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Cato Daily Dispatch for November 18, 2003

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(Links to outside sources were active as of the date of this dispatch; however, not all news sources maintain links to current stories indefinitely. Some links also may require registration.)

Critics: Medicare Compromise Won't Cut Costs

"Critics of the Medicare plan devised by Congressional leaders said yesterday that it contained little in the way of mechanisms to slow the runaway costs of drugs and medical services even as it provided tens of billions of dollars for hospitals, health plans, employers, doctors and the drug industry," The New York Times reports.

In "Medicare's Midlife Crisis", a book by Sue A. Blevins, the program's origins, evolution, and future policy options are examined thoroughly. Blevins recounts how Medicare was created as part of a larger plan for universal health insurance, and points out how Medicare costs grew far beyond the original estimates used to muster political support for the program. She finds that Medicare restricts health care choices, jeopardizes the doctor-patient relationship, and threatens to invade the medical privacy of seniors.

In "War between the Generations: Federal Spending on the Elderly Set to Explode", Cato's Director of Fiscal Policy Studies Chris Edwards, and research assistant Tad DeHaven, write that "it is clear that adding an unfunded prescription drug benefit to Medicare moves directly against reform because it puts the program's spending on an even more unsustainable path." Unfortunately, they conclude, "tomorrow's young taxpayers are not here to defend themselves against the huge burdens that are being foisted on them by Congress."

You Can't Spell 'Internet' without ... U.N.?

"Negotiators from more than 140 countries have wound up what was intended as a final preparatory session for next month's world information summit in Geneva still deeply divided," according to The Financial Times. "The divisions are over managing the Internet and how to finance expansion of information and communication technologies in poor countries."

While officials interested in gaining more control over the Internet express concerns for "development" and "governance" of Internet services to poorer nations, they should be wary of the consequences of establishing a truly international Internet governing body. In "Caught in the Seamless Web: Does the Internet's Global Reach Justify Less Freedom of Speech?" Cato Adjunct Scholar Robert Corn-Revere points out that nations such as China and Saudi Arabia -- which have been vocal about establishing an international governing body for the Internet -- have highly restrictive policies against online free expression.

Revere argues that the United States must be vigilant in preventing the lowered free-speech standards of other nations from watering down our own constitutional protections. "Other nations may treat their citizens as fragile children if they wish, or worse, as enemies of the state," he says. "But U.S. courts should not permit the seeds of foreign censorship to be planted on U.S. soil by finding that such restrictions are enforceable here."

Detroit Seeks Fuel-cell Funding

"Nearly a year after President Bush touted a push toward fuel-cell cars as a top environmental priority, the auto and oil industries are starting to shop around Washington for taxpayer help in bankrolling the billions of dollars they say will be necessary to get the futuristic vehicles out of the lab and onto the road," The Wall Street Journal reports.

The fuel-cell car initiative is not just about renewable energy, but also "renewable rhetoric," according to Cato's director of natural resource studies, Jerry Taylor. He writes in "Stop that Energy Bill!" that "the same initiative -- accompanied by the same promises -- was part of President Nixon's 'Project Independence.' Unfortunately, hydrogen-powered fuel cells are only marginally closer to commercial viability today than they were 30 years ago."

Christopher Kilmer, editor, ckilmer@cato.org