C'mon now, fair is fair
Brilliant. If Ashcroft can invoke a 1872 law, the Democrats can invoke a 20th century one.
Democrats Sue Over Medicare Costs
House Democrats filed a federal lawsuit against President Bush's top health adviser yesterday in an effort to compel the administration to release internal cost estimates from last year predicting that the Medicare prescription drug law would cost one-third more than the White House said.
The lawsuit, by the 18 Democrats on the House Government Reform Committee, alleges that Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson violated a 1928 law that requires federal agencies to share relevant information with Congress anytime at least seven members of a committee request it.
The suit escalates a tug of war between congressional Democrats and administration officials that began when the Medicare program's chief actuary disclosed that he had been threatened with firing if he gave Congress his calculations that the new Medicare law would cost $500 billion to $600 billion during the next decade. Bush said last year that it would cost $400 billion but revised the amount to $534 billion four months ago, provoking the ire of Democrats and some conservative Republicans.
