Newsweek Editor Admits:Health Care Bill a ‘Fiscal Fraud’ But ‘I’d Still Vote for It’
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: The fraudulence of these numbers is absolutely staggering, and I’ll explain to you why. The benefits kick in in 2015, so outlays are only for half of that decade. The taxes and the cuts, the presumed spending cuts, all kick in at the beginning. You’ve got 10 years of money in and five years of outlay, so of course it will produce a deficit — I mean, a surplus. If you start of 2015 and go until the end of time, the amount of deficit added every decade is going to be about half a trillion. So once you start — When the program starts, it will be annually — it will cause a huge deficit annually. That is an absolutely phony number that Reid gave us.
EVAN THOMAS: Charles is right. This bill is a fiscal fraud. I’d still vote for it, because I think it’s a good thing to extend benefits and start down the road to universal and — because of the health insurance.
