Posted by
Roxanna M. on Thursday, September 03, 2009 6:35:22 PM
"The fact of the matter is, though, that on this bill, we have said (a) it will be paid for. It will be paid for. And if it's not paid for, I'm not going to vote for it."
So said Steny Hoyer (D-MD), #2 man in the House. Since the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that the legislation that came out of the Ways and Means Committee would increase the deficit by $239 billion over 10 years, even if taxes were raised by $583 billion,* Mr. Hoyer has just given himself an out on Obamacare.
Instead of having to vote for a bill that is immensely unpopular - and that might actually cause him some grief come election time - all he has to do is say, "It wasn't paid for," vote no, and he's in the clear.
So begins the walkaway from Obama.
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* The $9 trillion deficit that Obama is racking up is nothing but an estimate, and a low one at that. The deficit will only be $9 trillion if the economy comes roaring back. If it stays bad, the deficit will be larger than $9 trillion. At some point in time, people are going to start saying, "That's real money" and the people who gave it to us are going to be in big trouble.