Bush is criticized on Medicare effort [View All]

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/09/26/bush_is_criticized_on_medicare_effort/

President Bush says he wants Congress to deliver prescription drug coverage for older Americans. And a national energy policy. And limits on medical malpractice awards.

Yet as the 2003 congressional session enters its final stages, he has all but sidelined himself, offering words of encouragement but leaving lawmakers to their own devices.

Yesterday, for example, he invited congressional negotiators to the White House and exhorted them to get a Medicare prescription drug bill to his desk by November. But he twisted no arms, nor did he wade into the measure's contentious issues.

With no discernible progress on the stalled legislation, many lawmakers emerged from the meeting to warn that prescription-drug coverage for seniors was doomed without more vigorous presidential involvement.