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The
Michigan Socialist | News | Nation
Democracy
flatlines
Bribery, threats push Medicare bill through
Congress
By L. MEYERS
The Michigan
Socialist
SUPPOSE YOU READ in the newspaper, or saw on
television, that the ruling party in some country broke all
the rules of parliamentary procedure, bribed legislators,
forced members of the opposition to go into hiding, threatened
the livelihood of politicians and their families, etc., in
order to get a piece of legislation passed.
Your first assumption would be that this
country is a dictatorship, right?
The last thing in the world you would think is
that such a country could be considered the pinnacle of
democracy, right?
Well, this exercise in political gangsterism
did take place. These events did happen, and quite recently.
This is how the narrow Republican majority in
the U.S. Congress rammed through the Medicare bill.
Under the direction of the George W. Bush
regime and Republican leaders in Congress, the House of
Representatives narrowly passed the bill, 220-215.
The story of how this bill was pushed through
the House is an important example of how far removed the
current government is from its Constitutional origins.
On the evening of Friday, November 21, members
of the House narrowly defeated the proposed bill by a
roll-call vote of 218-216.
However, Republican House leaders, including
Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader Tom DeLay, refused
to close the vote, as required by the standing rules.
Instead, the Republican leaders went to work,
carrying out an organized campaign to bully and bribe wayward
Republican representatives that voted no.
In another clear and conscious violation of
the standing rules of the House, members of Bush's cabinet,
most prominently Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy
Thompson, were found in the House chamber, twisting arms and
lining pockets.
The threats and bullying were so intense
during the night, that more than one Republican Congressman
could be found hiding in the Democratic cloakroom, trying to
escape the wrath of their "esteemed colleagues."
Meanwhile, on the floor of the House,
Republican lawbreakers (err, I mean, lawmakers) were openly
bribing their fellow representatives.
Rep. Nick Smith, a Republican Congressman from
southern Michigan, was offered over $100,000 for his son's
Congressional campaign if he switched his vote from "no" to
"yes."
Smith is leaving his position as a Congressman
in November 2004 due to a self-imposed term limit.
His son, Brad, is running for the GOP
nomination in that district.
When Smith initially rejected this blatant
bribe, Hastert, DeLay and Thompson told him that if he did not
play ball, his son would never make it to Washington.
Bribery of a public official is a federal
crime; United States Code, Title XVIII, Section 201, says that
"[giving] anything of value to any other person or entity with
intent to influence any official act" is bribery.
Smith, however, stuck to his convictions and
did not change his vote.
On the other hand, after hours and hours of
browbeating, bribery and bullying, the Republican leaders were
finally able to secure a razor-thin majority, finally closing
the vote at 6 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 22.
THE TRUE STORY of how the Medicare bill was
passed is a reflection of what this "reform" will do to
millions of retirees and the elderly.
In both cases, the targets of the act get
mugged.
It was not until after the bill was passed and
signed that most Americans learned what the Republicans had in
store.
Far from the much-needed development of
Medicare into a system that can easily absorb the millions of
soon-to-be-retiring members of the "baby boom" generation,
this bill was one of the largest pieces of corporate
welfare to ever be signed into law.
Over the next eight years, U.S. drug companies
will reap close to $140 billion in income as a result of the
bill.
Health analysts anticipate that profits for
these corporations will go up close to 30 percent.
One of the most hyped up parts of the bill was
its provision for prescription coverage.
However, this coverage is to be controlled
completely by private insurance companies.
In addition, the bill blocks states from
buying prescription medicines from Canada, where they are
produced at high quality for less.
This will mean millions of dollars more in
corporate welfare for drug makers and suppliers.
Most importantly, though, the bill opens the
door to wholesale privatization of Medicare.
In 2006, when the bill goes into full effect,
seniors will be given the "option" of signing up for private
insurance, funded by Medicare.
This new, privatized "Medicare" will cover 75
percent of prescription costs, up to $2,250, with a $250
deductible and $35 monthly premium over and above the Medicare
subsidy.
After that, recipients will receive no
services until they spend another $2,850, and their
out-of-pocket costs total $3,600. Only then will Medicare
cover 95 percent of added cost.
Beginning in 2010, Medicare privatization will
be total, as private insurance corporations will be allowed to
compete directly with the Medicare system.
Those who stay with Medicare will have to pay
an ever-higher premium, with costs based on private insurance
plans. Estimates place the rise in premiums at over 300
percent what they are today.
In addition, a new provision allowing for
so-called "medical savings accounts" means that more affluent
and healthier employees will be able to opt out of
company-provided health plans, driving up premiums and costs
for workers.
The end result of this bill's passage will be
the codification and legalization of a multi-tier health care
system, where the wealthy (and healthy) get decent treatment
while working people get sick and die.
THE PASSAGE OF the Medicare bill has to be
seen in the context of everything we've seen happen since Bush
and his far-right "neo-conservatives" took power illegally
after the 2000 election.
Over the last three years, the Bush regime has
systematically destroyed what remains of the limited
"democracy" -- primarily the democratic rights of working
people -- traditionally practiced in the United States.
In addition, the White House, Republican-led
Congress and the rightwing "judicial activists" on the Supreme
Court have joined together to attack and eliminate the
threadbare social safety net that was won through decades of
struggle.
All of the social gains achieved during the
New Deal of the 1930s, the Great Society of the 1960s and even
the "Gilded Age" reforms of the late-19th century have been
rolled back.
In this ongoing battle of democracy, special
note must be taken of the consistent failure of the
"opposition" Democratic Party to challenge the attacks waged
by the Republicans on behalf of their corporate masters.
Time and again, regardless of the issue, the
Democratic Party, under the leadership of the rightwing
Democratic Leadership Council, has appeased the GOP and given
it a free hand (or tacit support) to attack democracy.
Whether it was sanctioning the ascension of
Bush to power, the wholesale shift of financial burden for the
state onto the shoulders of workers, the acceptance of endless
war (including the invasion and occupation of Iraq), the tax
cuts, the elimination of social services or the privatization
of Medicare, the Democrats have proven conclusively that they
are incapable and unwilling to defend democratic rights and
social progress.
Thus, even though we are a relatively small
movement, it falls to us Socialists and our allies to fight
for democracy and progress.
Whether it is at the ballot box or in the
streets, Socialists have to present a genuine alternative to
capitalism, and its attacks on our rights and livelihoods.
We have to show through our actions that
another America, and another world, is possible, and that it
will only come about through the victory of democratic
socialism.
Now more than ever, we must rise to the
challenge facing us.
The alternative is
unthinkable. | 
