A dodgy John Edwards says “I personally do not support” gay marriage. If he means that phrase as it is used in the abortion debate, he appears to be saying that he would not himself enter a gay marriage. Profile in courage!
Sen. Ted Kennedy says that he opposes the Medicare bill now taking final form in Congress because it appears “to tilt in favor of the right-wing agenda.” He can’t possibly mean that adding a prescription-drug benefit to Medicare coverage is a victory for the limited-government caucus. In what is surely a hopeful forecast — i.e., one that downplays the true costs — the Congressional Budget Office reports that the bill would boost federal spending by $400 billion over the next decade. Already supported by the Bush administration, the plan won the AARP’s backing on November 17. This probably creates a legislative juggernaut, even though the original version passed the House by only a single vote. In one small piece of good news, the bill offers tax incentives to create medical savings accounts that combine high-deductible insurance with a plan that resembles IRAs. Although these incentives are small in this bill, they point the way toward a long-term solution to exploding health costs. It’s the bright spot in an otherwise dismal milieu.
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