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November 23, 2009

David Broder on ObamaCare: 'A budget-buster in the making'

Topics: Political News and commentaries

Just in case you missed left-leaning writer David Broder's excellent piece in Sunday's WaPo:

The day after the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) gave its qualified blessing to the version of health reform produced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Quinnipiac University poll of a national cross section of voters reported its latest results.

This poll may not be as famous as some others, but I know the care and professionalism of the people who run it, and one question was particularly interesting to me.

It read: "President Obama has pledged that health insurance reform will not add to our federal budget deficit over the next decade. Do you think that President Obama will be able to keep his promise or do you think that any health care plan that Congress passes and President Obama signs will add to the federal budget deficit?"

The answer: Less than one-fifth of the voters -- 19 percent of the sample -- think he will keep his word. Nine of 10 Republicans and eight of 10 independents said that whatever passes will add to the torrent of red ink. By a margin of four to three, even Democrats agreed this is likely.

That fear contributed directly to the fact that, by a 16-point margin, the majority in this poll said they oppose the legislation moving through Congress.

I have been writing for months that the acid test for this effort lies less in the publicized fight over the public option or the issue of abortion coverage than in the plausibility of its claim to be fiscally responsible.

This is obviously turning out to be the case. While the CBO said that both the House-passed bill and the one Reid has drafted meet Obama's test by being budget-neutral, every expert I have talked to says that the public has it right. Theset bills, as they stand, are budget-busters.

Continue reading: A budget-buster in the making.

Harry Reid's response to Broder's article says it all:

... the Senate shouldn't "focus on a man who has been retired for many years and writes a column once in a while."

In other words, other than to say Broder's old so no one should listnen to him, he can't offer any arguement against the fact that Broder is right - both the Senate and House bills will pass along unfunded programs to our children and grandchildren.

Interestinly, The Hill reports that Reid's comments on Broder are a big change from what he said about Broder back in 2004 when Reid praised Broder as "a long-time syndicated columnist who is nonpartisan and fair, and just last year he called Broder a 'moderate columnist."

Posted by Richard at November 23, 2009 9:59 AM

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