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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs

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To: TimF who wrote (38900)	11/23/2009 6:54:33 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) of 71588

I have no doubt AT ALL that there are some fairly 'optimistic assumptions' baked into the current Senate proposal. However the CBO does project a $130 Billion deficit reduction as a result or the new proposal's enactment... and, even assuming (as you and I both do), that there is some budgetary fluff in the proposal... it most likely pales in magnitude when compared to the massive budgetary chicanery and hypocrisy that went immediately before. This about the Bush administration Medicare Part D changes, massive transfer of national wealth to Big Pharma that they were, (from an earlier post of the Forbes article by Bruce Bartlett): 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 [over ten year horizon]. 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. (See here for the Senate bill estimate and here for the House bill.) Maybe Franks isn't the worst hypocrite I've ever come across in Washington, but he's got to be in the top 10 because he apparently thinks the unfunded drug benefit, which added $15.5 trillion (in present value terms) to our nation's indebtedness, according to Medicare's trustees.... Message 26116735

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