, other than Iraq, allows religion to seep so far into government. It makes me sick to see how similar George Bush and Saddam Hussain really are.
Both against homosexuals.
Both against women's rights.
Both hungry so hungry for oil that they would kill their own people for it.
yeah, someone, please overthrow him before it's to late 
Coup d' �tat!!!
so why did people vote for him?
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| Originally posted by Massive84 so why did people vote for him? |
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| Originally posted by Massive84 so why did people vote for him? |
What were differences between Gore and Bush? Would there have been a war? where would the economy be? who lies? both have self-interest over well-being of "the american people"?
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| Originally posted by djSlain What were differences between Gore and Bush? Would there have been a war? where would the economy be? who lies? both have self-interest over well-being of "the american people"? |
I hate that Physical Education is a requirement for the High Schools here in California. I really think we could just replace it with a class on local/national politics. People could learn about issues in their city hall, their state government, their votes in runnings. So many teenagers these days get out of high school fast to make fast money, not realizing if they had voted in any kind of election, they would be recieving MORE money in the end.
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| Originally posted by anuneventrade *thanks her lucky stars she's moving out of this country*[/font] |
How do you know when this is a crooked bill? When John McCain also speaks out against it even though it would hurt his own party.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/p...pagewanted=1&hp
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U.S. Videos, for TV News, Come Under Scrutiny By ROBERT PEAR Published: March 15, 2004 WASHINGTON, March 14 � Federal investigators are scrutinizing television segments in which the Bush administration paid people to pose as journalists praising the benefits of the new Medicare law, which would be offered to help elderly Americans with the costs of their prescription medicines. The videos are intended for use in local television news programs. Several include pictures of President Bush receiving a standing ovation from a crowd cheering as he signed the Medicare law on Dec. 8. The materials were produced by the Department of Health and Human Services, which called them video news releases, but the source is not identified. Two videos end with the voice of a woman who says, "In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting." But the production company, Home Front Communications, said it had hired her to read a script prepared by the government. Another video, intended for Hispanic audiences, shows a Bush administration official being interviewed in Spanish by a man who identifies himself as a reporter named Alberto Garcia. Another segment shows a pharmacist talking to an elderly customer. The pharmacist says the new law "helps you better afford your medications," and the customer says, "It sounds like a good idea." Indeed, the pharmacist says, "A very good idea." The government also prepared scripts that can be used by news anchors introducing what the administration describes as a made-for-television "story package." In one script, the administration suggests that anchors use this language: "In December, President Bush signed into law the first-ever prescription drug benefit for people with Medicare. Since then, there have been a lot of questions about how the law will help older Americans and people with disabilities. Reporter Karen Ryan helps sort through the details." The "reporter" then explains the benefits of the new law. Lawyers from the General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress, discovered the materials last month when they were looking into the use of federal money to pay for certain fliers and advertisements that publicize the Medicare law. In a report to Congress last week, the lawyers said those fliers and advertisements were legal, despite "notable omissions and other weaknesses." Administration officials said the television news segments were also a legal, effective way to educate beneficiaries. Gary L. Kepplinger, deputy general counsel of the accounting office, said, "We are actively considering some follow-up work related to the materials we received from the Department of Health and Human Services." One question is whether the government might mislead viewers by concealing the source of the Medicare videos, which have been broadcast by stations in Oklahoma, Louisiana and other states. Federal law prohibits the use of federal money for "publicity or propaganda purposes" not authorized by Congress. In the past, the General Accounting Office has found that federal agencies violated this restriction when they disseminated editorials and newspaper articles written by the government or its contractors without identifying the source. Kevin W. Keane, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said there was nothing nefarious about the television materials, which he said had been distributed to stations nationwide. Under federal law, he said, the government is required to inform beneficiaries about changes in Medicare. "The use of video news releases is a common, routine practice in government and the private sector," Mr. Keane said. "Anyone who has questions about this practice needs to do some research on modern public information tools." But Democrats disagreed. "These materials are even more disturbing than the Medicare flier and advertisements," said Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey. "The distribution of these videos is a covert attempt to manipulate the press." Mr. Lautenberg, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, and seven other members of Congress requested the original review by the accounting office. In the videos and advertisements, the government urges beneficiaries to call a toll-free telephone number, 1-800-MEDICARE. People who call that number can obtain recorded information about prescription drug benefits if they recite the words "Medicare improvement." Documents from the Medicare agency show why the administration is eager to advertise the benefits of the new law, on radio and television, in newspapers and on the Internet. "Our consumer research has shown that beneficiaries are confused about the Medicare Modernization Act and uncertain about what it means for them," says one document from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Other documents suggest the scope of the publicity campaign: $12.6 million for advertising this winter, $18.5 million to publicize drug discount cards this spring, about $18.5 million this summer, $30 million for a year of beneficiary education starting this fall and $44 million starting in the fall of 2005. "Video news releases" have been used for more than a decade. Pharmaceutical companies have done particularly well with them, producing news-style health features about the afflictions their drugs are meant to cure. The videos became more prominent in the late 1980's, as more and more television stations cut news-gathering budgets and were glad to have packaged news bits to call their own, even if they were prepared by corporations seeking to sell products. As such, the videos have drawn criticism from some news media ethicists, who consider them to be at odds with journalism's mission to verify independently the claims of corporations and governments. Government agencies have also produced such videos for years, often on subjects like teenage smoking and the dangers of using steroids. But the Medicare materials wander into more controversial territory. Bill Kovach, chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, expressed disbelief that any television stations would present the Medicare videos as real news segments, considering the current debate about the merits of the new law. "Those to me are just the next thing to fraud," Mr. Kovach said. "It's running a paid advertisement in the heart of a news program." |
hmmm
[QUOTE
*thanks her lucky stars she's moving out of this country*[/font] [/QUOTE]
Where are you moving?
More news about the Medicare scandal:
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| House Ethics Panel to Probe Allegations of Lawmaker By Charles Babington Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, March 18, 2004; Page A04 The House ethics committee announced yesterday it will conduct "a full and complete inquiry" into a Michigan Republican lawmaker's claims that GOP colleagues tried to win his vote on a contentious Medicare bill last year first by offering to boost -- and then threatening to hinder -- his son's congressional campaign. The inquiry into Rep. Nick Smith's allegations marks the first time in 20 months that the ethics panel has publicly announced such a "formal inquiry" into reports of questionable behavior by House members. Smith, who has never identified the lawmakers he said tried to influence his vote, promised to "cooperate fully with the inquiry." He and the ethics panel -- formally known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct -- declined further comment. The committee's action comes amid growing complaints from watchdog groups and some Democratic activists who say the panel has been too complacent in pursuing news accounts of conflicts of interest, campaign finance irregularities and other possible ethics violations by lawmakers. The committee said it decided on its "own initiative" to move to the formal inquiry stage, after an informal fact-gathering stage that began Dec. 8. Smith, a relatively obscure sixth-term House member who will retire this year, was the subject of intense lobbying on the House floor in the predawn hours of Nov. 22, as GOP leaders sought the last few votes they needed to pass a bill adding prescription drug coverage to Medicare. Smith later wrote an article for a Michigan newspaper saying unnamed House leaders had promised substantial financial and political support for his son -- who is running to succeed him -- if Smith voted yes. Smith, who voted against the bill, also wrote that members had threatened to work against his son's bid if he voted no. The House's top Republicans say they neither threatened nor tried to bribe Smith for his vote. House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said in a statement last night that a formal ethics inquiry into Smith's claims is "the only way that the House can remove the cloud of suspicion that hangs over this matter to this day." � 2004 The Washington Post Company http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...er=emailarticle |
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