Tax and spend congressmen have reached an agreement on one of the largest vote buying entitlement schemes in Medicare history, reports Fox News.

Republican congressional leaders said they sealed a tentative agreement Saturday on a new prescription drug benefit for the nation's seniors, which would be the largest expansion in Medicare's history. [...]

At its core, beginning in 2006, it would give millions of older Americans a prescription drug benefit, projected to cost $400 billion over 10 years.

Any politician who votes for this new entitlement has no right to bitch about the budget deficit. Also, does anyone on Capitol Hill actually believe the cost of this program will actually come in at a mere $400 billion?

The Heritage Foundation takes a comprehensive look at the ramifications of Congress' recklessness, and conclude the the following are quite likely:

The size of government will expand -- A new entitlement will take America even faster down the road that has caused so much economic damage in Europe's welfare states. Indeed, the unfunded Medicare expansion is essentially a huge future tax increase since the population of Medicare recipients will nearly double once the baby-boom generation retires. Ironically, just when some European countries are waking up to the problem and restraining unfunded entitlements, America will be creating an enormous new entitlement.

President Bush's recently enacted tax cut and tax reform package will likely be the first casualty -- Because of arcane budget rules, the bulk of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire at the end of 2008 and the end of 2010. Extending these tax cuts or making them permanent will be enormously difficult in an environment of skyrocketing spending for government-provided health care. Indeed, the creation of a prescription drug entitlement may be akin to repealing the Bush tax cuts.

By adding to the deficit, the huge new unfunded liability will likely be the death knell of further tax relief and fundamental tax reform -- A prescription drug benefit means bigger deficits--a problem that will intensify as the baby boomers start to retire in the next decade. Once these demographic and fiscal variables become part of the budget forecast, lawmakers seeking to cut taxes and create a simple and fair tax code, such as the flat tax, in all probability will face insurmountable political obstacles.

It is appalling that congress is willing to risk the financial future of this nation in the interest of a political power grab. Partisanship has both parties worried about the 2004 election and being able to take credit for a sweeping new entitlement program will be quite a feather in the cap of incumbents when they come up for re-election. Although I seriously doubt that will happen, I can only hope that those of us that end up having to pay for this monstrosity will make those that vote for it pay the political price come November.