“Like a Texas Steer, the President would ‘fix’ Medicare for All Time

Washington, D.C. –Today, U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, spoke out in favor of H. Res. 1368, a rule suspending the arbitrary Medicare “trigger” for the 110thCongress. In a speech on the House floor, Rep. Doggett said:

“Taking a bigger cut from our seniors and disabled for drug benefit premiums is hardly a fix. In Texas, we have steers that get cut, get ‘fixed’—fixed for all time. And that is the type of “fix” this President and his cohorts have in mind for Medicare.”

“Improving Medicare’s finances does not mean extending the trigger date by a mere year as President Bush proposes; it means a willingness to pull the trigger on Medicare waste, like subsidies that cost more and deliver less.”

Congressman Lloyd Doggett; The President’s Plan: “Seniors, Pay More”

Taking a bigger cut from our seniors and disabled for drug benefit premiums is hardly a fix. In Texas, we have steers that get cut, get “fixed”—fixed for all time. And that is the type of “fix” this President and his cohorts have in mind for Medicare.

Contrast the “President’s fix” on Medicare this week with his Medicare veto last week. Republicans are so eager to privatize Medicare that they are spending an extra $1000 of taxpayer money every year, for every person, they can get to leave traditional Medicare. Had we not overridden the President’s veto, billions of dollars would have been wasted in subsidies to big private insurance companies. And despite our success, billions more in unnecessary subsidies still remain, waste that cries out our for a real Texas-type “fix.” Even Medicare’s own actuary reports absolutely zero quantifiable savings have occurred through this failed Republican experiment to privatize Medicare.

Improving Medicare’s finances does not mean extending the trigger date by a mere year as President Bush proposes; it means a willingness to pull the trigger on Medicare waste, like subsidies that cost more and deliver less.

“Drill here. Drill now.” That’s what the President’s plan is for our seniors’ wallets—his sorry policies have drilled them at the grocery store, drilled them at the gas pump, and today we can’t let him drill them on Medicare too.



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