Cut What?

Looks like members of Congress are squabbling over Medicare cuts, and while those might normally might be worth wholeheartedly supporting (anything that gets the government out of the doctor business is usually a good idea), in this case, it’s just a sideshow.  The argument is over whether to include Medicare cuts in the SCHIP children’s health-care bill.  Versions have passed in both the House and the Senate, and the bill is currently in conference.  Both versions contain massive expansions of government health-care — the House would add a total $75 billion in additional spending; the Senate would add about $35 billion.

Fortunately, Bush has indicated that he will veto any bill that hits his desk with that sort of expansive padding, so whether to include Medicare cuts is sort of a moot point.  Neither the House nor the Senate version is going to pass.  Indeed, as a Republican aide quoted in the article suggests, the most likely scenario is that a brief extension of the program — with no additional spending — will be passed and the bill will be brought up again later.