Bush "balances" his budget on the backs of Seniors and the Poor

Somebody please take his credit cards away! Bushco's new budget relies on:

"...nearly $178 billion in savings from Medicare over five years_ nearly triple what he proposed last year. Much of the savings would come from freezing reimbursement rates for most health care providers for three years. An additional $17 billion would come from the Medicaid program, the state-federal partnership that provides health coverage to the poor.

~ SNIP ~

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the Bush budget would project the 10-year cost of the program, from 2008 to 2017, at $915 billion. That's $117 billion less than what had been forecast last summer. The agency attributed the lower estimate to smaller increases in the cost of medicines, and better deals negotiated between insurers and drug manufacturers.

If they wanted deals between the payors and the manufacturers, why did they make it illegal for the govt to negotiate with the manufacturers? Seems to me they'd have a lot more leverage if they did the whole thing in one go. If he's seriously thinking that this would balance the budget, then he must have been criminally negligent to sign the bill in the first place without negotiation being included.

Crooks and morons are running the asylum, friends. For more of this article click here