Why did they lie about Medicare Bill? Mysterious fax adds to intrigue

[kentuck]

Why did they lie? Because they have no concern for any consequences? They believe they can get away with anything with the present comatose press...and they have been proven absolutely correct.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/18/politics/18MEDI.html?hp=&pagewanted=print&position

<snip>
WASHINGTON, March 17 — Late one Friday afternoon in January, after the House of Representatives had adjourned for the week, Cybele Bjorklund, a House Democratic health policy aide, heard the buzz of the fax machine at her desk. Coming over the transom, with no hint of the sender, was a document she had been seeking for months: an estimate by Medicare's chief actuary showing the cost of prescription drug benefits for the elderly.

Dated June 11, 2003, the document put the cost at $551.5 billion over 10 years. It appeared to confirm what Ms. Bjorklund and her bosses on the House Ways and Means Committee had long suspected: the actuary, Richard S. Foster, had concluded the legislation would be far more expensive than Congress's $400 billion estimate — and had kept quiet while lawmakers voted on the bill and President Bush signed it into law.

<more>
These conversations among three government employees — an obscure Congressional aide, a little-known actuary and a high-level official — remained secret until now, and Ms. Bjorklund still does not know who sent the fax. But Mr. Foster went public last week, and details of his struggle for independence within the Bush administration are now emerging, raising questions about whether the White House intentionally withheld crucial data from lawmakers.

...more

[underpants]

1. Could anyone have know the true numbers and say invested...........

in the HMO's or Drug Industry? Having "insider information" that the windfall was going to be 35% higher than anyone else knew could have been really convenient to know. Aside from lying to Congress that could be afoot here as well.

Just a thought.

[readmylips]

2. Stocks for Pharma went up, while others...

have been taking a dive. Ohyeah! the repigs are making big bucks on their dirty tricks.

Kerry, hit them hard.