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Right...Woodward and Bernstein kinda stuff would be happening all over DC...instead we get this:
Posted on 07/25/2009 12:26:01 PM PDT by tatown
For the second time this month, congressional budget analysts have dealt a blow to the Democrat's health reform efforts, this time by saying a plan touted by the White House as crucial to paying for the bill would actually save almost no money over 10 years.
A key House chairman and moderate House Democrats on Tuesday agreed to a White House-backed proposal that would give an outside panel the power to make cuts to government-financed health care programs. White House budget director Peter Orszag declared the plan "probably the most important piece that can be added" to the House's health care reform legislation.
But on Saturday, the Congressional Budget Office said the proposal to give an independent panel the power to keep Medicare spending in check would only save about $2 billion over 10 years- a drop in the bucket compared to the bill's $1 trillion price tag.
"In CBO's judgment, the probability is high that no savings would be realized ... but there is also a chance that substantial savings might be realized. Looking beyond the 10-year budget window, CBO expects that this proposal would generate larger but still modest savings on the same probabilistic basis," CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf wrote in a letter to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Saturday.
The proposal's meager savings are a blow to Democrats working furiously to bring down costs in order to win support from their party's fiscally conservative Blue Dogs, who have threatened to vote against the bill without significant changes. The proposal was heralded as a breakthrough on Tuesday after Blue Dogs and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman emerged from the White House with agreement on giving the independent panel, rather than Congress, the ability to rein in Medicare spending.
Saturday's CBO analysis caps a tough week of blown deadlines, partisan bickering and fierce intra-party fighting among Democrats. On Friday, the tension between the Blue Dogs and Waxman exploded when Waxman threatened to bypass his committee and bring the reform bill straight to the House floor without a vote. The move infuriated Blue Dogs who have used their crucial committee votes to leverage changes to the bill.
But by late Friday, Waxman said their colleagues had pulled the two groups "back from the brink" and back to the negotiating table.
Still, Hoyer said there was little chance that that the House would pass a health reform legislation before Friday when lawmakers are expected to leave Washington for summer recess.
Yeah, isn't that amazing? A -8 this morning, a -9 tonight.
Of course you can. I got it here from another Freeper but I can’t remember who did it.
Danae,
Can we get that list to all of the Blue Dogs and Republican’s? We can clean it up and it needs to go viral!
BFLR
Gradually, Americans are realizing this entire government health insurance concept is, in reality, a perfect illustration of the truth that one cannot place a square peg in a round hole. No matter how hard they try to shoehorn a fit, it cannot ever be shown to work because it won’t. It’s the multi-trillion dollar boondoggle guaranteed to sink what’s left of this country, which is rapidly circling the bowl.
This is part of ostammer’s and the left’s reparations. It started with the stimuloss and ACORN. The bureaucratic functionaries hired to sort of administer the ‘health plan’ will be mostly black. They, in turn, will grant indigent status to any blacks who apply for it, which will be a huge number of people, no questions asked. Other smaller reparations arrangements will be inherent in the plan, such as the payments to universities accepting a substantially large number of minority (meaning black) students into medical school. That ought to make for some great health care, since most black students can’t pass math or science without dumbing the standards down to 2+2. Meanwhile, middle-class whitey will pay the freight while they bury their parents who needn’t have died so soon.
Interestingly, the dirty little secret is that Democrats could pass these bills and make them law without any Republicans on board at all.
And Obama just recently acknowledged that the phone calls and other things are being heard. He was exhorting people to call and express their support his legislation, because the Senate and House members offices are “only hearing one side”.
Hahaha. Fail.
When it comes to money and spending it’s ALWAYS worse than projected.
Obama is killing this country.
There is a chance that I will date a supermodel, but there is a greater chance that hell will freeze over.
Oops, it’s hard to keep up :)
Now -11. First time in double digits. A two point jump overnight. Wow.
Is there a source for that list that doesn’t editorialize every entry?
“White House hits watchdog on Medicare plan
Orszag says Congressional Budget Office exaggerates costs in saying little would be saved by oversight panel.”
See: http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/25/news/economy/cbo_medicare/?postversion=2009072522
The white house is changing the rules of the game now. They are trying to strong arm the CBO.
What will happen is the same thing that happened with cap and trade.
Muddy the waters with data from all over so that they can convince the nay sayers long enough to get this atrocity passed.
I guess you could take the list and remove the editorial part. I didn’t make the list, another FReeper did. I like the editorial because it’s so complicated, the average sheeple will never be able to comprehend what it means.
Another sign that Obamacare is coming to its end, THANKFULLY.
The seeds are being planted for change to also take place in 2010.
Thankfully the truth about this so-called reform is coming out more and more at last.
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