There were no consistent associations between malpractice environment and Medicare payments.There were no consistent associations between state-level malpractice risk and higher quality of care or Medicare payments for colorectal surgery.
And in that debate he positioned himself as the protector of education, the environment and Medicare.
These columns give voice to a fact that is already familiar to so many of us: Our nation's greatest problem is not the economy or the environment or Medicare; it's our wholesale avoidance of reality.
First, there's the simple fact that Gardner is essentially an untested candidate, with no state-wide campaign experience, who's prevailed in safe elections in districts that welcome his far-right positions on everything the environment and Medicare and to women's issues and gay rights.
These debates have turned out to be matchless opportunities to hear straight talk or straight lies on extremely vital issues facing this country: getting out of the Iraq war, job creation, health insurance protection, the environment, education and Medicare reform.
She was a major supporter of the Affordable Health Care for America Act, opposed the Iraq war from the beginning, and is committed to protecting our environment and keeping Medicare and Social Security solvent.
Apparently, the differences between the parties on issues like the environment, tax policy and Medicare, as well as their philosophical differences on judicial appointments, don't make much of an impression on Mr. Nader.
Day after day this week, from one coast to the other, Mr. Bush has sought to draw contrasts between his positions on Medicare, the environment, education and tax cuts and those of his rival.
But Ms. Backus, of the Democratic National Committee, asserted that the platform was a mother lode of out-of-the-mainstream positions, not only on abortion but also on the environment, school vouchers and Medicare.
The office, known in Washington as OIRA, reviews major regulations written by federal agencies (on matters like the environment, the financial system, Medicare and Medicaid and public health and safety).
