Democrats Played Fast And Loose With Cost Estimates
by Big Dog on Dec 26, 2009 at 10:31 Political
The Democrats used DC math to get estimates from the CBO to meet the requirements set forth by Obama in reference to health care costs. Democrats claim that the health care overhaul will save money but they apply so called savings to two different items. It is physically impossible to use “saved” money, in its entirety, for two different things.
The Congressional Budget Office challenged claims by health-care overhaul proponents that Medicare savings in Senate legislation would help finance expanded coverage and postpone the bankruptcy of the medical program for the elderly.
The nonpartisan agency said the $246 billion it projected the legislation would save Medicare can’t both finance new programs and help pay future expenses for elderly covered under the federal program.
Nor could those savings be used to extend the solvency of Medicare, set to run out of money in 2017, the budget office said in a letter to Senate Republicans. Bloomberg
The Democrats could have done this on purpose or it could be a mistake because no one has any idea what this bill contains. They just wanted to get something passed so they could claim a victory and go home. I am betting it was done on purpose with the hope that no one would notice because they like to use funny math in DC. The way they manage a budget would bankrupt any private business and land CEOs in jail.
Senator Sessions said it best:
“What we’ve seen is a colossal manipulation” by Democrats “of the accounting scores of CBO” and the independent actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, said Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, the Republican who requested the analysis from CBO. He called the letter “a potential game-changer.”
This would be a game changer if Democrats cared about costs. They have manipulated this entire process to give the impression that their overhaul saves money when it will, in fact, cost trillions of dollars, money we do not have.
The only thing I can see facing Democrats during their time off is a lot of grief from constituents who are fed up with the games being played.
We can’t really blame them too much though. They spent so much of our money buying votes (something that would land us in jail) that they needed to show savings someplace.
They just got caught this time…
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Tags: cbo, cost lies, fuzzy math, health care bill
Pure, unadulterated…
Republican Deficit Hypocrisy.
You’ve got the arm twisting, and blatant deception and collusion to hide the actual cost of the bell (which never even tried to deal with cost).
Note:
“…the Bush administration knew this figure was not accurate because Medicare’s chief actuary, Richard Foster, had concluded, well before passage, that the more likely cost would be $534 billion. Tom Scully, a Republican political appointee at the Department of Health and Human Services, threatened to fire him if he dared to make that information public before the vote.”
The stench actually burns the nose a little.
D.
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Excerpt:
“Just to be clear, the Medicare drug benefit was a pure giveaway with a gross cost greater than either the House or Senate health reform bills how being considered. Together the new bills would cost roughly $900 billion over the next 10 years, while Medicare Part D will cost $1 trillion.
Moreover, there is a critical distinction–the drug benefit had no dedicated financing, no offsets and no revenue-raisers; 100% of the cost simply added to the federal budget deficit, whereas the health reform measures now being debated will be paid for with a combination of spending cuts and tax increases, adding nothing to the deficit over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.” –Forbes article above
It would only be hypocrisy if I was not as hard on the Republicans for spending (maybe even harder). I don’t like any of it.
I am not sure about the whole drug plan stuff since I have read that it has been under the estimate.
I don’t think they should be in any of it. Of course, the CBO only scores what the politicians give them. If the Congress submitted a bill that said assume that we have a pill that makes cars get 100 MPG, would we save money paying 1000 dollars a piece for enough pills to put in government vehicles. The CBO would come back and say that there would be a cost savings. Government could then justify a 1000 dollar per pill cost even though the assumption was bogus. This is how all cost estimates work. If the CBO scored any bill completely it would be way over what was said.
Of course Darrel never screamed hypocrisy when his Democrats were doing this. He did not scream hypocrisy when his messiah just complained about the Republicans using LEGAL Seante procedures to drag out a bill even though Democrats did that for 6 years when Bush was president.
Now that is hypocrisy but Darrel won’t mention it.
Bigd: “Darrel never screamed hypocrisy when his Democrats were doing this.”>>
DAR
The Medicare drug benefit bill was passed by a Republican president and his Republican Congress. As referenced above, only 25 Republicans voted against the budget-busting drug bill while all but 16 Democrats voted AGAINST it.
Republican Deficit Hypocrisy
Bigd: “drug plan stuff since I have read that it has been under the estimate.”
DAR
One shudders to consider the swamps and treatment plants you must get your information from.
“the congressional budget resolution capped the projected cost of the drug benefit at $400 billion over 10 years.”
Reality:
“One month later, the ten-year cost estimate was boosted to $534 billion, up more than $100 billion over the figure presented by the Bush administration during Congressional debate. The inaccurate figure helped secure support from fiscally conservative Republicans. It was reported that an administration official, Thomas A. Scully, had concealed the higher estimate and threatened to fire Medicare Chief Actuary Richard Foster if he revealed it.[3] By early 2005, the White House Budget had increased the 10-year estimate to $1.2 trillion.[4]
Former US Comptroller General David M. Walker has called this “…probably the most fiscally irresponsible piece of legislation since the 1960s… because we promise way more than we can afford to keep.” [5]”
wiki
Bigd: “drag out a bill even though Democrats did that for 6 years when Bush was president.”>>
DAR
Again with the hypocrisy because again, you guys hold the record.
<a href="http://fayfreethinkers.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=20421#p20421"Record Breaking: Senate Conservatives Use Filibuster for 62nd Time in This Session of Congress
Excerpt: “In just one session, a minority in Congress has prevented a mind-blowing 62 pieces of legislation from going to the floor for an up or down vote,”… the uncompromising minority has thwarted the will of majorities in Congress and of the American people, holding the Senate floor hostage to a radical right-wing agenda.”
D.
Link fix
Where were the shouts of hypocrisy when Democrats were using Senate procedures to deny Bush judicial appointees or legislation?
The will of the American people? And which part of most do not support these pieces of legislation are the will of the people?
Darrel wouldn’t recognize true logic if it bit him in the butt- whether it was libbies or conservatives, double accounting, as the administration has done, is LYING- and it is hypocrisy, and childish to point to Republicans, and say, “But they did it too-” How old ARE you?
Wrong is wrong- this is the trouble with atheists- they have no moral center, no absolutes to draw their behavior patterns from.
And then, also, you have him being a Liberal apologist- another deficit character trait.
Pity.
BLK: ““But they did it too-” How old ARE you?>>
DAR
Blake manages to remain completely oblivious to the fact that this whole thread is a failed exercise by Bigd to try and make the case that “they did it to.” As I showed, in this instance, no comparison.
But there are lots of examples of “they did it to” in the mindless tit for tat game that is this two party system. Just try to stick to the best examples and be honest with the facts. That’s not too much to ask.
BLK: the trouble with atheists- they have no moral center, no absolutes to draw their behavior patterns from.>>
DAR
Blake has an “absolute moral” in his “center” somewhere? Wonderful. Perhaps he would like to give an example of one of these blessed, moral “absolutes.”
Didn’t think so. He makes it up as he goes along or cherry picks morals from this person or that book, or society, or what feels right, cafeteria style, just like everyone else.
If there was such a thing as a “moral absolute” you should be able to give an example of one.
D.
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