On Friday, Charles Krauthammer posted a column at the Washington Post about the repeal of Obamacare. He points out that the Congressional Budget Office numbers the Democrats are using to say that repealing Obamacare will increase the deficit actually say something else. Dr. Krauthammer points out that the way Obamacare decreases the deficit is to raise taxes by $770 billion while increasing spending by $540 billion. It might also be noted that tax revenues are predicted--not guaranteed--while spending is guaranteed to be at least what is predicted, if not more. To see an example of this, follow the link to a rightwinggranny.com on November 12, 2010, detailing what has happened to the plan to insure people with pre-existing medical conditions.
Dr. Krauthammer points out:
"In fact, the whole Obamacare bill was gamed to produce a favorable CBO number. Most glaringly, the entitlement it creates - government-subsidized health insurance for 32 million Americans - doesn't kick in until 2014. That was deliberately designed so any projection for this decade would cover only six years of expenditures - while that same 10-year projection would capture 10 years of revenue. With 10 years of money inflow vs. six years of outflow, the result is a positive - i.e., deficit-reducing - number. Surprise."
The column by Dr. Krauthammer reminds Congress that they should not repeal Obamacare without offering a replacement. He conludes:
"But amending an insanely complicated, contradictory, incoherent and arbitrary 2,000-page bill that will generate tens of thousands of pages of regulations is a complete non-starter. Everything begins with repeal."
That is why the vote in the House last week to repeal Obamacare was not symbolic--it was real. Now the idea is to get Senators on the record as to whether or not they are willing to try to get healthcare reform right. What was passed last year was a tribute to special interests and pork with very little regard for the consumers of health care. Hopefully this Congress can put together something much less complicated and much better.
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