Ill Feelings on Health and Budget Numbers

Re “Drug Benefit’s Cost Estimates Soar, Surprise,” Feb. 10: I am horrified at how President Bush is saddling our children with an insurmountable debt. Your article stating that the cost of Medicare is now estimated at an “eye-popping” $724 billion blew my mind. I’m tired of being lied to and told “fuzzy numbers” by the Bush administration. If members of Congress knew that Medicare was going to cost this much, they never would have passed the bill.

Now Bush is up to his old tricks with the 2005 budget.

This is a serious issue and the American people need to deal with it head-on. We need the president to tell us the truth about what things cost. I don’t think the truth is too much to ask for.

Sarah Jane Vaughan

Los Angeles

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These headlines appeared consecutively in the Feb. 10 front section: “Drug Benefit’s Cost Estimates Soar,” “President Pushes to Limit Class-Action Suits,” “Analysts Say Bush’s ‘Lean’ Budget Is Bound to Swell,” and “U.S. Scientists Say They Are Told to Alter Findings.” Hey, it’s only the second month of the second term. Is it too late to say, “I told you so”?

Jay Aronow

Oxnard