If You Hear This Week That Max Baucus Was Attacked by a Wolverine, Here’s Why It Happened.
Last month, the Republicans members of the Senate Finance Committee asked to have the CBO score the bill introduced by Max Baucus (D-MT). The Democrats on the committee, led by Baucus and Kent Conrad said they’d only let the CBO do what it does best if it could use “plain language” wording instead of the far more precise legislative language and. Conrad patiently explained to all the dullards in America (which is 95 percent of us) that we couldn’t possibly understand the legislative language because it was all hard and stuff.
The head of the CBO, however, said there was no way his outfit could calculate the real cost of the bill without, well, the actual bill, deucedly difficult language and all. I guess he figured he was in the five percent Conrad was willing to allow could understand Congressspeak. Well, the Republicans’ proposal not to treat America like we’re drooling idiots failed on mostly a party line vote not once but twice.
Well, the CBO went ahead and scored the Baucus Summary (it’s not a bill until it’s written in legislative language. You know, like an actual law) and, lo and behold, it’s not a huge deficit-buster! In fact, it will reduce the deficit by $81 billion. Such a miracle, it is!
Except that it’s not actually a miracle. Just as the CBO said last month, there’s no way it can accurately gauge the cost of the bill until it’s actually a bill. What the CBO really scored were concepts, explained in the most Obamacare-friendly manner by the Democrats. Of course those concepts will end up saving money and spontaneously producing unicorns whose emanations smell like begonias. Experience teaches us otherwise, does it not?
I don’t blame the CBO for this, though it will take a lot of blame, especially from the Democrats when Obamacare finally blows up in its face. Doug Elmendorf, who heads up the office, is in a bad position. He’s pretty much bound to do what Congress wants him to do, even if puts him in the position of Dilbert before the Pointy-Headed Boss. The only way he can get out of the bad position the Democrats have put him in with any sort of grace is to lob a starving wolverine onto Max Baucus’ head and sneak away amidst the confusion. Baucus could save himself a vicious wolverine-savaging by doing his job, coming up with a bill, and not by using Doug Elmendorf as a human shield for his fiscal shell game.
UPDATE: Jellyfish Caucus to the rescue? It’s like the GOP wants a third-party challenge.
UPDATE 2: Keith Hennessey has a must-read post today on the unanswered fiscal questions in the Baucus Proposal. Those unanswered questions are important, considering that they could mean up to a thirty percent marginal tax rate on some folks who weren’t expecting it.
UPDATE 3: Linked by Monique Stuart who asks, “Has the government ever actually been correct in their estimate of how much a program would cost?” Of course not, because the government never, ever plans for unintended consequences.
Linked also by Gator Doug, who like the post title. I’m actually proud of my post title-writing ability!
Other Posts of Interest:
- Government Health-Care: Card-Check in Disguise?
- Here’s An Idea: Make Everyone Partake in Our People’s Glorious Health Care System
- You Know What’d Be Fun? Let’s Tax Pelosi’s Botox to Fund Obamacare!
Category: Health Care Craziness, Our New Democratic Overlords
