PoliticalChic
Diamond Member
What happened to the dozen or so posters who firmly espoused the President's claim that Obamacare would be a deficit saving program?
Now that it is clear that it is a deficit-buster, and the CBO merely rubber stamped the bogus assumptions put forth by power-grabbing Democrats, the silence is deafening.
Read and weep:
"On Wednesday, Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf spoke at a conference on health care reform hosted by the Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences. The rising costs of health care will put tremendous pressure on the federal budget during the next few decades and beyond, said Elmendorf. In CBOs judgment, the health legislation enacted earlier this year does not substantially diminish that pressure.
As Keith Hennessey put it Friday (h/t Reihan Salam), Never before have I seen a CBO Director so bluntly refute the policy claims of a President and his Budget Director. Elmendorfs presentation, which included slides, helps to visualize the problem.
As you can see from the chart above, the two biggest drivers of federal spending on health care entitlements are the effects of aging (i.e., the retirement of the Baby Boomers), and the effects of excess cost growth (i.e., the rising cost of health care). Dealing with the first problem is theoretically easy, but politically difficult: raising the retirement age and/or means-testing Medicare benefits.
Dealing with the second problem involves free-market healthcare reforms that neither Elmendorf nor Obama consider. It is not clear what specific policies the federal government can adopt to generate fundamental changes in the health system, writes Elmendorf; that is, it is not clear what specific policies would translate the potential for significant cost savings into reality.
The Apothecary: CBO's Elmendorf Bluntly Rebukes Obamacare
(emphasis mine)
Now that it is clear that it is a deficit-buster, and the CBO merely rubber stamped the bogus assumptions put forth by power-grabbing Democrats, the silence is deafening.
Read and weep:
"On Wednesday, Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf spoke at a conference on health care reform hosted by the Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences. The rising costs of health care will put tremendous pressure on the federal budget during the next few decades and beyond, said Elmendorf. In CBOs judgment, the health legislation enacted earlier this year does not substantially diminish that pressure.
As Keith Hennessey put it Friday (h/t Reihan Salam), Never before have I seen a CBO Director so bluntly refute the policy claims of a President and his Budget Director. Elmendorfs presentation, which included slides, helps to visualize the problem.
As you can see from the chart above, the two biggest drivers of federal spending on health care entitlements are the effects of aging (i.e., the retirement of the Baby Boomers), and the effects of excess cost growth (i.e., the rising cost of health care). Dealing with the first problem is theoretically easy, but politically difficult: raising the retirement age and/or means-testing Medicare benefits.
Dealing with the second problem involves free-market healthcare reforms that neither Elmendorf nor Obama consider. It is not clear what specific policies the federal government can adopt to generate fundamental changes in the health system, writes Elmendorf; that is, it is not clear what specific policies would translate the potential for significant cost savings into reality.
The Apothecary: CBO's Elmendorf Bluntly Rebukes Obamacare
(emphasis mine)