Medicare Expansion and the Mirage of Fiscal Responsibility

Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a syndicated columnist.

"Passage of the budget-busting Medicare bill ends any illusion that there are two parties in Washington. GOP support for the largest expansion of the welfare state in 40 years demonstrates beyond any question -- not that there really was any question -- that Republicans are merely Democrats-lite when it comes to using taxpayer monies to buy votes. The measure further mortgages the future of young workers and will cost far more than the estimated $395 billion."