Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Obama on the Senate Bill

From the Washington Post's blog page:

"President Obama's Broken Health Care Promises"

"Every single criteri[on] I put forward is in this bill," said President Obama about health-care legislation.

Really? Obama promised not to raise taxes for anyone making less than $250,000. The Senate bill includes several tax increases that apply to people who make less than that.

Obama said he wanted a bill that would leave the status quo in place with respect to federal financing of abortion. The Senate bill provides federal funds to help pay for the cost of insurance plans that cover abortion.

Obama said there would be no benefit cuts. The bill cuts Medicare benefits, as the Congressional Budget Office has confirmed.

Obama said that health legislation shouldn't add a "dime" to the deficit. Unless you believe that Congress is going to allow steeper cuts in doctor payments than it has done before, it will add a lot more than a dime.

He said legislation would cut premiums. CBO reports that a lot of premiums will go up.

He said that legislation would reduce health-care costs. The administration's actuaries say it would cause national health-care spending to go up."

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