PRESTOPUNDIT -- feeding memeorandum & econRT daily

the Medicare drug benefit is one of the worst pieces of social legislation in decades .. President Bush, Secretary Thompson and every member of Congress who voted for the Medicare drug benefit knowingly worsened the long-term budget outlook without solving any major social problem. The main result is to allow the elderly to spend more of their money on things they want by shifting the cost of drugs to younger taxpayers. What motivated this legislative atrocity? Here's Thompson's answer: "Seniors from Alaska to Florida demanded that we provide them a prescription drug benefit . . . and I'm happy to say we have delivered." Another interpretation would be that the Bush administration was trying to buy the support of retirees with hundreds of billions of dollars of new handouts. Either way, it's the politics of "yes." One narrow lesson: Be suspicious of the Bush administration's forthcoming proposals for Social Security "personal accounts." If the drug benefit is any guide, the motives are mainly political. The larger lesson is that Americans are living in a self-created culture of delusion ..