Show A2 — The Herald Journal Logan Utah Tuesday November 18 2003 I 1 Nation Democrats I spusowes blast prjvate traditional plan competition ' WASHINGTON I Al’) — Republicans won the blessing of the polili-- eally influential AARP Monday for tiieir Medicare prescription drug bill but Sen- Edward M Kennedy coun- ' leiyd wjlli a scathing attack saying -the legislation included a “$12 hi lion slush fund: to lure seniors" into - private coverage At the White I louse President Bush arranged to meet with lawmakers who spent months negotiating the deal and now must 11 nd the voles to pass if William D Novelli CEO of the ' AARP said in an Associated Press interview that his group would “pull out all the stops" to pass the legislatelevision tion including a three-da- y advertising campaign this week The bill is not perfect he conceded “but the country can’t afford to wait for perfect On balance it's the ©©IP’s right thing for seniors and their families" in RflffisODfgaF© qdDdd America ’ his party s But Kennedy leading spokesman on health matters said the legislation offers pri- vate insurance more money to insure' eadh senior than traditional Medicare spends At the same lime he said $ 2 billion in additional incentives ' amount to a “slush fund" Kennedy and Rep Charles Rangel 1 — both of them Medicare- eligible — also atiacked a proposal for direct competition between tradi - ! ' ss - 1 tional Medicare and the new private plans a program they said would increase premiums for seniors opting against managed care' “This debate is no longer about providing a prescription drug benefit for seniors instead it has become a light to preserve Medicare for current and future beneficiaries' said Rangel the senior Democrat on the ! House Ways and Means Committee Supporters of competition argue it will control the cost of Medicare over the long run : The bill would create a prescrip- tion drug benefit for 40 million elderly and disabled Medicare bene- llciaries beginning in 2006 ' At the same time the hill would establish a new role for private health plans in Medicare encourag- ing them to' offer seniors the choice of receiving coverage under managed care plans such as preferred provider organizations That system encourages use of certain doctors but allows patients to go elsewhere if they pay extra sworn in at age 2 hardy able to speak English Schwarzenegger is now the leader of the nation's most populous state and the world’s economy Schwarzenegger faces a budget deficit that he put at more than $24 billion a business climate that some economists say is the nation's worst: and a SACRAMENTO' Calif' '(Ah — Arnold Schwarzenegger who airivcd in the United--- ' States 15'y'Cars ago as a bodybuilder dreaming of lame and fortune was sworn in Monday us governor of California and said lie w as ready lb take on the “massive weight we must Jit' olf our slate" With his w ife Maria Shriver-holdina I Kennedy family Bible Schwarzenegger took the oath of ollice I'rorii California's ' chief justice on the steps of the stale Capitol ' The Holiy wood action hero then gave it 12- minute speech in which he invoked Presidents Kennedy and Reagan and called himself like JFK “an idealist without 1 sixlh-higge- " st - Democrat-dominate- d Legisla- ture that may not be in a cooperative mood “There's a massive weight we must lift off our state Alone I cannot lift it But photo together we can" he said Arnold Schwarzenegger takes He promptly made good on office 38th' the as the oath of ' at least one campaign promise: of California in governor He repealed the tripling of Cali1 Sacramento on Monday! forma's car registration tax which means the state must find He promised to put the ' state's finances in order and ': ah additional $42 billion to ' ' for the lost revenue make illusions" added: “I will pot rest until up :' California is a competitive Schwarzenegger said he “Perhaps some think this is 'would also summon the Legisfanciful or poetic but lb an machine'! : lature into special session to' immigrant like' me — who as a Although he had no experi-cnc- e ' address the biiclgerand further ’ as an elected official the boy saw Soviet tanks rolling reform the workers' compensa- through the streets of Austria1— Republican was swept into ' tion system He hats also ' office in the Oct 1 election to someone like me who came'here wilhabsblutcly nothing promised a balanced budget : jhat busied Democratic Gbv anil gained absolutely every- - ' ? Gray Davis reviled by the vol- that does not include any new ’ ' ' ers for his handling of the taxes or significant cuts in edit- fanciful tif see thing ii state's: sickly economy cation and local governments this state as a golden dream" ' from Austria hecom--- An in The session could begin as said immigrant Schwarzenegger ' in the United States' early as Tuesday who arrived California's 38th governor' ing ld - ''-A- ! "APptx)to : Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver pose with their children before he takes the oath of office as Califomia!s 