Does the Senate's health care reform bill add to or subtract from the deficit? Democrats have repeatedly touted a Congressional Budget Office score that suggests it will decrease the deficit by spending less than the amount by which it raises taxes and cuts Medicare.
The only problem, as the Congressional Budget Office has admitted today, is that this isn't how the budget is counted in real life. Medicare is funded from a separate trust fund, and savings from the trust fund do not go into the general budget that will fund ObamaCare.
In other words, if you don't count the same savings twice, then Obamacare actually creates a $170 billion budget hole instead of a $130 billion budget surplus. So President Obama's promise…
“I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits, either now or in the future…period.”
…will be tested by this bill. The revelation could also mean a way out for senators who are having second thoughts about ObamaCare — or who just want to negotiate better deals for their states before they vote on the health care conference report.
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