republicans here to help?

while the presidency (republican) and both houses of congress (republican) go about the nation boasting of their interest in helping the elderly with the rising costs of medicine, the elderly have to learn the new math of compassionate conservatism:
Starting next week, seniors can choose a Medicare-endorsed discount drug card that may give them discounts on prescription drugs by between 10 and 20 percent.
Prices for the top 30 brand-name drugs most commonly used by the elderly, however, rose an average of nearly 22 percent for each of the past three years, the report said.
"For those who get discounts, potential savings will be negated by large increases in base prices," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA.
For the 30 most commonly prescribed brand name drugs, prices rose 4.3 times the rate of general inflation in 2003, the report said. Lipitor's price rose 5.5 times and Plavix prices rose 5.3 times inflation.