CBO: Dems Are Using Accounting Trick To Claim Medicare "Savings"

The Business Insider ^ | 12/23/09 | Megan McArdle

[FromLori]

Well this ends that debate

"This bill will strengthen Medicare and extend the life of the program." - President Barack Obama, after the Senate health care bill secured 60 votes.

The notion that the health care reform bill would make Medicare more solvent and also expand benefits never made any sense. The health care reform bill makes cuts to Medicare, and uses them to pay for new spending; to the extent that we think we need to pay for, um, Medicare with cuts to Medicare, this bill actually weakens either the program, or our future budgets.

I mostly ignored claims to the contrary because they seemed so self-evidently stupid. But then this graphic started a-circulating among pundits who favored health care reform:

[FromLori]

ping

[RegulatorCountry]

People on Sarah Palin’s Twitter feed knew this last night.

[o_zarkman44]

I’ve been saying for years how the government has adapted Enron style accounting practices.

The same accounting practices that send common people to prison.

How about we apply that same standard to congress?

[dogcaller]

The modern Democrat party can trace its philosophic roots roots to Ponzi, Madoff and Enron.

[jersey117]

Bernie madoff would be proud.

[jersey117]

Bernie madoff would be proud.

[Always Right]

Looks like the Democrats hired the same analysts as the fairtaxers.

[NotSoModerate]

And the CBO waits until the end to reveal this. There’s more where this came from. By the time this is over we’re going to find out this bill costs ten times more than what they’re saying it costs now.

[FromLori]

lol some of them over there are real liberals but they put out some interesting information and I noticed lately they have a lot of new people. Actually I believe a poster from FR may have gotten a job there since I got a Freepmail asking me about them when they were hiring a while back so it looks like they may be getting more objective.

[onyx]

Senator Sessions held a press conference today and talked about it on the senate floor, read the CBO’s letter into the senate record, held a vote and the democrats didn’t care one iota. They went right ahead and denied that they fed the CBO cooked numbers.

[Falcon4.0]

Here comes all of the back pedaling.

[Cheerio]

The corruption going on in Washington is beyond comprehension. We get the Government we elect. Many in America are still thrilled with what is going on - they have been educated in American public ed systems to HATE CAPITALISM and now want to try something different, say maybe Fascism, Marxism, Communism, or say Tyranny.

[goldstategop]

The Democrats are touting fictional Medicare savings to show the budget deficit will be reduced by the end of the next decade. The problem is those savings are fiction. The budget deficit will in fact mushroom. But that's not a problem for today's politicians. They won't be in office when it comes time to fix the mess they made.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus

[goldstategop]

The Fair Tax does not create new taxes or increase existing ones nor does it propose huge new entitlements our grandkids will have to pay. That's the difference between it and the Democrats' generational highway robbery.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus

[Always Right]

I was referring to how fairtaxers count the taxes they cut. First they count it in reducing the cost of goods and thus lowering the price. Then they count it as increasing the take home pay. Either the tax savings goes towards reducing price or it goes towards increasing take home pay. Fairtax analysis counts the full amount as going towards both. Same principle here.

[Always Right]

The Fair Tax does not create new taxes or increase existing ones nor does it propose huge new entitlements our grandkids will have to pay.

The amount of the fairtax prebate checks would exceed that of social security. And those prebates are an entitlement, since everyone gets one whether they pay taxes or not.

[goldstategop]

Double-counting is wrong on principle. Still there's a difference between making our tax burden fairer and increasing it. If we abolished the income tax, Obamacare would be impossible. That's why I'm in favor returning to the indirect tax system the country had until 1913. If politicians want to pay for a new entitlement, they can increase the sales tax. Of course that will lead to higher prices and lost jobs. But at least people can decide if that trade-off is worth the higher taxes they'd pay.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find only things evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelogus

[VOA]

“
CBO: Dems Are Using Accounting Trick To Claim Medicare “Savings”
“

Democrats/Socialists/Marxists using Accounting Tricks.

This is NOT news!!!!!

[Tawiskaro]