It's a great day when the House of Representatives passes legislation which would allow the government to negotiate for cheaper prescription drugs for Medicare recipients. But with the stroke of a pen, Bush will overrule and nullify the will of congress and the public, and the &%$#@!* corporate press is running interference for him.
WASHINGTON — Defying a veto threat, the House approved legislation Friday directing the government to negotiate with drug companies in an effort to lower prices for Medicare recipients.
Democrats, winding up an opening-week legislative rush after taking control of Congress, said the measure would help the nation's seniors.
The Bush administration called it an unwise government intrusion in a system that is already working well.
Government intrusion into Medicare.
I can't take it. It isn't funny. I don't have the snark-chi to deal with it. It doesn't amuse me to point out the absurdity or what it says about the intelligence of people who voted for these... what are they? Disingenuous? Insulting? I can't find a noun. Give me nouns.
It just really pisses me off to read this shit in the paper and realize that it made it past a reporter and a series of editors and we're supposed to accept that, apparently, unbiased means unquestioning, uncritical, feckless. "Hi, I got my BA in journalism, so now I get to write a bunch of stuff on a steno pad! Woot! Lunch time!"
The legislation underscored one of the more profound differences between the political parties — the Republicans' faith in the ability of the markets to best serve consumers and the Democrats' belief that government can sometimes do better.
That's right, the Republicans have so much faith in markets, they passed a law to have the government spend half a trillion dollars on a government program. It is just not fun to point out such blatantly obvious contradictions.
"If passed," countered Ron Lewis, R-Ky., "this bill would allow the federal government to get into the medicine cabinets of millions of Medicare beneficiaries across the country."
I just have no comment on that. It is soul-killing even to have to read these things outside of the Onion.