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Julia Louis-Dreyfus (originally aired May 13, 2006; footnoted on May 25)
- Parallel Universe State of the Union
- Weekend Update (NSA, Iran letter, Medicare, Abramoff visits)
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- Parallel Universe: State of the Union. In the 2000 election, Vice President Al Gore got 50,996,582 popular votes to Texas Governor George W. Bush's 50,456,0652 popular votes, but lost the electoral vote by winning 262 electoral votes to Bush's 271 (results on-line here). Gore conceded the election after a bitter recount battle that culminated with a December 12, 2000 decision by the United States Supreme Court (on-line here).
In its first months, a Gore presidency probably would have focused more on environmental issues and would not have enacted the tax cuts that Bush signed into law in June 2001. Still, a Gore presidency would have faced a Republican-controlled Senate and a Republican-controlled House, and would not have easily passed its legislative agenda. A Gore presidency also may have had to deal with attacks similar to the September 11, 2001 attacks and the growing threat of terrorism, though it likely would not have invaded Iraq.
As for global warming itself, many do agree that global average surface temperature has increased over the 100 years by about one degree and that higher concentrations of greenhouse gases relating to human activity such as the use of fossil fuels have contributed to this increase. The controversy centers on how much of the increase can be attributed to fossil fuels, and how to affect the problem. President George W. Bush himself acknowledged the temperature increase and the greenhouse effect in a June 11, 2001 speech (on-line here), though he also raised questions about how much was known and what should be done in response.
In order to minimize the temperature increase and the resulting climatic changes, many nations have acted both individually and collectively to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. For example, the United States, which has the highest carbon-dioxide emission levels of any major country on an absolute and per capita basis, has individually implemented fuel-efficiency standards and targeted the worst polluters through penalties and pollution-credit allocations. Collectively, many nations agreed to commit themselves via the Kyoto Protocol adopted in 1997 to meet certain reduction goals by around 2010. The United States and other nations have not adopted the protocol.
As for the term "lockbox," Gore used that word seven times in the first 2000 presidential debate (transcript on-line here) and that actually inspired this website (my siblings remembered the SNL sketch but did not understand the lockbox reference).
Gore used the word "lockbox" to symbolize his proposals for the budget surplus that existed in 2000. At that time, overall economic prospects looked good and the Clinton administration estimated that there would be a $3.4 trillion surplus over the next 10 years. Gore said he wanted to lock the Social Security surplus away, so that the federal government could and would not spend any of it on other programs. This amounted to basically allocating about 80 percent of the surplus to Social Security, which would extend Social Security's solvency and help pay down the federal debt, which would help reduce the roughly $200 million a year that the federal government spends each year just on interest payments. Gore said in the debate he would use the rest for investments in education, health care, the environment, and middle-class tax cuts.
George W. Bush, by contrast, said in the debate that he would dedicate half of the surplus to Social Security, a quarter for important projects, and one quarter of the surplus for tax cuts, though he emphasized tax cuts. Bush also said that he wanted to reform Social Security so that workers could have their own accounts that they could manage, rather than just putting more money into the program.
Even if Gore had been elected, he might have had difficulty actually maintaining the "lockbox." Even if he somehow could have avoided the September 11 attacks and did not push the tax cuts that Bush did, the economy slowed in late 2000 and officially went into recession in early 2001, which would have affected the projected surpluses.
- Weekend Update. Here are footnotes for some of the covered topics:
- NSA Program. USA Today reported on May 11 that the National Security Agency has maintained a database of information about domestic phone calls (story on-line here). According to the story, the NSA approached AT&T, Bellsouth and Verizon for the information about the phone calls, but one carrier, Qwest, refused to comply because the NSA had not gotten court approval for the request.
President George W. Bush did not confirm or deny the existence of the program in a May 11 appearance (on-line here), but did defend intelligence activities generally. "First, our international activities strictly target al Qaeda and their known affiliates. Al Qaeda is our enemy, and we want to know their plans. Second, the government does not listen to domestic phone calls without court approval. Third, the intelligence activities I authorized are lawful and have been briefed to appropriate members of Congress, both Republican and Democrat. Fourth, the privacy of ordinary Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities," he said. "We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans. Our efforts are focused on links to al Qaeda and their known affiliates."
A USA Today/Gallup poll (on-line here) conducted on May 12 and May 13 found that 51 percent of Americans disapproved of the program and that 43 percent approved.
