Obama '08?

I agree in part, but part of the reason we are in the trouble we are in is due to government spending like a drunken sailor as if there is no tomorrow and as if the programs they devise have no consequences.

For example, FDR and the Democrats apparently gave no thought to the potential impact of Social Security a few decades down the road, and apparently LBJ gave no thought to the financial bind that Medicare would lead us into. Our culture has bought into the philocophy of buy now, pay later, and even have fun now, worry about consequences later.

Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act Great Seal of the United States.
Acronym Medicare Modernization Act or MMA
Citations
Codification
Legislative history

Introduced in the House as Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2003 by Representative Dennis J. Hastert on June 25, 2003
Passed the House on June 27, 2003 (216 - 215, 1 Present)
Passed the Senate on July 7, 2003 (Unanimous Consent)
Reported by the joint conference committee on November 21, 2003; agreed to by the House on November 22, 2003 (220 - 215) and by the Senate on November 25, 2003 (54 - 44)
Signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 8, 2003


The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act[1] (also called the Medicare Modernization Act or MMA) is a federal law of the United States, enacted in 2003.[2] It produced the largest overhaul of Medicare in the public health program's 38-year history.

The MMA was signed by President George W. Bush on December 8, 2003, after passing in Congress by a close margin.[3]

[edit] Prescription drug benefit
Main article: Medicare Part D

Its most touted change is the introduction of an entitlement benefit for prescription drugs, through tax breaks and subsidies.

In the years since Medicare's creation in 1965, the role of prescription drugs in U.S. patient care has significantly increased. As new and expensive drugs have come into use, patients, particularly senior citizens for whom Medicare was designed, have found prescriptions harder to afford. The MMA is meant to address this problem.

The benefit is funded in a complex way, reflecting the diverse priorities of the lobbyists and constituencies whose support was needed:

it provides a subsidy for large employers to discourage them from eliminating private prescription coverage to retired workers (a key AARP goal; the 2005 Annual Report for IBM estimates that company will receive a $400 million subsidy during the six-year period beginning in 2006);[4]
it prohibits the Federal government from negotiating discounts with drug companies;
it prevents the government from establishing a formulary, though does not prevent private providers such as HMOs from doing so.

As of 2007, most employer sponsors had chosen to take the retiree drug subsidy and continue offering drug benefits.[5]
[edit] Basic prescription drug coverage

Beginning in 2006, a prescription drug benefit, called Medicare Part D, was made available through substantial out-of-pocket costs. Coverage is available only through insurance companies and HMOs and is voluntary.

Benefit: Enrollees will pay the following initial costs for the initial benefits described herein. A minimum monthly premium of $24.80 (premiums may vary), a $180 to $265 annual deductible, 25% (or approximate flat copay) of full drug costs up to $2,400. After this initial coverage limit is met a period commonly referred to as the "Donut Hole" begins where an enrollee may be responsible for the insurance company's negotiated price of the drug which is less than the retail price without insurance.[6] The Donut Hole ends once the enrollee has met an out-of-pocket amount of $3850, beginning the next phase of coverage. In the final coverage phase the enrollee will pay 5% of negotiated drug costs.[7]

Unfortunately, Democrats see compromise as giving into what they want to do. They have a weird concept of what the term "compromise" means.

What have the Democrats offered in the way of serious compromise?