The Elephant in the Room: Ignoring Seniors at the State of the Union

Our parents shouldn't have to choose between food and medicine. And no politician should ever favor the interests of big business over the well being of America's seniors.
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At tonight's State of the Union address, George Bush will avoid many things. The truth about the quagmire in Iraq, massive government debt and the growing trade deficit are probably not included in the text of his speech. Instead he will propose a series of new initiatives without pausing to address the failures of the past and the many scandals that have tarnished his administration.

Democrats will criticize the president following his address. You can be sure that Tom Delay and Jack Abramoff will be on the lips of many interviewed in Statuary Hall. I applaud my fellow Democrats for speaking out against Republican corruption, but we need to do more. Democrats need to talk about the consequences of corruption, which hurts so many Americans in their daily lives.

The Medicare prescription drug plan, which was written by the drug and insurance industry, passed by the Republican Congress in the middle of the night, and signed by the President into law, is the most egregious product of that corruption. Seniors have seen their prescription drug bills go up by 300 percent a month or more since the program debuted this year, while insurance and drug companies have seen their profits soar.

Last week, I met with health care providers in Toledo who described the "tremendous delays" for getting prescriptions under the program. In many cases, the prescriptions are for life-threatening conditions, which have doctors prepared to hospitalize their patients or take up collections for their medicine to keep them alive.

I'm not in the business of giving Republicans political advice, but this debacle will likely result in electoral suicide for the GOP this November. Seniors may be one of the most vulnerable groups in our society, but no one speaks louder at election time. Bush's Social Security plan went down in flames because of opposition from seniors groups. Republicans would be wise to address this issue quickly for the sake of America's elderly and their own political survival.

There's an elephant in the room that Republicans don't want to talk about. We must fix this broken system or turn against our family values. Our parents shouldn't have to choose between food and medicine. And no politician should ever favor the interests of big business over the well being of America's seniors.

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