Friday, November 20, 2009

On the Backs of Our Kids

And their kids, by the way. That's the way one Republican crowed on the House floor about the cost of the health-care reform legislation, which is coming up for a cloture vote in the Senate this weekend. Democrats believe they have the sixty votes necessary to end debate and break a Republican filibuster.

But where were the Republicans when Bush passed Medicare D? The cost of that benefit is more than the estimated Senate bill -- $900 billion vs $1 trillion. One important distinction, however, is that Medicare D, which Bush ramrodded through Congress with such force that Karl Rove actually extended debate for three hours and turned off the C-Span cameras, is that Medicare D was not paid for with any offsetting revenue increases or spending cuts. It was paid for by simply printing money and adding the cost to the budget deficit. That's what the Republicans call fiscal conservatism. President Obama's health care bill is being paid for by a combination of spending cuts, managing efficiencies in the medicare system, and tax increases on the wealthy. According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the Obama healthcare bill actually pays for itself, and actually will contribute $120 billion in deficit reduction over the next decade.

Of course, the Republican answer is "deficits don't matter." Well, if that's true, why cry about burdening our children with the cost of this program? Oh, wait. Deficits matter if they're bashing the Democrats, but they don't matter if they are the ones creating the deficits.

If you want to look at what is truly a burden on our children, look to Medicare D and the two Bush/Cheney wars we're now fighting. On my blog's web page you'll see the ongoing ticket showing the cost of the Iraq War. It has eclipsed $700 billion in six and a half years, plus other costs not contemplated but will push the total costs into the trillions. These are costs that had no corresponding budget cuts or revenue increases. That's what Republicans call "fiscal conservativism."

Idiots.

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