Michael Kinsley makes sense (my fingers deceive me). He has analyzed the debate over prescription drug benefits rationally. Congress on Drugs: The bizarre debate about a prescription drug benefit. He asks

Government benefit programs are sometimes called "social insurance," but what exactly is being insured against? Look at the prescription drug benefit that died—for this year—in the Senate on Wednesday. Differences between this proposal and the one that passed the House in June do not loom large to the naked eye. Both parties claim to favor drug coverage for the elderly, and what they are quarreling about is as unclear as the philosophical basis for the plans they have come up with.

Hey Michael - they are quarreling about politics. Just thought you would want to know.

When Congress takes up a drug benefit again, it should keep things simple and concentrate on the risk, approaching a certainty, that it wishes to prevent: people doing without drugs—or without food—because of the cost. That means concentrating on poor people. The risk that drug prices will move you down a notch in the middle class is not something an entire society can insure itself against anyway.

Amen!