The Therapy Sessions
Tuesday, December 09, 2003
Glad To Have You Aboard, Matt
Matthew Miller, a liberal columnist:Dems in disarray over Medicare
The missing voice. At this crucial juncture, there is simply no voice for generational equity and fiscal sanity in American politics. The bill's $400 billion over 10 years - which all sides know is just a down payment on seniors' drug costs - is all being borrowed from our children.
Who says younger taxpayers should be footing most of the bill for non-poor seniors when there are already $25 trillion in unfunded liabilities in Social Security and Medicare today? Not to mention 44 million uninsured, and a host of other unmet needs for Americans who happen not to be senior citizens.
Put another way, what will non-poor seniors' food bills be over the next decade? Or clothing bills? Should younger workers be expected to fund most of those as well?