skippy the bush kangaroo

Friday, April 30, 2004

who wrote this stuff?

mrs. skippy likes the current aarp commercial which shows everyday ordinary americans trying to make sense of the new medicare rules.

skippy personally thinks it's a spot which unintentionally backfires on the aarp...after all, they're the organization which, against the protestations of several thousands of its members, sponsored the bill which made the program more complicated, and less beneficial to all but the insurance companies (which help sponsor aarp).

nonetheless, our bud jj at the daily cookie sends us a link which points out that in the ruckus to get the bill passed, awol may have violated federal law by withholding the exact amount the program would cost from congress. the nytimes:

the congressional research service says the bush administration apparently violated federal law by ordering the chief medicare actuary to withhold information from congress indicating that the new medicare law could cost far more than white house officials had said.

in a report on monday, the research service said that congress's "right to receive truthful information from federal agencies to assist in its legislative functions is clear and unassailable." since 1912, it said, federal laws have protected the rights of federal employees to communicate with congress, and recent laws have "reaffirmed and strengthened" those protections.

the actuary, richard s. foster, has testified that he was ordered to withhold the cost estimates last year, when congress was considering legislation to add a drug benefit to medicare. the order, he said, came from thomas a. scully, who was then the administrator of medicare.

mr. foster said mr. scully threatened to discipline him for insubordination if he gave congress the data.

only in this administration do people get punished for giving out information.

posted by skippy at 5:01 PM |