Nation & World News
Bush supports Medicare bill
Although the president
praises the bill, the House
and Senate still disagree
on several of its policies
By Jill Zuckman
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
WASHINGTON — Scrambling to
rescue one of his top domestic priori
ties, President Bush urged Congress
on Wednesday to break a logjam and
complete a deal on a Medicare reform
bill that would provide a prescription
drug benefits to 40 million senior citi
zens.
"The Congress needs to finalize leg
islation that brings our seniors the
best of modem medicine," said Bush,
surrounded by senior citizens and
health care advocates at the White
House. "And I want to sign that legis
lation into law before the year is out."
Lawmakers have been stuck for
months trying to reconcile differences
between bills passed by the House
and Senate, but Bush's words seemed
to do little to move negotiations
along. The two chambers disagree,
among other things, on whether the
Medicare program should be forced
to compete with private health plans.
Democrats said that despite his
public exhortations, Bush was doing
little of the arm-twisting and cajoling
that would be necessary to bring
about a compromise.
"If that's the only message, then I
think the president is failing to use his
influence to move this legislative
process along successfully," said Sen
ate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D
S.D.
Daschle added that Bush "can
bring these matters to successful reso
lution if he weighs in. But he's got to
weigh in with a recognition that we
have two parties, and they are very
evenly divided here in the Congress,
and we need to recognize on both
sides that there has to be accommo
dation.*
Throughout negotiations between
the Senate and House, Bush has had
little personal involvement in resolv
ing key differences. Now, as Congress
gets closer to adjournment, lawmak
ers acknowledged that they still have
major disagreements, and they may
have exceeded their $400 billion price
cap.
The political stakes are great for
both sides — though perhaps more
so for Bush and the Republicans, since
they control the White House and
Congress. Bush has promised to do all
he can to enact a prescription drug
benefit, and elderly voters may react
angrily if he fails.
But Republicans still require De
mocratic assistance to pass the
Medicare legislation, and the finger
pointing has already begun in case
lawmakers cannot reach a deal.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay,
R-Texas, said Wednesday that Democ
rats have no interest in passing the leg
islation because they prefer to use it as
a political issue.
"They have said they don't want to
get this done. They are going to try
their best to obstruct," DeLay said.
"They don't want a bill passed by a Re
publican Congress and signed by a
Republican president."
But other lawmakers, including
some Republicans, said House con
servatives had hijacked the process
and the conference committee, the
panel of 1 louse and Senate lawmak
ers charged with working out a deal.
Lawmakers have been discussing a
plan to require seniors to pay premi
ums of about $35 a month for pre
scription drugs, as well as a deductible
of $275. The program would pay
about 75 percent of seniors' drug costs
up to $2,200.
After that, seniors would pay the to
tal cost of their medicine — a gap in
coverage known as a "donut hole" —
until they reach a point where a "cata
strophic" benefit kicks in, covering 95
percent of the bills.
Members of Congress are still at
odds, however, over whether to force
wealthier seniors to pay higher premi
ums, whether to require the tradition
al fee-for-service Medicare program to
compete with private health plans,
whether to institute spending limits if
future cost increases exceed predic
tions, and whether to allow seniors to
buy drugs from Canada and other
countries.
Many lawmakers are also deeply
worried that a prescription dnig plan
for seniors could cause corporations
to jettison drug benefits they are al
ready providing to retirees.
During his talk at the White House
Wednesday, Bush said an executive
from Caterpillar Corp. had assured
him that no such thing would hap
pen. "If there's a Medicare reform bill
signed by me, corporations have no
intention to ... dump retirees into a
system they don't want to be dumped
into," Bush said.
(c) 2003, Chicago Tribune. Distributed
by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.
Campus News
Reading Series features novelist
The Creative Writing Reading
Series will host novelist Ehud
Havazelet at 8 p.m. today
By Andrew Shipley
Freelance Reporter
The University Creative Writing
Program will continue its annual Cre
ative Writing Reading Series tonight
with a visit from novelist Ehud
Havazelet, one of the program's own
professors.
Havazelet will read from his most
recent novel, "Like Never Before," at 8
p.m. in the Knight Library Browsing
Room. The book examines family re
lationships through the stories of a
Jewish family living in New York. The
reading will be followed by a question
and answer period and book signings.
Havazelet has published two nov
els and is the recipient of numerous
honors, including a Whiting Award
and a Guggenheim grant.
In addition to tonight's reading,
Havazelet will hold a workshop with
Creative Writing Program master's of
fine arts students at 2 p.m. on Friday
in the EMU Ben Linder Room. The
workshop will be open to all Univer
sity students, but participation is lim
ited to students in the program.
Havazelet's reading is the second in
the 2003-04 series. The program
brings one poet and one novelist to
the University every term to present
and discuss his or her work with stu
dents and faculty.
This year's series coordinator, Pro
fessor David Bradley of the Creative
Writing Program, has attempted to ex
pand the series' impart on campus by
opening Friday's master's program
workshop to die entire University.
"We have these visitors conduct a
class, but in the past it has been
closed," Bradley said. "This year we
are opening it up to everyone. If
you're interested, come by the (cre
ative writing) office and we have
copies of the work that anyone can
pickup."
"Words can be dead on a
page, but if a reading is
good, it can be like the
difference between
hearing music played
and looking at the
notes on the page."
David Bradley
Creative writing professor
Bradley hopes this option will pro
vide students with the opportunity to
experience what a master's-level writ
ing program is like.
"You can't get a major here in cre
ative writing," he said. "The master's
program is completely closed off.
With the open workshop on Friday,
people who might be interested in
writing or maybe just curious can
come and check it out. We get some
very distinguished authors."
This year the tradition of excellence
CAMPUS
BUZZ
Friday
Religious Studies symposium, 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m.,
110 Knight Law Center. William Schniedewind of
UCLA will explore "How the Bible Became a
Book." A book sale and reception will follow the
event.
continues, with readings by the na
tionally acclaimed poet B.H. Fairchild
and the prolific novel and short-story
author Frederick Busch.
Turn out for the series' first reading
was strong, but Bradley said he would
like to see increased participation
from general University students.
"Readings are fun. Literature can be
entertaining," Bradley said. "Words
can be dead on a page, but if a reading
is good, it can be like the difference
between hearing music played and
looking at the notes on the page."
For Uavazelet, who describes one
of his novel's themes as the "interplay
of the personal and the political in a
life history," he said the instability in
the world today makes literature car
ry even more of an impact.
"Especially in these times, when so
many are ready to go to war to prove
their single version of the truth, litera
ture is more important than ever," he
said.
Thus far, students have seemed to
respond positively to the series.
"As a writing student, or any stu
dent, it's an amazing opportunity to
be able to hear writers read from and
talk about their work," graduate stu
dent Michael Davis said.
This sentiment was echoed by a
number of students in attendance at
the first reading by poet Pimone
Triplett, where many members of the
audience had to stand because of at
tendance.
Andrew Shipley is a freelance reporter
for the Emerald.
Student Groups
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