When George W. Bush signed Medicare Part D — Medicare’s prescription drug benefit — into law, conservatives weren’t happy about it. Libertarians even less so.
Many remain consistent in their criticism of the the program on the grounds that it expanded our entitlement culture in a way that isn’t healthy. However, it’s been about as successful and cost effective as these big government programs can be. Between 2004 and 2013, it came in at 45 percent below the CBO’s initial cost projections. As the American Enterprise Institute’s James Capretta notes, earlier this year the CBO lowered it’s Part D cost projections between now and 2021 by almost $200 billion. The average monthly Part D premium is just $31 and premium costs have only risen $1 in the last four years. It’s also reduced spending on hospitalization.
When Part D was first being implemented it was not without issues (a point Obamacare supporters emphasized early this month) but it was nowhere near the flaming dirigible disaster that is Obamacare.
With that in mind, please savor the total hypocrisy in the following two videos of Democratic leaders raging against Medicare Part D as it was first being implemented. The talking point was “absolute embarrassment”. Every criticism here would apply to Obamacare times 1000. First up, Rep. Nancy Pelosi:
And here’s former Sen. Hillary Clinton:
