Hightower Lowdown

You’ve no doubt heard that Congress plans to extend prescription-drug coverage to folks on Medicare. Alas, their plan is meager and might do more harm than good.

Republican leaders cited “budget constraints” as their reason for shortchanging seniors. Of course, the budget is constrained largely because of the more than $1 trillion they took for tax giveaways to the wealthiest 1% of Americans. But that’s another story.

What you may not have heard is that these same leaders have since passed a drug-benefit bill for a select group of retirees that happens to include . . .

themselves! There were no budget constraints when it came to the needs of senior Congress critters, for their benefits package is far more generous than what they doled out to ordinary seniors. While regular retirees would shell out an extra $420 for the out-of-pocket annual premium and a $250 deductible, congressional retireees will pay nothing extra.

Rep. Pete Stark disgustedly summed it up best: “This bill says, ‘We take care of our own, and to hell with the average American.’”