There are several elements of this story we already know for sure. While Bush’s Medicare bill was pending in Congress, the administration told lawmakers the plan would cost $400 billion. Medicare’s chief actuary knew that was false, but was told to hide the true estimates. Congress passed the bill and a few weeks later, the White House “revised” the budget costs and said the Medicare plan would actually cost $551 billion, almost 38% more than the administration had told Congress and the public.
A month ago, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson announced that he was launching a formal inquiry to determine what, exactly, happened. At the time Thompson sounded concerned.
“There seems to be a cloud over this department because of this,” Mr. Thompson said. “We have nothing to hide. So I want to make darn sure that everything comes out.”
A month later, however, Thompson is trying to hide basic information that would shed light on what the administration knew and when they knew it.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson is refusing to make public or give congressional Democrats the Bush administration’s estimates of the cost of last year’s Medicare legislation.
In a letter to Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., a senior HHS official writing on Thompson’s behalf said Democrats have no right to review administration estimates that the Medicare overhaul would cost substantially more than what President Bush and Thompson disclosed last year.
So, in one month’s time, Thompson has gone from “We have nothing to hide” to “We have to hide everything.” He wants to make “darn sure that everything comes out,” except the one piece of information Congress needs.
The funny thing is that the information Thompson is refusing to share would prove that the administration has been telling the truth — if it’s been telling the truth. Thompson, among others, said they had no idea the Medicare plan would cost so much more than previous estimates showed.
Fine, Dems said, show us your estimates. Uh, no, Thompson said.
Shameless. One can only assume that the Bush administration is acting like they have something to hide because they have something to hide. If these estimates would bolster their story and end the controversy, Thompson would release them. The fact that they’re being hidden suggests the opposite. They’re lying and are afraid to get caught.
If Republicans on the Hill had any sense of pride or responsibility, Congress would subpoena these documents and hold public hearings. Since this will never happen, House Dems, led by Waxman, might file a lawsuit.
“The response is completely inadequate,” Waxman said in a statement. “The Administration is stonewalling our investigation. We are evaluating our next steps.”
This scandal still has some life in it. Usually, when an administration starts to hide documents from Congress about expensive lies, the media’s interest is piqued. We can only hope reporters will realize that this deserves increased attention.