Wednesday evening, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its cost estimate of the gigantic health care set of concepts -- it actually is not a bill and there is no legislative language -- which came out of the Senate Finance Committee chaired by Montana Democrat Senator Max Baucus. With interest, CBO's cost for Obamacare, $829 billion, could skyrocket to $1 trillion including interest payments.
At the same time, it was revealed that the Fiscal Year 2009 budget deficit was a whopping $1.4 TRILLION, which was 3 times last year's budget deficit which was the previous highest deficit in American history. President George W. Bush is responsible for a portion of the FY09 budget deficit because of his bailout of the banks and investment companies last year. However, the Obama administration should get by far most of the blame for the $1.4 trillion budget. The Obama stimulus bill passed earlier this year will cost the American taxpayers nearly $1 trillion (with interest payments).
Incredibly, the president and his extreme left-wing cronies in the Democrat-controlled United States Congress, are comtemplating far greater government-spending programs in the future including the $829 billion (over 10 years) cost for Obama's health care bill; nearly $840 billion more for his cap and trade legislation; and massive spending increases (except for the Defense Department) in many government programs.
The bill which came out of the Senate Finance Committee last week is actually $91 billion more than what it was when the committee members began deliberating and voting on amendments. And incredibly, for this additional $91 billion in additional health care spending, the CBO reports that there is no noticeable improvement in coverage for the American people. The Democrat leadership is obviously trying to buy votes from moderate Senators and hoping to get the vote of the only Republican who may or may not vote for Obamacare, Senator Olympia Snowe from Maine.
CBO estimates that taxes on high cost health care plans -- including taxing the health care plans which labor unions have in this country -- will total $201 billion in the Senate Finance Committee set of concepts (a bill was not written by this committee.) The CBO estimates that the Democrat legislation will cut $404 billion from Medicare/Medicaid; mostly from senior citizens' healthcare plans. Indeed, seniors will get a huge $133 billion cut in Medicare Advantage.
The Senate Finance Committee's "legislation" will increase taxes for health care insurers and drug companies, etc. by $120 billion, which of course will be passed along to American consumers. Individual mandates will force millions of those making under $250,000 -- those Americans to whom candidate Obama promised would not pay one more dime of taxes -- to buy health care insurance and will fine them if they do not. A fine is a tax under another name.
As a result of Obama's massive spending programs, the American economy has tanked. Indeed, last Friday, it was announced that Obama's unemployment rate is now up to 9.8% and most economists expect it to go above 10% and stay there for some time. He had warned in January that if his stimulus bill was not passed, unemployment could even go above 8% sometime this year.
Considering the fact that the Senate Democrat majority voted against iron-clad guarantees that taxpayer money will not be used to fund abortions; and against provisions guaranteeing that health care workers will not be forced to do abortions, it will be interesting to see if moderate Democrat Senators -- such as Ben Nelson from Nebraska, Evan Bayh from Indiana, Jon Tester from Montana, and Bob Casey from Pennsylvania, and other moderates -- actually vote for this tremendously expensive health care bill.
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