Cato Daily Dispatch for October 10, 2005
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Republicans Split over MiersMedicare's Drug Education Campaign
Subsidies to Buy the Farm
Republicans Split over Miers
"Nearly half of Senate Republicans say they remain unconvinced that Harriet Miers is worthy of being confirmed to the Supreme Court," reports the Washington Times. "As with the nomination of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the vast majority of senators say they will not announce their final decisions about the nomination until after Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, which are expected sometime next month.
"What's troubling for President Bush, however, is that 27 Republican senators -- almost half of his party's members in the chamber -- have publicly expressed specific doubts about Miss Miers or said they must withhold any support whatsoever for her nomination until after the hearings."
Roger Pilon, founder and director of Cato's Center for Constitutional Studies, says: "I know of nothing in Harriet Miers' background that would qualify her for an appointment to the Supreme Court. It is noteworthy that the White House chose to make this nomination two hours before the Supreme Court begins its new term under the direction of a new Chief Justice, John Roberts, thereby taking the spotlight from that critically important event in the nation's history. Among other things, that timing serves only to sharpen the contrast between the two nominees."
In "Cronyism," Cato senior fellow Randy Barnett writes: "To be qualified, a Supreme Court justice must have more than credentials; [Miers] must have a well-considered 'judicial philosophy,' by which is meant an internalized view of the Constitution and the role of a justice that will guide her through the constitutional minefield that the Supreme Court must navigate. Nothing in Harriet Miers' professional background called upon her to develop considered views on the extent of congressional powers, the separation of powers, the role of judicial precedent, the importance of states in the federal system, or the need for judges to protect both the enumerated and unenumerated rights retained by the people. It is not enough simply to have private opinions on these complex matters; a prospective justice needs to have wrestled with them in all their complexity before attaining the sort of judgment that decision-making at the Supreme Court level requires, especially in the face of executive or congressional disagreement."
Medicare's Drug Education Campaign
"Medicare soon will help seniors pay for prescription drugs. That, however, is all that many Americans know...and the government plans to spend $300 million over three years teaching them," according to the Washington Post. "Medicare officials say the education campaign will be comprehensive, with an emphasis on grass-roots outreach by local nonprofit partners. The agency is relying on about 10,000 local groups to provide education and materials to seniors at church gatherings, nursing homes, Meals on Wheels visits and meetings of civic organizations."
In the Cato Briefing Paper "Medicare Prescription Drugs: Medical Necessity Meets Fiscal Insanity," Jagadeesh Gokhale of the Cato Institute and Joseph Antos of the American Enterprise Institute argue that "Medicare spending is increasing at twice the rate of the gross domestic product, and, according to Medicare's chief actuary, the program is facing a breathtaking funding shortfall of $62 trillion -- nearly six times larger than the much -- discussed shortfall in Social Security. The newly enacted Medicare prescription drug benefit could cost more than $700 billion over the next 10 years and will only add to the program's financial woes."
According to Gokhale and Antos, "Congress should revisit the Medicare prescription drug program and insist on significant market-based reforms, not merely an ever-expanding array of benefits."
Subsidies to Buy the Farm
"The Bush administration will try to jump-start stalled negotiations over a global trade deal on Monday by offering to make steep cuts in domestic farm subsidies and export subsidies if other countries make similar concessions, senior administration officials said on Sunday," The New York Times reports. "The American offer comes after weeks of closed-door negotiations between the United States Trade Representative, Rob Portman, and members of Congress who have said they would not approve any deal unless they were convinced that American farmers could make up for the loss of government aid through new access to foreign markets. Farm subsidies in the United States total more than $19 billion annually."
In "Save the Farms -- End the Subsidies," Chris Edwards, Cato's director of tax policy studies, and Tad DeHaven, a former Cato research assistant, ask, "Does the government really need to subsidize such an industry? Do we need farming subsidies in order for Americans to eat?"
They write: "Evidence from New Zealand indicates that the answer is an emphatic no on both counts. In 1984 New Zealand's Labor government took the dramatic step of ending all farm subsidies, which then consisted of 30 separate production payments and export incentives. This was a truly striking policy action, because New Zealand's economy is roughly five times more dependent on farming than is the U.S. economy, measured by either output or employment. Subsidies in New Zealand accounted for more than 30 percent of the value of production before reform, somewhat higher than U.S. subsidies today. And New Zealand farming was marred by the same problems caused by U.S. subsidies, including overproduction, environmental degradation and inflated land price.
"A report [in 2001] from the country's main farmers' group, the Federated Farmers of New Zealand, documents the positive change and growth in that country's agriculture industry since subsidies ended. While land prices initially fell after reform, by 1994 they had rebounded, and they remain high today. The mass of farm bankruptcies some had expected never occurred; just 1 percent of farms have gone out of business."
Greg Garner, editor, ggarner@cato.org