Posted by
Always To The Right on Saturday, July 18, 2009 1:24:22 PM
As if the White House hadn’t heard enough from Doug Elmendorf and the
CBO this week. Their new analysis shows that the House version of
ObamaCare not only is not deficit neutral, but the actual hit to the
federal deficit for this program alone exceeds $239 billion over the next decade. Democrats immediately pledged to address it — by finding new ways to cook the books
Do these new rules cut expenditures by $245 billion over the next
ten years? No. In fact, their new rules allow Medicare to pay doctors
more for their services, increasing expenditures. They just don’t have to show that on the books:
In the bill, Democrats provide $245 billion to eliminate
an annual shortfall in payments to doctors under Medicare. Democrats
resolved this annual headache, in large part, to win crucial support
for the bill from the American Medical Association. That money
currently counts against the overall costs of the bill, but Democrats have introduced legislation that would remove this obligation from federal deficit. However, CBO won’t recognize that change until those new pay-as-you-go rules become law.
Got that? The Democrats want to spend the $245 billion but just not
have it count in the checkbook. I used to try these “accounting rules”
with my first bank, although I did it accidentally. They invited me to
abide by their accounting rules or find another bank. The
money gets spent, but the Democrats don’t have to be held accountable
for running the deficit any farther up than they’re already doing.
It’s a shell game, and nothing more.