Sherrod Brown: “earlier this year a confidential document prepared for House Republicans somehow found its way into the public realm. It…”

“earlier this year a confidential document prepared for House Republicans somehow found its way into the public realm. It was not big news at the time, just some talking points prepared by Republican polling firms on the Democrats' Medicare prescription drug plan. According to their analysis, one way to create opposition to the Democratic plan is to call it a one-size-fits-all plan or a big government plan. One cannot blame the public for bristling at those phrases. I do not know anyone who likes big government for big government's sake. However, one can blame politicians for exploiting those terms instead of confronting the fundamental differences between the Democratic and Republican prescription drug plans. One can blame the drug companies and the chamber of commerce for spending $40 million already and promises of another $40 million on phony groups on television such as Citizens for Better Medicare. The Democrats plan would add an optional drug benefit to Medicare. The Republican plan, the drug company plan, would bypass Medicare and subsidize private, stand-alone insurance plans. So is the Democrats' Medicare prescription drug coverage a one-size-fits-all program as the Republicans and the prescription drug companies tell us? I do not think so. It is difficult to conceive of a program offering more choice than Medicare.”