Pro-Bush Puffery on Economy, Medicare

From factcheck.org

Pro-Bush Puffery on Economy, Medicare

New ad claims Bush inherited an economy "already in recession" and that
41 million seniors "now have access to lower cost prescriptions." Wrong
on both counts.

Summary

The ad by the pro-Bush group Progress for America Voter Fund claims the
economy was already in a recession when Bush took office, but the
National Bureau of Economic Research (which dates business cycles) says the
recession actually began in March 2001, after Bush took office in
January.

The facts also get stretched when the ad claims "41 million seniors now
have access to lower cost prescriptions (emphasis added)." Bush's new
prescription drug benefit will cover seniors on Medicare for an extra
premium of about $35 a month, but not until 2006. Even the currently
available drug discount cards have been used much less than expected.
Current enrollment is less than 5 million.