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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lurqer who wrote (39576)	3/15/2004 9:40:36 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

It was ironic to listen to this on the CBS Evening News Medicare Cost Cover-up? An election year battle over the new Medicare law reached a fever pitch. There are charges now the Bush administration is selling the program to the public in a very misleading way – and misled Congress about the true cost of the program, reports CBS Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts. It passed by only a few votes -- and now there is evidence it took more than political armtwisting to get the President's prescription drug plan through. An e-mail -- obtained by CBS News -- appears to show the White House was anxious to hide ballooning cost estimates. Sent on behalf of former Medicare administrator Tom Scully, it warns the agency's chief actuary, Rick Foster to not tell Congress the price tag would be well above the White House's stated 400 billion. Foster is told "the consequences for insubordination are extremely severe".... Democrats -- who want another vote on the bill -- are outraged. "In the United States of America, in our democracy, there is no place for silencing the truth that belongs to the American people,'' said Bush's Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry. Democrats' calls for an investigation into the pressure tactics have so far gone unheeded. But today, they did get an investigation of a bogus news story put out by the administration to promote the Medicare reform and prescription drug bill. The so-called Video News Release or VNR - sent to TV stations across the country, uses actors to portray journalists and report on the benefits of the plan. "This is the government putting out propaganda and trying to make it look like a news report, look like valid independent news. And that's very disturbing role for the government to play,'' says Lary Noble, with the Center For Responsive Politics. VNRs have been around for decades, including by the Clinton administration. But in this high stakes election year, on such a highly charged issue, their use has government investigators looking into whether they cross the line between promotion and propaganda. The administration defended the Video News Release as strictly informational -- totally appropriate. And they now say they, too, want to know if and why Foster was silenced on the program's cost -- three months after the bill was signed into law. cbsnews.com While I know The Campaign for America's Future and groups around the country have told television networks and their affiliated local stations that they have a responsibility to pull these ads off the air because the GAO found them misleading. And CBS has special responsibility to do so, because CBS, while acknowledging that the HHS-Bush ads are controversial, has continued to air them, while refusing MoveOn's request to buy time for TV spots criticizing the Bush prescription drug program. from Message 19915222 lurqer

To: lurqer who wrote (39576)	3/16/2004 12:12:16 AM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

Re: Like any predator, you go after the "easy prey". I prefer "vulnerable and tasty morsel". Except in the case of the Polack. That's more or less incestuous cannibalism. Frankly, I'm a bit shocked that Berlusconi can keep it together in Italy. He's the most despised man in the country. I don't know much about Koizumi. But I have to admit that I like the fact that the Japanese have bought $200 Billion worth of the crap IOUs this quarter that Alan Greensputum and the so-called U.S. Treasury are dumping on the trapped quislings like Japan. If he and the MoF cared to, they could absolutely wreck the U.S. economy. Unfortunately, I think they realize this and are gaining leverage against a profligate spendthrift idiot son like George Bush.