Janice Schakowsky: “this budget ought to come out with a warning for senior citizens: Do not look for a decent prescription drug benefit…”

“this budget ought to come out with a warning for senior citizens: Do not look for a decent prescription drug benefit here. President Bush, one may remember, when he was a candidate, promised a prescription drug benefit under Medicare. Instead, this budget has a measly proposal available only to seniors that make under $11,500 a year. This is not going to help people like the Reinauers in my district. He is 75 and she is 71, but they make too much money to get help under the Republican plan. Mr. Reinauer wrote to me last February saying, ``We are going broke paying for prescription drugs.'' He is paying $324 a month. Mrs. Reinauer has a drug bill that will knock your eyes out, and she pays the full price. This is a budget that does more for a million millionaires than it does for 39 million Medicare beneficiaries that are waiting for a real prescription drug benefit. That is priorities. This is not what President Bush promised when he was a candidate and it is not what senior citizens deserve to see in this budget.”