Bush Campaign Should Refund Taxpayers for Flawed Medicare Ads

Bush Campaign Should Refund Taxpayers for
Flawed Medicare Ads

Statement of Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook

The General Accounting Office (GAO) report on the Bush
administration's Medicare ads highlights the waste and deception
that characterize the Medicare prescription drug bill and its corporate
giveaways. The GAO said it best when it noted that despite "[Health and
Human Service's] stated interest in informing beneficiaries of changes
to Medicare, we observe several noteworthy omissions in HHS's
materials."

While the GAO found that the ads' "political tone" did not
"constitute a purely partisan message," the taxpayers deserve their
wasted money back.

How can Bush possibly justify placing ads in the Washington-insider
newspaper Roll Call, given that people eligible for Medicare - 65 and
older - constitute just 3 percent of its readership? How can Bush call
this an education campaign when the GAO found "noteworthy omissions" in
the ads that "may lead beneficiaries to underestimate the amount they
will need to pay for prescription drugs"?

It is ironic that while Bush chastises Congress to be "wise with the
people's money," he spends more than $22 million of the people's
money on inaccurate political advertisements.  His campaign should
refund the taxpayer's money for these political advertisements and he
should pull the ads.
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