Word: reformer
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...reignited fiscal debates that had quieted during the fat years of budget surpluses. As the economy appears to be recovering, Bush's supporters credit his aggressive tax-cutting agenda and have called for more of the same. Opponents say Bush has starved vital programs and left no money to reform health care or entitlements. "He came to office preaching the virtues of having a balanced budget and running [a professional government]," says Mike Lowry, 21, of Bettendorf, Iowa. "He's blown the balanced budget. His tax cuts were irresponsible and created a deficit that while his generation won't have...
...Medicare could turn out to be his-and the President's-grand domestic prize going into the election. The proposal, passed by the House this weekend and by the Senate Tuesday on a 54-44 vote, will reform the program in myriad ways, most notably by giving seniors their first prescription-drug benefit. Democrats, who also know that a Bush victory on prescription drugs could be politically devastating, scrambled to stop the $400 billion measure. More important, Democrats opposed the bill's embrace of private-style health care, its failure to rein in pharmaceutical companies and its generous subsidies...
...that wrote the bill, not an unheard-of maneuver against a Senator of lesser rank but a brassy one to be pulling on the chamber's top Democrat. Instead Frist handpicked the Democratic Senators he would negotiate with: Louisiana's John Breaux, who worked with him on a Medicare-reform panel and who shares his views; and Montana's Max Baucus, who was just as eager to cut a deal...
...farther down Pennsylvania Avenue, at the White House, the President sees Fristy-his nickname for the doctor-as not just an ally in the Senate but also a key player in his 2004 campaign. "It's a lot easier running for re-election after having passed a major Medicare reform," a presidential adviser says. The President, who never warmed to the independent-minded Lott, began his alliance with Frist during the 2000 campaign, when Bush tapped him to be a liaison to the Senate. Since then, Frist has cultivated the President too and hunted with Dick Cheney and top adviser...
...issues on which the parties disagree the most?pension reform and national security?could come to a head soon. The New Komeito made the preservation of a generous pension system its top campaign issue, and last week the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry (headed by New Komeito Diet member Chikara Sakaguchi) submitted a plan calling for an increase in the government's share of pension financing, with the added expenses to be funded by canceling a series of income tax cuts. Many prominent LDP members claim that this scheme will put Japan's fragile economic recovery at risk. Japan...