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October 29, 2003
SPECIAL MIS-LEAD: "Mission Accomplished" Banner Placement Responsibility In QuestionPresident Bush asserted yesterday that the "Mission Accomplished" banner that appeared on the USS Lincoln for his May 1st aircraft carrier speech was "put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished. I know it was attributed somehow to some ingenious advance man from my staff - they weren't that ingenious."1 But reports around the time of the speech indicate that a deputy of White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett was responsible for the placement of the banner. Speaking after the President's press conference, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, "We took care of the production of [the banner]. . . But the Navy actually put it up."2 In May, however, White House officials claimed that "a variety of people, including the president,"3 came up with the idea for the aircraft carrier event. Scott Sforza, one of a handful of image consultants working on the White House communications staff, was credited with meticulously planning the event, including the location of "the 'Mission Accomplished' banner placed to perfectly capture the president and the celebratory two words in a single shot."4 The president yesterday also took pains to defend the impression that his speech prematurely declared victory, saying that the speech was "a clear statement, basically recognizing that this phase of the war for Iraq was over and there was a lot of dangerous work. And it's proved to be right, it is dangerous in Iraq." Indeed, despite the placement of the banner, the President said plainly, "Our mission continues."5 Sources:
Bush's Medicare Plan Seeks to Move Seniors into Private Plans, Doesn't Decrease Prescription Drug CostsPresident Bush has consistently expressed support for Medicare, saying, "Medicare is the binding commitment of a caring society."1 But the President's own administrator of the program called it "an unbelievable disaster,"2 and told Congress earlier this year that the President's Medicare plan would, in fact, move up to 50% of seniors into private plans. Lower costs have been a primary goal of reform for Bush, who said, "We must protect seniors from high medical costs that can rob them of their savings."3 But the President's plan requires the purchase of prescription drugs through private insurers. A new US Action Education Fund study shows that drug prices could be negotiated at 40% savings below retail if Medicare were able to offer a prescription drug benefit directly.4 Some studies show that Bush's plan would also increase costs for existing benefits within Medicare. A Congressional Budget Office cost-estimate found that the President's plan will increase deductible costs by up to $65 per year -- a total cost affecting 32.5 million seniors of up to $11.2 billion in the first 10 years of the plan. Up to 4.5 million seniors who currently receive a more comprehensive drug benefit through their employers would also lose access to that coverage.5 The President's Medicare administrator, Thomas Scully, seemed to contradict assertions that privatization is not a goal of Bush's reform. Asked by Senate Finance Committee chairman Charles Grassley about whether the administration wanted to privatize Medicare, Mr. Scully said, "I think the concern -- the basic goal we have to privatize Medicare -- basically in there the most optimistic assumptions for having people move into private plans, we're probably talking about less than half of the people."6 Mr. Scully has long been critical of Medicare, saying earlier this year, "We think it's a dumb system."7 Sources:
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