Republicans and Democrats Debate Whether Bush’s Proposed Tax Cut Would Leave Room for Medicare Drug Benefit

Senate Democrats have "stepp[ed] up their argument" that President Bush's 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax cut package would "leave no room" in the FY 2002 budget for a prescription drug benefit under Medicare, CongressDaily reports. "Every 'yea' vote for the budget means a death knell for a prescription drug benefit for seniors," Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said on March 2 (Fulton, CongressDaily, 3/2). He added, "These are the stakes, and the American people need to understand them -- tax cuts for the wealthy or prescription drugs for the elderly." According to Kennedy, Bush's proposal would "eat up" most of the budget surplus and leave "little or nothing" for a prescription drug benefit or other health initiatives. While Bush has earmarked $153 billion over 10 years for prescription drug coverage for low-income seniors, Democrats have proposed spending one-third of the surplus on expanding programs, including extending a drug benefit to all Medicare beneficiaries (McQueen, AP/Nando Times, 3/3). "We need about $300 billion to do a real prescription drug bill," Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said, arguing that Bush's budget "dips" into Medicare and Social Security to "pay for other priorities." Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) added that about half of seniors without drug coverage earn incomes at about 175% of the federal poverty level -- "too high" to qualify for coverage under Bush's plan (CongressDaily, 3/2). In addition, Kennedy said that Bush's budget "doesn't even have enough" funding for his prescription drug plan, pointing out that the proposal actually would cost $210 billion -- not $153 billion -- after adjusting pharmaceutical costs for inflation.

'Unfair' Criticism?
Republicans, however, argue that Bush's budget package "leaves ample money" to provide a tax cut and fund Social Security and Medicare, including a prescription drug benefit. Senate Finance Committee Chair Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said that the federal government will spend $3.8 trillion on Medicare during the next decade, adding, "This is almost three times the size of any tax relief package, so to suggest that the president's budget shortchanges older Americans is unfair." Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee approved the first part of Bush's tax package -- a 10-year, $1 trillion across-the-board reduction -- which the full House will likely consider on Thursday (AP/Nando Times, 3/3).

'Battle' in the Senate
However, both Republicans and Democrats expect the "real battle" to occur in the "bitterly divided" Senate, prompting Bush to "moun[t] an all-out campaign" to "press" conservative and moderate Democrats to back his plan (Bruni/Mitchell, New York Times/Contra Costa Times, 3/5). Vice President Cheney predicted that the tax proposal would pass both houses "with votes to spare," but he conceded that Republicans would likely win with a slim margin in the Senate. "I'll bet most [lawmakers] will vote for it on final passage," he said, adding, "I would really enjoy casting the tie-breaking vote in the Senate" (Washington Times, 3/5). Public opinion also may have shifted in favor of Bush's tax proposal, which has prompted "worry" among some Democrats. After Bush's speech last Tuesday, a Gallup poll found that 83% of respondents ranked tax cuts as a "top" or "high" priority, and 72% of those polled by CBS News said that they backed Bush's tax cut proposal (Sawyer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 3/2).

Media Reactions
Newspapers have commented on Bush's tax cut plan and the effect that the proposal would have on Medicare. A sampling appears below.

• In an editorial, the Washington Post writes that Bush's budget "rightly observes" that Medicare will become a "major drain" on financial resources when baby boomers retire, but the newspaper criticizes the president for "dipping into existing [Medicare] reserves" to fund his tax cut. The Post also writes that by using the payroll tax to cover Medicare costs -- including a potential new drug benefit -- Bush's current tax cut proposal would make Medicare "go bankrupt sooner" (Washington Post, 3/5);
• The Detroit News argues that Bush's plan to reform Medicare could "offer seniors more choices" without "further burdening" the program, but warns that the proposal has a "fatal flaw" -- the reforms would begin in 2005, not today. To provide prescription drug coverage for low-income seniors, Bush has proposed a plan that would cover the cost of medication in the interim, but if the "political will" for a Medicare overhaul "fizzle[s]," the News argues that Bush's plan may only add to Medicare's "looming difficulties" (Detroit News, 3/4).