Randall Hoven at the American Thinker posted an article today on what the Congressional Budget Office's numbers on the cost of the Senate healthcare bill actually mean. Since Harry Reid has the sixty votes to get this legislation passed, it guess it's time to take a close look at those numbers.
The Democrats claim that the legislation will reduce the deficit by $132 billion over the 10 years from 2010 to 2019. Since more people will be covered by government-subsidized healthcare, that seems rather amazing. They are telling the truth--those are the numbers for that period of time--what they are not telling you is how they do it. It's really very simple. Begin increased taxes and Medicare cuts in 1010, but do not spend any significant money on healthcare programs until after 2014 (after President Obama leaves office if he is elected to a second term).
Mr. Hoven points out the where the money to pay for healthcare legislation comes from between 2010 and 2019:
- "Spending changes" (e.g., Medicare cuts): $483 billion.
- Excise tax on high-premium plans: $149 billion.
- Savings from "other sources" (like penalties for being uninsured): $108 billion.
- Other "revenues": $264 billion.
That will be the beginning. The trouble begins with something called the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). The states would be required to pick up a lot of the cost of this legislation--states that are not doing well financially to begin with. (In a previous post at RightWingGranny it was noted that Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska cut a deal so that Nebraska would not have to pay these costs--the other states would pay Nebraska's share!).
The article points out:
"The "deficit reduction" comes in the earlier years: $111 billion of the $132 billion reduction comes in the first five years, 2010-2014. That is because the taxes start early, but insuring the uninsured comes later, mostly after President Obama is long gone from office. By 2019, the "deficit reduction" will be only $16 billion, per the CBO. The overall deficit will be over $1 trillion by then, and the federal debt held by the public will be over $17 trillion."
If this horrible piece of legislation passes, all of us owe it to ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren to elect Congressmen who will repeal it as soon as possible. This is not a healthcare bill--it will degrade medical care for all of us and will be unbelievably expensive in the process.
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