Shady Mathmatics

The CBO preliminary report on the "Health Care" bill will cost $940 Billion over a ten year period is what was released this morning. Although this was just released about noon today:

UPDATE: In a letter sent to Speaker Pelosi this morning, CBO Director Doug Elmendorf remarked:

“Although CBO completed a preliminary review of legislative language prior to its release, the agency has not thoroughly examined the reconciliation proposal to verify its consistency with the previous draft. This estimate is therefore preliminary, pending a review of the language of the reconciliation proposal, as well as further review and refinement of the budgetary projections.” (CBO Director Doug Elmendorf, Letter To Rep. Nancy Pelosi, 3/18/10, P.1)

I translate this as, "we don't know yet the final cost...it may be/likely will be more that what is being reported".
Either way let's examine this article based on the numbers released. What few people realize is that we start paying on this bill from the get go, but it doesn't go into effect for 4 years. That would be like me selling you a house, and you make payments every month for 4 years, but you cannot live in or use this house until you are in the fith year of your payments.

"The bill delivers on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority by providing coverage to more than 30 million people now uninsured at a 10-year cost of $940 billion."

Shady Mathmatics

When you do the math, it sounds like $94 billion annually. But, remember we are not using the service for the first four years. So, if you take $940,000,000,000 and divide it by 6 years you get $156.7 billion a year. Now when you base the cost of this plan on the time we are actually using it you can see that it will cost $1.56 TRILLION over the first decade of time we are actually using the services of this new health care plan. But read the quote above and see that it is providing coverage to more than 30 million people that are now uninsured. So we all get to pay for these 30 million uninsured for a cost to our government of $157 billion when we are running a deficit monthly!

Think about it, let's say you know a neighbor is out of a job. Do you pitch in monthly to pay for health care for his family? Would it be fair for your neighbor to ask his neighbors to pitch in and cover him? How about pitching in and covering his car payment...gas bill...house payment...food bill...electric bill for the house and pool...water bill...  That is what this health care bill does, asks all of us that work to pay for those that don't.

How many major programs that the government starts actually stays within budget...Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamp Program? I can't think of one that didn't have a cost overrun. Also remember there has never been an entitlement program that has ever been discontinued. This will be with us forever folks!

"It does so through a combination of tax credits for middle class households and an expansion of the Medicaid program for low income people."

Hmmm, why do I not believe this? We have to pay for it somehow, I forsee increased taxes. If you look at the UK, they pay about 50% in income taxes, a national insurance of 12.5% and a sales tax of about 17% on every item except food. What I have heard is the UK government wishes to increase the sales tax to 20% and even tax food products. Why do you think they pay so much in taxes? They have many entitlement programs...including socialized health care.

Call and write your congresscritters as the vote (if they even vote---see this blog from the other day You've Got To Be Kidding Me ) on this could come this Sunday.

Keep your eyes wide open on this one folks...