No surprise in the jet-set

Today it was revealed that the Bush administration's secretary of HHS has been using a luxury Gulfstream jet reserved for emergency use in order to travel the country promoting the new Medicare Part D brainchild.

Remember, this is the Bush administration's program that makes it illegal for the government to negotiate prices for Medicare prescription drugs. This means that the drug manufacturers, major Republican party corporate donors, can decide how much they want the government to give them, and then by law the government must fork over that money.

The plan is also designed to provide so many confusing options, that seniors will be put off by the entire process and not seek the best help they can get.

This at a time where the country needs better (yes, even universal) healthcare. The administration's response is to screw the taxpayers for no benefit, and then top things off by racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in propaganda expenses, proclaiming that the plan doesn't suck.

But the truly sad thing - the level of corruption in the Bush administration is so high, that this news did not surprise anyone. Very sad.