CBO scores the Senate Health Bill

[erynthered]

Repeal the bill and Replace all the congresscritters.

 

 

........and limit/outlaw/kill all the lobbyists

[Booster4324]

........and limit/outlaw/kill all the lobbyists

 

There shouldn't be a kill limit on lobbyists after we outlaw them IMO.

[Doc]

So Republicans can waste money we don't have on different **** we don't need? Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

It's the lesser of two evils. This bill is an albatross. Get rid of it, no matter how it's accomplished. Then do below:

 

Repeal the bill and Replace all the congresscritters.

Precisely.

 

........and limit/outlaw/kill all the lobbyists

There shouldn't be a kill limit on lobbyists after we outlaw them IMO.

Also excellent suggestions.

[Alaska Darin]

It's the lesser of two evils.

No, it isn't. Quite frankly I'm tired of that argument. It's almost as bankrupt as the country.

[Doc]

No, it isn't. Quite frankly I'm tired of that argument. It's almost as bankrupt as the country.

Actually, yes it is. The last thing this country needs is another entitlement, one that unlike its predecessors, was poorly conceived and NEVER made any sense. And in the absence of any other real option, it (as well as voting out all incumbents) is the best we can hope for.

[Alaska Darin]

Actually, yes it is. The last thing this country needs is another entitlement, one that unlike its predecessors, was poorly conceived and NEVER made any sense.

Welcome to why you're part of the problem.

[Doc]

Welcome to why you're part of the problem.

Yeah, and you're part of the solution.

[DC Tom]

Yeah, and you're part of the solution.

 

He's part of the precipitate.

[Alaska Darin]

Yeah, and you're part of the solution.

Doubtful, since lemmings like you can't hold ANYONE accountable. But you'll do what you always do, then make excuses when your masters do what they always do. Then the other side will seize power for a little while, do what they always do, get excused by their lemming followers, while people like you get all up in arms in a very hypocritical manner.

 

At the end of the day I almost hope the Dummycrats keep control because they'll force us into bankruptcy a little quicker.

 

Lather, rinse, repeat.

[Doc]

Doubtful, since lemmings like you can't hold ANYONE accountable. But you'll do what you always do, then make excuses when your masters do what they always do. Then the other side will seize power for a little while, do what they always do, get excused by their lemming followers, while people like you get all up in arms in a very hypocritical manner.

 

At the end of the day I almost hope the Dummycrats keep control because they'll force us into bankruptcy a little quicker.

 

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Well failing being an ostrich like you or waiting for the country to go bankrupt, the only realistic solution is to vote the Dummycrats out and repeal this law, even if it means the Republicans (a member of which I am not) have the power for a time. Standing around waiting for it to destroy the country is a horrible idea, while laying blame will do nothing, just like it did nothing when it came to the subprime mortgage crisis or the Iraq war or most other debacles in American history.

[Taro T]

He's part of the precipitate.

Well, if he's not part of the solution, he'd pretty much have to be part of it.

[IDBillzFan]

Oh, boy.

 

I think this is the part where the Democrats start talking about how the CBO is suddenly partisan.

 

Congressional budget office: Fiscal policy is 'unsustainable'

 

Fundamental changes to the federal budget will be needed to rein in unsustainable deficits, Congress’s budget watchdog said Thursday.

 

“U.S. fiscal policy is unsustainable, and unsustainable to an extent that it can't be solved through minor changes,” Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director Douglas Elmendorf told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast.

 

Spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, plus defense programs and debt interest, will exceed the rest of the federal budget in 10 years if most of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are extended, as President Barack Obama has proposed, Elmendorf said.

 

“It's a matter of arithmetic,” Elmendorf said of getting record deficits under control.

 

“Government would need to make changes in some set of the large programs, large parts of the tax code that we think of as the fundamental parts of the budget.”

 

Elmendorf's remarks come a day after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke also called on policymakers to put in place a plan to reduce deficits.

 

“Unless we as a nation demonstrate a strong commitment to fiscal responsibility, in the longer run we will have neither financial stability nor healthy economic growth,” Bernanke said in a speech Wednesday.

 

The CBO projects that Obama's policies would produce deficits averaging nearly $1 trillion for the next decade.

 

The deficit would bottom out in 2014 at a level equal to 4.1 percent of gross domestic product, which is higher than the 3 percent level considered to be sustainable by the White House and independent economists. Deficits would again rise after 2014.

 

The debt-to-GDP ratio would go from 63 percent this year to 90 percent by 2020, the CBO said. A “select group of countries,” including Greece, which is facing a fiscal crisis, have debt levels that high, which is “worrisome,” Elmendorf said.

 

Elmendorf cautioned against a fiscal retrenchment that is too quick and could hamper an economic recovery. The deficit levels are expected to drop from 10 percent this year to nearly 4 percent within four years, “the most rapid withdrawal of fiscal stimulus since the Second World War,” he said.

 

The ideal timing for deficit reductions would be “at some point beyond the next few years,” he said.

[Magox]

Oh, boy.

 

I think this is the part where the Democrats start talking about how the CBO is suddenly partisan.

Within the last 2 weeks, we've had Bill Gross, Alan Greenspan, Paul Volcker, Douglass Elmendorf and Ben Bernanke sound the alarm bells. Those are some pretty big hitters, and I would suggest anyone that has money in the markets to protect themselves.

[IDBillzFan]

Within the last 2 weeks, we've had Bill Gross, Alan Greenspan, Paul Volcker, Douglass Elmendorf and Ben Bernanke sound the alarm bells. Those are some pretty big hitters, and I would suggest anyone that has money in the markets to protect themselves.

I already sold everything I have and bought a crapload of quantonium.

[Magox]

I already sold everything I have and bought a crapload of quantonium.

I want me some of that.

[IDBillzFan]

I want me some of that.

It's pretty cheap right now and doesn't carry much value, but once the volcanic fish people start to take over, they'll need it to survive and I don't mind admitting I stand to make a PRIT-ee penny while the rest of you are running around screaming in fear, which, by the way, pisses off the volcanic fish people.

[John Adams]

Within the last 2 weeks, we've had Bill Gross, Alan Greenspan, Paul Volcker, Douglass Elmendorf and Ben Bernanke sound the alarm bells. Those are some pretty big hitters, and I would suggest anyone that has money in the markets to protect themselves.

 

The trick is that the markets may be a better place for them than dollars. Protecting yourself is kinda vague these days.

[Magox]

The trick is that the markets may be a better place for them than dollars. Protecting yourself is kinda vague these days.

I'm banking on inflation, oh and if banks continue to have the benefit of working with these ridiculously low interest rates, my guess is that they will continue to do well.

[IDBillzFan]

When is a promise considered a broken promise?

 

Middle class will get killed with health care taxes.............in 2019.

 

Does that mean Obama broke his promise not to tax people making under $200K/year, or does he get a pass since he won't be in office when the taxes take effect?

 

No. Wait. My bad.

 

Looks like he already broke that promise.

[DC Tom]

When is a promise considered a broken promise?

 

Middle class will get killed with health care taxes.............in 2019.

 

Does that mean Obama broke his promise not to tax people making under $200K/year, or does he get a pass since he won't be in office when the taxes take effect?

 

No. Wait. My bad.

 

Looks like he already broke that promise.

 

I disagree...because the fine for not having health insurance is a fine. Even though it's collected annually. By the IRS. With absolutely no due process involved.

 

 

 

 

Wouldn't mind seeing it challenged on those grounds, actually. If it's a fine, in the typical sense of punitive damage for legal malfeasance...where's my due process? In the absence of a court, if it's actually a fine it's a bill of attainder.