CBO - "The Emperor Has No Clothes!"

Budget Analyst Assails Cost of Congress's Health-Care Proposals - washingtonpost.com: "Congress's chief budget analyst delivered a devastating assessment yesterday of the health-care proposals drafted by congressional Democrats, fueling an insurrection among fiscal conservatives in the House and pushing negotiators in the Senate to redouble efforts to draw up a new plan that more effectively restrains federal spending.

Under questioning by members of the Senate Budget Committee, Douglas Elmendorf, director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, said bills crafted by House leaders and the Senate health committee do not propose 'the sort of fundamental changes' necessary to rein in the skyrocketing cost of government health programs, particularly Medicare. On the contrary, Elmendorf said, the measures would pile on an expensive new program to cover the uninsured."

The courageous Mr. Elmendorf (probably soon to join the ranks of the unemployed) laid bare the ridiculous contradictions of the President's health care argument:

1) Medicare and Medicaid are bankrupting the federal government
2) Only health care reform can save us from this crushing burden
3) Only by vastly expanding the federal government role in health care can we bring about reform.

Mr Elmendorf agreed with point 1. But, inconveniently, he pointed out that there is no real reform in the Democrats' plan (making moot point 2). And, even more inconveniently, he indicated that Mr. Obama's vast expansion of the federal government's role will only exacerbate the problem raised in point 1.

Or, in other words, Mr Elmendorf didn't buy this line of reasoning:

1) Current government health care spending is bankrupting the nation
2) Therefore, to address the problem, government is henceforth going to spend much more on health care
3) Problem solved

I know what you libs are saying: "You are ignoring the key point the President is making. The REFORMS in this bill are going to save us so much money, that we will be able to expand health care while spending less overall. This is due to the well-known superior efficiency of government vs the private sector." Well, to quote Mr. Elmendorf, the Democrat-selected head of the Congressional Budget Office: ":[The] bills crafted by House leaders and the Senate health committee do not propose 'the sort of fundamental changes' necessary to rein in the skyrocketing cost of government health programs."

Here's a list of all the things government does more efficiently than the private sector:

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