Nightline is destroying Bush over Medicare scandal

[Atman]

On now.

Hey, btw...check out the HOO Cares! link below. I've been doing a comic strip for over a year, there are about 100 of them. It is about a small practice swallowed up by an HMO owned by a giant multi-national conglomerate, International Cheese & Tobacco. I've heard it isn't too bad!

I SHOULD BE ON THE FRONT PAGE TOMORROW! LOL!

[Digit]

1. WOW!

This is GREAT!

[leftyandproud]

29. ABC ROCKS

They are pretty much always on our side...and their audience dwarfs all of talk radio.

NEVER admit this to the Freepers though.

[Dover]

2. Well, I think Bush did a pretty good job of digging his OWN grave...

All the press has to do is report the truth.

[Atman]

3. "May well be a crime."

CRIME.

This is going to be HUGE.

They might have succeeded in getting Clarke off the front page!

[Kool Kitty]

4. How many more

lies does this administration have to tell before someone (besides us) wakes up? I just heard that woman say she got an unattributed fax with the real numbers on it in June of 2003? What the fuck? They wanted to talk to Tommy Thompson about this, but he refused to talk to Nightline. What the hell is it gonna take?

[bunk76]

5. The "liberal media"...

must have missed this story,its been floating around for months.I went to bed that night thinking the bill did not pass...woke up and read it did pass....bastards.George.....your day will cometh...and soon.

:evilgrin:

[Atman]

6. I'm dumbfounded!

I've never seen anything like this. Bush and the entire GOP should be impeached TOMORROW!

[aquart]

7. This was supposed to be their shining domestic jewel.

It ain't.

The Republicans are speaking, but they've been revealed as criminals and liars.

Does Bill Frist look cadaverous? He does, doesn't he? Pure undertaker.

[rockymountaindem]

8. I missed it (as ususal)

What happened? (Details please)

[Atman]

12. Wha' happened? A GOP train wreck.

They did a sort of timeline about how the vote was held open and arms were twisted, as various congressmen said things like "This could be criminal." It was sooo bad for the GOP...and then after savaging them for 20 minutes, the pop Bill "The Cadaver" Frist's skull on the screen as he tries to blame the democrats for nitpicking around the edges, and forgetting that this was a good bill.

It was almost sad. But I loved it. I admit...it was the horrible car wreck I had to slow down and gawk at. Nightline should re-run in prime time as a public service.

[Bozita]

13. Let's face it. This is MUST SEE TV

Some Nightlines are real stinkers.

This is a keeper.

[rumguy]

15. pubbies shifting the blame? Say it ain't so.....

What a bunch of fucking creeps!!!!

[Kool Kitty]

16. I can't stand Bill Frist. I want to see him

chased and mauled by cats that have been freed from a testing lab. The bastard.

[maggrwaggr]

19. yeah he's one creeeepy piece of shit, isn't he?

gives me the willies.

[Kool Kitty]

21. Scary-looking

and even scarier-acting. Brrrrr. :scared:

[starroute]

23. Anyone remember H.P. Lovecraft's "The Cats of Ulthar"?

"In Ulthar, before ever the burgesses forbade the killing of cats, there dwelt an old cotter and his wife who delighted to trap and slay the cats of their neighbors. Why they did this I know not; save that many hate the voice of the cat in the night, and take it ill that cats should run stealthily about yards and gardens at twilight. But whatever the reason, this old man and woman took pleasure in trapping and slaying every cat which came near to their hovel; and from some of the sounds heard after dark, many villagers fancied that the manner of slaying was exceedingly peculiar.

<snip>

"But all agreed on one thing: that the refusal of all the cats to eat their portions of meat or drink their saucers of milk was exceedingly curious. And for two whole days the sleek, lazy cats of Ulthar would touch no food, but only doze by the fire or in the sun. It was fully a week before the villagers noticed that no lights were appearing at dusk in the windows of the cottage under the trees. Then the lean Nith remarked that no one had seen the old man or his wife since the night the cats were away. In another week the burgomaster decided to overcome his fears and call at the strangely silent dwelling as a matter of duty, though in so doing he was careful to take with him Shang the blacksmith and Thul the cutter of stone as witnesses. And when they had broken down the frail door they found only this: two cleanly picked human skeletons on the earthen floor, and a number of singular beetles crawling in the shadowy corners."

