Medicare Accounting Ripoff?

"Senate Democrats and Republicans agreed on -- and passed by a vote of 99-0 -- a one-year extension of the so-called "doctor fix" for Medicare.

The result is almost certainly going to mean higher deficits and more debt piled on the backs of our children.

the Obama administration and congressional Democrats made matters worse by including the "savings" from that 23 percent cut in the cost estimates for the ObamaCare law. This allowed them to pretend that the reform cost less than $1 trillion over its first 10 years...

...Now, faced with having the cuts kick in on Jan. 1, Congress, unsurprisingly, has once again voted to postpone them for a year, at a cost of $15 billion.

But wait. Congress found a way to pay for it: It voted to reduce subsidies under the president's health reforms -- in 2014.

That's right. Congress will spend the money next year, but you needn't worry because it will reduce subsidies four years from now.

...So, four years from now...Congress will use that repayment to repay the money it borrowed to spend this year to avoid making cuts in a program that is trillions of dollars in debt.

Feeling better now?

If November's election meant anything, it was that the American people were fed up with business as usual in Washington.

If this latest Senate deal tells us anything, it's that business as usual is alive and well."

Michael Tanner