Adding to Wayne Allen Root’s excellent column highlighted in these pages I believe it is important to issue a reminder of the very big role that the CBO played in the “Great Obamacare Scam”
We’ve noted it before but it’s useful to recap:
Doug Elmendorf a Democrat/Harry Reid appointee headed the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) at the time. When the Democrats initially introduced their “Affordable Health Care Plan”, Elmendorf’s CBO severely panned it. the CBO “scoring” was distressingly (to Obama and Reid/Pelosi) negative.
How many Americans recall what happened next?
Mr. Elmendorf was “invited” to a “sitdown” with President Obama in the Oval Office…an unprecedented move by the administration, and one widely criticized by conservative and some in the liberal media, Republicans and the few clear-eyed Democrats.
The CBO director and the president are not supposed to have a cozy relationship. The CBO is “non-partisan” and an arm’s length relationship is a requisite of the agency.
While Obama suggested his meeting with Elmendorf was just to get a better understanding of the Affordable Care Act’s shortcomings as identified in the CBO’s scoring, the behavior of the CBO director was telling in a number of ways besides the childish glow he displayed upon departing from the White House. He couldn’t wait, he said to tell his kids he talked to the president!
“Elmendorf wrote about his meeting with Mr. Obama on his blog, saying it was exciting to meet the President and be in the Oval Office, and that “my kids will be jealous.”
More serious, however, is illustrated by reactions of GOP congressional members:
“Previous administration officials point out that the CBO is supposed to be non-partisan, and objective in its analysis of budgetary and economic items. Republican leaders in Congress pounced on this fact. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell described it as “that’s like asking the umpires to come up to the owner’s box…. I mean, if the CBO is to have credibility, they’re the umpire.”
“House Minority Leader John Boehner didn’t fault Elmendorf for attending the meeting, but did say, “I do wonder why the President invited him to the White House. He has a big job. He is the non-partisan director of the Congressional Budget Office charged with providing fair and neutral analysis of what legislation would cost and what impact it would have.” (All quotes from Fox News report July 2009.)
What actually came out of Mr. Elmendorf’s “exciting” sit-down with Obama is much more important, and ultimately very damaging to healthcare in America.
From that meeting, various “tweaks” were made to the AHCA. Such as “10 years of tax increases and 6 years of benefits”. Another “tweak” was the federal government taking over the student loan program, sold on the false premise that private lenders’ “profits” would thus go to the federal government to fund health care. Anyone know how that worked out? Disastrously is the answer.
Other manipulations and faulty cost and revenue estimates were also put into the proposed bill, enabling the Democrats to pass it on a strictly partisan, “reconciliation” bill.
Related reading:
— Eric Cantor on January 6th, 2011 in a statement.
The health care reform law “offset[s] 6 years of benefits with 10 years of tax increases.”
WH Pushes back against CBO meeting criticism
In an act that officials from previous administrations call “highly unusual”, President Obama met with the head of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Douglas Elmendorf and others for about an hour in the Oval Office on Monday.Douglas Holtz-Eakin, CBO Director during President George W. Bush’s administration, tells Fox he never met with Mr. Bush to discuss any CBO policies or estimates. Holtz-Eakin says the Obama White House didn’t consider the ramifications of the meeting, “They didn’t think about the position they’re putting the CBO in, and as a result, they ended up with a little bit of a snafu in the public relations and that’s not helpful in an already contentious process.”
Previous administration officials point out that the CBO is supposed to be non-partisan, and objective in its analysis of budgetary and economic items. Republican leaders in Congress pounced on this fact. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell described it as “that’s like asking the umpires to come up to the owner’s box…. I mean, if the CBO is to have credibility, they’re the umpire.” . . .
BOOM! Gruber White House Meeting Included CBO Director, Robert Gibbs, Axelrod and Barack Obama (excerpts)
Citizen Journalists have now found 4 damning videos of MIT Economist Jonathan Gruber laughing at the American people over the planned deception of Obamacare.
Yesterday’s story of Gruber meeting with Obama in the Oval Office to plan the Cadillac Tax lie was found on the PBS website. In that interview, MIT Economist Jonathan Gruber gleefully recounts the July 20th meeting where they discussed how to get around the CBO scoring of Obamacare. . . .
Douglas Elmendorf had a blog as CBO Director., The link is a dead link, but the Internet Archive saved the link. Elmendorf backs up Gruber’s story.
“I presented CBO’s assessment of the challenges of reducing federal health outlays and improving the long-term budget outlook while simultaneously expanding health insurance coverage.”
“I also described CBO’s view of the effects of the health legislation we have seen so far, as I did last Thursday in a hearing at the Senate Budget Committee and a mark-up at the House Ways and Means Committee. In addition, I discussed various policy options that could produce budgetary savings in the long run…”
Gruber’s loose lips, backed up by Elmendorf’s blog entry, directly contradict Robert Gibb’s description. The president and his advisors deliberately set about to manipulate the CBO, by their own admission. They knew they were lying, but they still sent Democrats out to lie to the American people about Obamacare’s true costs.
That cost savings lie was repeated over and over by Democrats as they moved into the August Town Halls. We saw it in Missouri with Russ Carnahan and Claire McCaskill.
DLH
