Will the government increase deficit spending irrespective of public outcry?
*AP, by Calvin Woodward & Erica Werner, September 10, 2009:
“FACT CHECK: Obama uses iffy math on deficit pledge
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama used only-in-Washington accounting
Wednesday when he promised to overhaul the nation's health care system
without adding ‘one dime’ to the deficit. By conventional
arithmetic, Democratic plans would drive up the deficit by billions of
dollars.
The president's speech to Congress contained a variety of
oversimplifications and omissions in laying out what he wants to do
about health insurance.
A look at some of Obama's claims and how they square with the facts or
the fuller story:
OBAMA: ‘I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits
either now or in the future. Period.’
THE FACTS: Though there's no final plan yet, the White House and
congressional Democrats already have shown they're ready to skirt the
no-new-deficits pledge.
House Democrats offered a bill that the Congressional Budget Office
said would add $220 billion to the deficit over 10 years. But
Democrats and Obama administration officials claimed the bill actually
was deficit-neutral. They said they simply didn't have to count
$245 billion of it - the cost of adjusting Medicare reimbursement rates
so physicians don't face big annual pay cuts.
Their reasoning was that they already had decided to exempt this ‘doc
fix’ from congressional rules that require new programs to be paid
for. In other words, it doesn't have to be paid for because they
decided it doesn't have to be paid for.
The administration also said that since Obama already had included the
doctor payment in his 10-year budget proposal, it didn't have to be
counted again.
That aside, the long-term prognosis for costs of the health care
legislation has not been good.”
*This information is solely a highlight of the opinion of a third-party publication and is incomplete. Please subscribe to this publication for the full and timely opinion of the author and call a Monex Account Representative for any additional up-to-date information. This is not an offer to buy or sell precious metals. Investors should obtain advice based on their own individual circumstances and understand the risk before making any investment decision.
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