- Iran Letter. A translation of the letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to U.S. President George Bush on May 8 is on-line here. The letter poses questions to Bush about the handling of the war on terror, the war in Iraq, and the creation of Israel, among other things, and it refers only indirectly to the ongoing concern over Iran's development of nuclear power and its potential development of nuclear weapons: "Why is it that any technological and scientific achievement reached in the Middle East regions is translated into and portrayed as a threat to the Zionist regime? Is not scientific R&D one of the basic rights of nations[?]"
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on May 8 (transcript on-line here) that the letter, which she described as "broadly philosophical," did not mark an opening in discussions with Iran. "There is nothing in this letter that in any way addresses any of the issues really that are on the table in the international community -- the nuclear program -- in a straightforward way -- the terrorism issue," she said. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said on May 9 (transcript on-line here) that the letter "appears to be more about trying to change the subject."
- Medicare Enrollment. The first enrollment period for the new Medicare prescription drug program ended on May 15. Medicare recipients who want to enroll in the program afterwards may be charged a penalty or wait for the next open enrollment period, which begins on November 15.
Under the new program, people with Medicare (generally people over age 65) can choose to enroll in a prescription-drug plan that can help save money on annual prescription-drug costs through a discount on retail drug prices. Drug plans vary depending on location, the costs that the participant will have to pay themselves, and what drugs are covered. Information about prescription-drug coverage and about local plans is on-line here.
The new prescription-drug coverage was enacted in December 2003 and goes into effect in 2006. The plan generally provides coverage for 75% of annual drug costs and coverage for 95% of costs above $3,600 (more information on-line here). Medicare recipients can also get drug-discount cards that can reduce the cost of covered prescription drugs. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the expanded coverage would cost $395 billion from 2004 to 2013, though the Medicare Actuaries have estimated the cost at $534 billion (information on-line here).
Some have criticized the plan for not providing more assistance, for not covering all prescription drugs, and for not taking steps to ensure lower prices overall; some proposed steps include allowing the federal government to negotiate better prices from the pharmaceutical industry and allowing wider importation of drugs from Canada.
The United States spent about $140.6 billion on prescription drugs in 2001, or about 10 percent of all national health expenditures. This amount has grown faster than overall health costs; prescription-drug costs made up about 5 percent of all national health expenditures in 1990. Source: here.
- Abramoff Visits. The Judicial Watch organization reported on May 18 that it had received two documents from the Secret Service showing that lobbyist Jack Abramoff visited the White House on March 6, 2001 and January 20, 2004, but criticized the information as incomplete (release on-line here), given that the White House had previously acknowledged other visits.
Lobbyist Jack Abramoff pled guilty on January 3 to charges of conspiracy, aiding and abetting fraud, and tax evasion (release on-line here) and was sentenced on March 29 to 70 months in prison on March 29 to 70 months in prison (press release on-line here). As part of his plea agreement, Abramoff agreed to cooperate with an ongoing criminal investigation, which could help lead to charges against others.
According to the plea agreement, Abramoff admitted conspiring to defraud four Native American Indian tribes that were clients by charging high fees and taking some in kickbacks. Abramoff also reportedly admitted to engaging in a pattern of corruptly providing things of value - including trips, tickets to events, campaign contributions, and meals at his restaurant - to public officials to benefit his clients. Abramoff also admitted to a tax evasion charge for not reporting the income he received in kickbacks.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said on January 4 (on-line here) that Abramoff's behavior was "outrageous" and that Abramoff "needs to be held accountable, and he needs to be punished." McClellan also said that while it was possible President George W. Bush may have met Abramoff at some point, "[t]he President does not know him, nor does the President recall ever meeting him."
- Pfizer Anti-Smoking Pill. A press release about the FDA's approval of Pfzier's anti-smoking pill Chantix (varenicline) is on-line here.
- Virginity Pledge Study. A May 15 Washington Post article about a study finding that 53 percent of adolescents in a 1995-96 federal survey who said that they had made a virginity pledge denied doing so a year later is on-line here.
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West Wing: Santos discusses a lawsuit about intelligent design
West Wing: Electoral map as of the 10/9 episode; Santos needs to catch up big-time
SNL: The Miers nomination
South Park: Inspired by Katrina
Boston Legal: End to assault-weapons ban
Daily Show: A 2004 study found that 21 percent of young people regularly get their campaign news from comedy shows like the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Saturday Night Live. So, some footnotes.
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By Stephen Lee
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