Caveat lector

More HOWLER history: Whence we came

Synopsis: Three position papers on Medicare madness, composed when the DAILY HOWLER was young.

Construction was just getting underway on the sprawling campus of DAILY HOWLER World Headquarters when the 1996 Medicare mess was reaching its merciful end. But we offer three position papers, composed at the time of that debate. We especially recommend "The Speaker's new language," the most complete account of the two-year debacle. But we leave to the reader the decision to explore the paper he or she might desire.

For those who wish to explore the way we came by these incomparable papers, we offer a visit to our companion site, the long-dormant SOCRATES READS. (We link to these position papers at "Chapter two" of that site.) The astonishing origin of these incomparable papers never ceases to inspire and amaze us.

But if you're literalists, just link up below. Your explorations, still worthwhile, will be safer.

The Medicare papers:

A tale of three numbers, 11/8/96: Our shortest. The Medicare debate was a tale of three numbers. The press corps kept giving you two.

Clinton speaks, 10/6/96: Was Clinton lying about "cuts" in the GOP program? He described his own plan the same way.

The Speaker's new language, 7/20/96: Our magnum Medicare opus. All the storied conceptual chaos of the two-year-long Medicare discourse.