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Political Gain of Medicare Bill Ricochets Off the GOP
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Issue
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| Contributor | ArmyDem |
| Last Edited | ArmyDem Feb 28, 2004 05:37pm |
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| Category | General |
| Media | Newspaper - Washington Post |
| News Date | Saturday, February 28, 2004 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Drug Benefit Changes Planned
By Amy Goldstein and Helen Dewar
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, February 29, 2004; Page A1
Three months after the GOP-controlled Congress expanded Medicare to include prescription drug benefits that Americans have long wanted, the political bounce that Republicans had hoped for is eluding them, as critics rail against the new law and voters say they still trust Democrats more on the issue.
The criticisms and setbacks for the party have come rapidly, just as Republicans enter an election season in which they had hoped Medicare would shine as one of their brightest domestic achievements. The House ethics committee is investigating a GOP lawmaker’s vote on the bill, and a federal agency is questioning the legality of the Bush administration’s $9.5 million advertising campaign to promote the law. Several Republicans are angry that the White House’s most recent cost estimate for the changes in the program is one-third more than Congress had been led to believe.
In such a volatile climate, liberal and conservative lawmakers, for different reasons, are racing to introduce bills to change key aspects of the law. Discontent is strong enough on Capitol Hill that some Republicans say the Medicare legislation, which passed the House and Senate by sliver-thin margins in November, probably would fail if the votes were taken today. |
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