Bruce Quoted On ABC's "This Week"
Andrew, Pete, Troy, our soon-to-be-added new blogger, and I are so proud of Bruce.
This is from the transcript of today's "This Week." Jake Tapper, who was sitting in for George Stephanopoulos, was interviewing Republican Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY):
TAPPER: The Congressional Budget Office says that the health care reform bill will actually reduce the deficit by $132 billion. But there’s also this criticism from Bruce Bartlett, an official in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, who wrote in a “Forbes” magazine article, titled “Republican Deficit Hypocrisy,” that the 2003 Medicare prescription drug benefit offered by the Republican Senate was, a quote, “pure giveaway,” that quote, “had no dedicated financing, no offsets, no revenue raisers. 100 percent of the cost simply added to the federal budget deficit.” Quote, “As far as I’m concerned, any Republican who voted for the Medicare drug benefit has no right to criticize anything the Democrats have done in terms of adding to the national debt.”
Senator, you voted for that Medicare prescription drug benefit, which some say will cost $1 trillion over 10 years and was not offset by revenue or spending cuts.
Correction
I just want to note for the record that I slightly exaggerated my point. Medicare Part D isn't a 100% give-away. Premiums paid by beneficiaries cover 4% of the cost, so it's only a 96% give-away.
economists: leopards not capable of changing their spots?
“As far as I’m concerned, any Republican who voted for the Medicare drug benefit has no right to criticize anything the Democrats have done in terms of adding to the national debt.”
Are you saying that a person can never admit and learn from a mistake? Maybe you mean politicians can never admit and learn from a mistake?
Forgiveness
I would happily forgive any Republican who voted for Medicare Part D and admitted error, publicly. However, I would expect some penance. But as far as I know, not one single Republican who voted for that monstrosity has ever said publicly that he or she made a mistake. On the contrary, when asked by reporters they always defend their vote. See conservative hero Orrin Hatch's ridiculuous comments here:
www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/26/us/politics/AP-US-Health-Care-Deficit.html
More relevant...
That's a fair "gotcha" I suppose, but rather irrelevant to policy being made now. Vengefully gratifying, perhaps, but non-productive.
I'd much rather see Senators who are telling us today that 40% of the cost of health reform will be financed by cuts to Medicare -- but who in the past repeatedly, annually, voted to over-ride such cuts that were are dictated by Medicare's Sustainable Growth Rate mechanism -- be asked why they always voted against such cuts in the past, and how they square that with assuring us now that they and future politicians will always vote for those cuts in the future.
That would seem a "gotcha" more relevant, constructive and informative as to policy making.
Medicare
What's worse is that for cynical political purposes only, the Republican Party has officially become the primary protector of Medicare--no cuts at any time for any reason, says RNC chairman Michael Steele. How can anybody take such a clown seriously?