In search of the true bottom line on Obamacare

Someone is lying.

President Obama promised America in his speech Wednesday that his health insurance reform proposal will save money and reduce the federal deficit.

He told us flatly, “Finally, my proposal would bring down the cost of health care for millions — families, businesses, and the federal government. We have now incorporated most of the serious ideas from across the political spectrum about how to contain the rising cost of health care — ideas that go after the waste and abuse in our system, especially in programs like Medicare. But we do this while protecting Medicare benefits, and extending the financial stability of the program by nearly a decade.

“Our cost-cutting measures mirror most of the proposals in the current Senate bill, which reduces most people's premiums and brings down our deficit by up to $1 trillion over the next two decades. And those aren't my numbers — they are the savings determined by the CBO, which is the Washington acronym for the nonpartisan, independent referee of Congress.”

But today’s Wall Street Journal reprints a Feb. 25 speech at President Obama's Blair House summit the words of Congressman Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin.

On that claim about the CBO, Ryan says, “First, a little bit about CBO. I work with them every single day — very good people, great professionals. They do their jobs well. But their job is to score what is placed in front of them. And what has been placed in front of them is a bill that is full of gimmicks and smoke-and-mirrors.

“Now, what do I mean when I say that? Well, first off, the bill has 10 years of tax increases, about half a trillion dollars, with 10 years of Medicare cuts, about half a trillion dollars, to pay for six years of spending.

“Now, what's the true 10-year cost of this bill in 10 years? That's $2.3 trillion.”

He goes on to point out double counting, ignoring the fix needed on Medicare reimbursement of doctors, and other sleight-of-accounting tricks. He quoted a senator who called this plan a Ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff proud.

He points out that Medicare already has a $38 trillion unfunded liability that we have no idea how cover but the president wants to pass a bill that “adds a new health-care entitlement at a time when we have no idea how to pay for the entitlements we already have.”

Someone is lying.