CBO issues dire debt warning…

The Congressional Budget Office  is warning,  yet again, that His Oneness and the Democrats are spending us into fiscal oblivion.   Are the American people listening?   Do they care?   Do they have even a glimmer of understanding?

ObamaCare magic…

Cato’s Michael Cannon points out that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which issues an annual report on national health care expenditures,  reclassified some public spending as private,  making government’s role in health care appear smaller.

Without that bit of trickery,  government’s share of spending would be nearly 50%,  giving more ammunition to critics charging that ObamaCare represents a government takeover of medicine.

Do follow Philip Klein’s link to the Cato report to see the very useful graph showing all this.   And yes,  this is more cooking the books on ObamaCare.

Klein also has a  useful post up on the new  report by the Congressional Budget Office estimating that repealing the national health care law would add $145 billion to the deficit from 2012 to 2019, and $230 billion through 2021.   Liberals are shouting this from the rooftops,  but the CBO’s estimates are mostly based on CBO projections from when ObamaCare passed last March.  Those  projections reflected the Democrats’ use of many accounting gimmicks,  without which CBO has acknowledged the law would increase deficits.   Douglas Holtz-Eakin  adds more explanation,  Rep. Paul Ryan  weighs in with real numbers,   and Joseph Lawler chimes in on repeal being the proper course,   here.

Right on cue,  the L.A. Times reports Blue Shield of California is  seeking rate hikes of 59% due to costs attributable to ObamaCare.  (h/t Daniel Foster at The Corner)

When debt explodes…

Thomas Sowell has  a column on the debt which you must read.    And do click on the link to the Congressional Budget Office report  —  as a former Fed chair says,  the report is written to a level of simplicity which even a Congressman can comprehend.

Here’s another column by Dr. Sowell, in which he explains how His oneness is  taking us all for fools.

Peter Robinson has a new Uncommon Knowledge series with Dr. Sowell,  and 4 of the 5 parts are available  here.

Nebulous numbers…

Democrats and the bleating MSM are gleefully touting CBO numbers on the health reform bill,  but there is  no actual report,  that is,  no official estimate yet exists.    So we not only don’t know where the numbers came from,  we don’t know on what they were based,  much less how they were arrived at.

Is the $500 billion being cut from Medicare still being used to fund new entitlements,  and is it still being double-counted?   Based on Obama’s own words,  we have every reason to suspect an affirmative answer.

Obamacare double-counting…

Democrats are simply ignoring CBO’s  ruling that they have double-counted the Medicare savings by claiming those cuts would both help finance the new health care legislation and extend the solvency of Medicare.   You can have one or the other,  but not both.

It won’t be deficit-neutral in the least.    What I want to know is why the CBO wouldn’t say this until Sen. Jeff Sessions made the point.    I already know why Democrats voted against a proposal to keep the funds from Medicare cuts within the Medicare system.

CBO smacks ObamaCare…

The CBO’s new report says  premiums will rise.    True to form, Paul Krugman has  accused Republicans of being stupid,  but as Joseph Lawlor  points out,  Krugman must be either stupid himself or deliberately deceptive.

If memory serves,  this has knocked off the third leg off the stool of Democratic promises.    Logic says this would be the death of this horrible legislation,  but we’re talking Democratic politicians here,   so what we will get is a whole bunch of spin explaining how it will all work in the end because it has been so carefully planned.

But this does give me hope that the Christmas deadline will quickly become part of Harry Reid’s unfulfilled wish list.  What a grand Christmas gift that would be to the American people!

$9 TRILLION…

Remember all the huffing and puffing the Obama administration did about the CBO’s idiotic pronouncements on the budget deficit,  which absolutely,  positively,  were not right?

Well,  the Friday afternoon news dump contained the information that His Oneness has raised its own estimate to $9 TRILLION,  which puts it in line with the CBO projections of $9.1 trillion.

But this morning the word is that the CBO will lower its projections to about $7 trillion,  which was where His Oneness was.    Will the administration now embrace the CBO?

Health care reform…

There are so many bad things about all of the Democratic proposals for “reforming” healthcare that one scarcely knows where to begin.    For starters,  try this research from the Heritage Foundation on the likely effects of a Medicare-type plan.    Follow up with a comparison of Britain’s National Health Service to our health care system.

Star Parker has an instructive piece on the disconnect between who gets health care services and who pays for them,  and points out why it will grow even greater under the Democratic plans.

Then sample this examination of why Obama’s plan is no bargain.   The American Spectator is less kind,  branding him a health-care huckster.    Despite Nicholas Kristoff’s brave declaration that we won’t be scared off universal health care this time around,  and His Oneness offering a few more budget cuts to pay for the debacle,  and an expensive propaganda campaign by progressive groups,  even the Democrats are divided.

Regardless of tactics, the devil will be in the yet-to-be-provided details,  and the number crunchers at the Congressional Budget Office are odds-on favorites to become the ants at this picnic.