[Kool Kitty]

24. What a creepy story.

But it is along the line of what I was thinking about re: Frist. Poetic justice, in a way. (Lovecraft's stories are just about the scariest I remember reading. After I read "Haunter of the Dark" (I think that's the name of it, I read it about 35 years ago), I kept the lights on 24/7 for about three weeks. I was not going to let them get me.

[bunk76]

18. Dude...

"arms were twisted"?They were offering bribes on the floor of congress.Then held a vote open for about four hours.These suckers are criminals,pure and simple.

[swag]

9. The over 60 voters are going to crucify these mofos.

And on behalf of my parents, I'll help.

[rumguy]

10. good - I'm looking forward to watching this tonite - nt

[kerry-is-my-prez]

11. Here's one article

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/8269966.htm

WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats on Wednesday called for Attorney General John Ashcroft to investigate possible criminal violations by Bush administration officials who threatened to fire Medicare's chief cost analyst if he told Congress how much the new Medicare prescription drug benefit might cost.

Richard Foster, the chief actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, was threatened last year with losing his job if he violated orders to withhold from Congress a series of cost estimates that indicated the White House-backed Medicare prescription drug bill could cost at least $100 billion more than Congress expected.

`EFFORTS TO CONCEAL'

''Serious crimes may have been committed by Bush administration officials in their efforts to conceal the real cost of their Medicare Prescription Drug bill,'' said Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J. in a prepared statement. ``Hiding $139 billion in additional costs to the taxpayers so the president can get his flawed Medicare law passed is a breath-taking abuse of power.''

-snip-

FEDERAL STATUTES

Lautenberg and the other three Democratic senators called Thursday for the Justice Department to investigate whether Scully and others in the Bush administration had violated two federal statutes in muzzling Foster. They cited laws against fraud and false statements. They also claimed that Foster's allegations may constitute ''obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies and committees.'' Both violations carry a prison term of up to five years and possible fines.

The Justice Department said that the request was under review.

[dweller]

14. here's another

http://lautenberg.senate.gov/~lautenberg/press/2003/01/2004324A34.html

book 'em.
dp

[Kool Kitty]

17. Great link.

I like Lautenberg, he's an oldie but a goodie.

[Bozita]

20. The radio host at WKZO who interviewed Smith was FIRED

http://slate.msn.com/id/2097717/

Kalamazoo Kapitulation!
A talk-radio host who helped expose the Medicare bribe loses his job.
By Timothy Noah
Posted Tuesday, March 23, 2004, at 4:00 PM PT

Listen to this story on NPR's Day to Day.

Shaking off its hangover from the nasty partisan scandalmongering of the late 1990s, the House ethics committee has finally begun an investigation into Rep. Nick Smith's allegation that a member of the House leadership tried to bribe him into supporting the Medicare drug bill. According to Roll Call, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the matter, too. But a Kalamazoo talk-radio host whose scoop made it impossible to sweep Smith's allegations under the rug is out of a job.

Kevin Vandenbroek, formerly of WKZO radio, should have gotten a raise for his contribution to the Smith story, which was picked up by Slate and subsequently by just about every other national publication covering the Medicare bribe. Instead, Vandenbroek was fired last month, apparently for political reasons.

more...

[aquart]

26. Clear Channel?

[salinen]

22. Doesn't this make you miss

Trent Lott?

[Michael Harrington]

25. Tapper actually did a good report

Sometimes he reminds me of Jimmy Fallon (he let lying sack of shit Mary Matalin walk all over him during his disastrous tenure on Crossfire), but he did good work in this one.

Three hour vote. I haven't seen such blatant bribery since they caught those S. Koreans handing out gold bars to boxing judges in Seoul in 1988.

I'd like to think the ethics panel may do something, but it won't happen. A dissenting minority report is the best we should hope for.

I may just put up a fucking picture of Juan Peron and be done with it...

[Piperay]

27. They sure nailed chimpy

it was one of the best Nightlines I have ever seen. :-) :bounce: :evilgrin:

[DeepModem Mom]

28. That actuary Richard Foster will be another hero, I hope,

when the history of all of this is written --