38th governor on the steps of the Capitol in Sacramento on Monday Also seen are the Schwarzenegger children from left to right Katherine Christina Patrick and Christopher job-creati- ' “I learned something from all those years of training and I ' competing” he said learned is that we are always ' stronger than we know! Cali-' fornia is fike thattoo’’ As he was sworn in ' ' ! Schwarzenegger was accompa- nied by four of the five living v '? ! t ’ ' former governors of Califof-- ' nia including Davis Only Reagan who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease was hot - : ' present The ceremony was devoid of much of the usual inaugural pageantry' Nevertheless the jnaugura-- tion had 7500 invited guests! ' in addition ioseveral thousand people watching from the sheet and drew such celebri- ties as Dennis Miller Jamie Lee Curtis Danny DeVito Rob Lowe and Vanessa Williams who Sang the nation- -' al anthem ' CDC chief: Flu season' air early start : 7- - Flu’oiiit ATLANTA (Ai?) breaks are already going : strong in parts of the country months before the season typi- cally peaks- and this year’s ‘ ' vaccine does not exactly njatch the strain doctors are seeing so far the government' ’yarned Monday ‘‘This is' very serious Dr Julie Gerbetding director ' of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention She ' warned that' flii season could be wofse than usuitl: Gerberdirig begged people' to gel an early ilu shot to avoid a potentially staggering flu season nationwide ' The shot is recommended for adults over 50 children between 6 months and 2 years people with chronic medical conditions and people who work in health care The vac- cine is readily available this' year Gerberding said The outbreaks so far were strongestjnTexas and Col- orado in October apd early November Most of the coun1 try has had only sporadic flu' infections' so far this season V But doctors are worried this year's ilu season could be bru- tal Not only were the out-breaks early in Texas and Colorado they involved a strain of influenza nottargeted by the vaccine Gerberding said the vaccine should still protect most peo- pie because the strains are very similar The changing flu strain is called a “drift ’’ ' “lit the past this has hap-- ' pened It’s a very common thing” she said "Whatever the drift is the vaccine will still provide some cross-prlection so we're optimistic that will be the case this year but of course we'll be watch- ing it very carefully" 'A‘ a S ? - - ' f f' ' 's ' 'XL J S ' - - 'I' ‘ t:’ - ! AP photo liberal”' - The conservative commen- -' tutor exited last Wednesday from what he called "five intense weeks’ of treatment for his addiction He told listeners that his ordeal would not affect his radiq program He said there was more about his experience that he w anted to tell but vc not been could not: phony here” he said “I've not hecn artificial on the pro-graI was all of that else- where I was all that other places but not here And all of this will reveal itself" Limbaugh had not appeared on the air since Oct 10 before progoing into a rehabilitation ' gram in Arizona Limbaugh had said he start- "f m ed taking prescription painkillers when a doctor prescribed them following spinal surgery Back pain stemming from the surgery persisted Limbaugh said so he kept taking pills and became hooked A : law enforcement source usejs still under investigalion by the state attorney's office In the past Limbaugh had decried drug use and abuse bn his bluntly conservative show arguing thaf drug crimes deserve punishment On his broadcast Monday Limbaugh denied he was guilty of any hypocrisy in his attitudes toward drug crimes “I was a drug addict from about 1996 1995 or whatever to just five weeks ago' he said “The truth of the matter is I avoided the subject of drugs on this program for the precise reason that I was keeping a secret" He called the experience : of rehabilitation probably the most educational five weeks about himself that he had ever spent ' ' THERE QwaitDtx- ' Rush Limbaugh returns to radio show following five weeks’ drug rehab in Pajm Beach County where Limbaugh owns a $24 million oceanfront mansion said last week that Limbaugh's drug 7 r falkradiohost Rushlimbaugh prepares for his first daily radio show since he entered a rehabilifation program for an addiction to painkillers in hisNew York studio on Monday' NEW YORK (AP) — In his first broadcast after undergo- ing rehab for addiction to painkillers Rush Limbaugh ' reassured his radio listeners Monday that he hadn't been turned into a“linguini-spinc- d ' ' ' EVERYWHERE : QmstDex makes R easy for you to find whalyouto looting far more people tem to QwestDex than any other official directory of Qwest Communications is the directory' QwestDex Inc which means our information is the most complete and up to date So That's why if in Cache Valiey you're looking for anything remember QwestDex has what you and online at qwestdexcom the book on CD-RO- M o- I MailHM Does Your Heart GRxxJ O ‘ssnrT need- -in |