Here's the lead of an article in the national section of this morning's New York Times: "WASHINGTON, March 11 -- An influential federal advisory commission says the financial condition of the nation's top hospitals has significantly improved, so there is no need for Congress to increase their Medicare payments, despite insistent pleas from the industry. If Congress accepts the advice, as it often does, lawmakers will have more money available for new Medicare benefits like prescription drug coverage."
Talk about liberal assumptions. Sure, lawmakers will have more money available for "new Medicare benefits." But they will also have more money available for defense spending, or for returning to the people as a tax cut, or for hoarding for the expected increase in Medicare spending that will come with the retirement of the baby boom generation. The Times article doesn't explain why the only option worth mentioning for using the money is on new Medicare benefits, other than by quoting an AARP lobbyist who wants to use the money that way.
Wrong Museum: A brief in the business section of this morning's New York Times reports on Martha Stewart's plan to visit Cambridge, Mass. "On Wednesday, between stopping to see the collection of glass flowers at the Fogg Museum at Harvard University and the collection of cookbooks at the Schlesinger Library, she will tape a 'Car Talk' program, giving advice about how to fix stains on car seats and taking some good-natured abuse," The Times reports. If Ms. Stewart in fact stops to see the glass flowers at the Fogg Museum, she could wander around for a long time without finding them, because they are not there. The Fogg is an art museum. The glass flowers are part of Harvard's Botanical Museum, which is part of the Harvard Museum of Natural History, which is housed in a different building from the Fogg.