Medicare tax increase myths

I received this email about a Kerry campaign commercial (18 October 2004, 6:48 PM):

Have you seen the John Kerry commercial in which George Bush pledges to help Seniors on Medicare and "the very next day imposes a 17% premium increase - the biggest in history"? That ad is a stroke of genius on Kerry's part and will surely gain him many votes among the uninformed.

I found it so amazing that I did some homework on the issue. As it turns out the 17% increase was not imposed by President Bush but was mandated by the "balanced budget agreement" signed by President Clinton, voted into law by Senator John Kerry, and was scheduled to come into effect during the Bush administration. President Bush had no authority to reverse what had been voted into law by Senator Kerry during the Clinton administration.

Once again Kerry is counting on the ignorance of the American people. Don't be duped by his mendacity.

My response follows:

I haven’t seen the ad, but I have read the Snopes article about this email.

If you’re interested in the details, factcheck.org has a good article titled “Bush falsely claims Kerry voted repeatedly to raise premiums. Kerry's spot blaming Bush alone for the latest increase isn't much better” that debunks both candidates’ ads.

Both parties are counting on voters’ ignorance.

Don’t be duped by Bush’s mendacity, either.