Oldskool Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 CIA Down, Pelosi Targets Congressional Budgeters Over Health Care Cost Estimate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the influential and nonpartisan budget analysts of providing "the worst case scenario" on the cost of health care plans reforms while ignoring the savings associated with the proposal. Thursday, June 18, 2009 After lobbing an explosive accusation against the CIA and then running for cover, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took aim at the Congressional Budget Office Thursday for its cost estimate of a pending health care bill. Pelosi accused the nonpartisan budget analysts of always providing "the worst case scenario" on the costs of health care reforms and ignoring the savings associated with the proposal. Congressional budget officials said Monday the health care bill would cost the government an estimated $1 trillion over the next decade and reduce the ranks of the uninsured by about one-third, or 16 million individuals. In a competing proposal, the cost equaled $1.6 trillion. The CBO released its preliminary estimate as several congressional committees looked ahead to votes on legislation that President Obama has placed atop his list of domestic priorities. "It's always been a source, yes I will say frustration, for many of us in Congress that the CBO will always give you the worst case scenario on one initiative and never ... any credit for anything that happens if you have early intervention, health care," Pelosi said in her weekly news conference on Capitol Hill. "If you have prevention, if you have wellness ... you name any positive investment that we make, that we know reduces cost, brings money to the Treasury in the case of education but never scored positively by the CBO. Yes, it is frustrating," she said. She added, "I hope we will see them say, 'This is what we see the cost of something. We have not accounted for the benefits' because they don't and they haven't and it should not be inferred from what they do that they have." The CBO did not return a message seeking comment. In a letter to Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas W. Elmendorf said the estimate was based on major provisions contained in an incomplete draft of the bill. He noted that "taking all of its provisions into account could change our assessment of the proposal's effects on the budget and insurance coverage rates though probably not by substantial amounts relative to the net costs already identified." For the full article: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/18/cia-pelosi-targets-congressional-budget-office-health-care-cost-estimate/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popeman38 Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 Maybe they haven't given Congress any credit because they haven't been ahead of schedule or under budget in decades? Maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aREDSKIN Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 Nancy Pelosi is Worst Case scenario. Man that peon is a tool. Even her own party's advocates are trying to abandon this disaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 Pelosi is wrong on this one. As I understand it, the CBO is not supposed to try and calculate anything but "hard" short-term budgetary numbers. This plan may well save a ton of money in the long run, but it is not the CBO's job to figure all that out. The CBO is supposed to figure out what a program will cost, in the short term, for immediate budgetary purposes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldskool Posted June 18, 2009 Author Share Posted June 18, 2009 Pelosi is wrong on this one.As I understand it, the CBO is not supposed to try and calculate anything but "hard" short-term budgetary numbers. This plan may well save a ton of money in the long run, but it is not the CBO's job to figure all that out. The CBO is supposed to figure out what a program will cost, in the short term, for immediate budgetary purposes. Agreed. I'm wondering what is driving her to start these really no win battles in the first place? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Godfather Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 Like we can trust anything the Liar of the House says. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 Agreed. I'm wondering what is driving her to start these really no win battles in the first place? I'm guessing it is frustration. While the CBO may be doing its job, people opposed to the health care plan are misrepresenting the significance of the CBO information. They are saying "see, the CBO says it will cost X dollars and that's the end of it," ignoring the potential for long term savings that the CBO is not designed to assess and isn't assessing. If you read all of her quote in the story, it is pretty clear that this is what she is trying to counter. That misperception that the CBO is providing a complete longterm analysis. She added, "I hope we will see them say, 'This is what we see the cost of something. We have not accounted for the benefits' because they don't and they haven't and it should not be inferred from what they do that they have." This was not the most diplomatic way for her to do this, clearly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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