Nearly double . . . that is the revised estimate by the CBO regarding the cost of Obamacare. The CBO should be embarrassed to even announce this and the GOP “leadership”(?) should be all over this with press releases, news conferences, talk shows, etc CBO: Obamacare to cost $1.76 trillion over 10 yrs
In July, 2009, Doug Elmendorf (CBO Director), was summoned to the Oval Office to meet with Obama and various members of the administration. Below is a news account of that meeting, disclosing the purpose for which it was called.
Republicans Assail President Obama Meeting with Congressional …
Also, below is Elmendorf’s twitter account of his reaction. It sounds like the comments of a teenage girl after getting a pat on the ass by her high school crush.
“People have asked whether it was exciting to meet the President and be in the Oval Office: Yes, and my kids will be jealous when they get back from summer camp and hear about it, . . . Of course, the setting of the conversation and the nature of the participants do not affect CBO’s analysis of health reform legislation. We will continue to work with Members of Congress and their staffs, on both sides of the aisle, to provide cost estimates and other information as health reform legislation is considered.” Link to CBO Blog
As I believe any reasonable person would conclude from the news accounts, Elmendorf, an appointee of the Democrat congressional leadership, formally of the Brookings Institute, a liberal think tank, was summoned to the White House for a specific purpose. Obama and congressional Democrats had been very unhappy with the CBO’s cost estimates for pending Obamacare legislation. Elmendorf was ordered to meet with the Democrats for the purpose of giving them ideas on how lipstick should be applied to their “health care” pig.
It was after this meeting that the cost estimates for the Affordable Care Act turned favorable to Democrats in Congress and the media. The estimates included stuff like the 10 years of tax revenue and 6 years of benefit outlays. It also included the major cuts to Medicare ($500 billion or so) which even the CBO acknowledged was being double counted in order to further make the costs seem more reasonable. The CLASS act was included as a big revenue producer (and was eliminated in 2011 as a budget buster) as was the “Doc” fix (which everyone knew Congress would continue to never implement). All the tricks were in there and everyone in Washington knew they were just that…but Doug Elmendorf had served Obama and the Democrats well. DLH
