The CBO estimate the corporate media villagers did not report

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Senators just had to hold a premature hearing with the CBO chief Doug Elmendorf last Friday before the senate committees working on health care reform even have a bill to vote on. The resultant headlines were what one has come to expect from the corporate media villagers and Beltway bloviators. The headlines all read like they were scripted from the Frank Luntz talking points on health care, and the RNC talking points on deficit spending — the CBO chief says none of the plans meets the reduction in cost targets and will add to the deficit.

Well, a funny thing happened on the way to the Friday night news dump where stories go to die, with the added distraction of the death of Walter Cronkite knocking everything else off the news.

This press release was released Friday night by the House Energy, Ways and Means and Education and Labor committees CBO Scores Confirms Deficit Neutrality of Health Reform Bill:

For Immediate Release:

July 17, 2009

CBO Scores Confirms Deficit Neutrality of Health Reform Bill

Washington, D.C. — The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released estimates this evening confirming for the first time that H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, is deficit neutral over the 10-year budget window – and even produces a $6 billion surplus. CBO estimated more than $550 billion in gross Medicare and Medicaid savings. More importantly, the bill includes a comprehensive array of delivery reforms to set the stage for lowering the future growth in health care costs.

Net Medicare and Medicaid savings of $465 billion, coupled with the $583 billion revenue package reported today by the House Committee on Ways and Means, fully finance the previously estimated $1.042 trillion cost of reform, which will provide affordable health care coverage for 97% of Americans.

"This fulfills the strong commitment of the President and House leadership to enact health reform on a deficit-neutral basis," said Chairman Henry A. Waxman, Chairman Charles B. Rangel, and Chairman George Miller. "The reforms included in this legislation will help control health care costs and expand access to quality, affordable coverage to all Americans in a fiscally-responsible manner."

The estimates also cover important reinvestments in Medicare and Medicaid, including phasing in the closing of the "donut" hole in the Medicare drug benefit. The bill’s long-term reform of Medicare’s physician fee schedule to eliminate the potential 21 percent cut in fees, and put payments on a sustainable basis for the future, will cost about $245 billion. Those costs, however, are not included in the net calculations above, as they will be absorbed under the upcoming statutory "pay go" legislation that is pending in the House.

You didn't read about this in your newspaper. You only read about Elmendorf's testimony based upon incomplete data (the health care reform bill is still a work in progress). Director’s Blog You also didn't hear this discussed on the Sunday bobblehead talk shows either.

That's because the corporate media villagers and Beltway bloviators are all conditioned to parrot the Frank Luntz talking points on health care reform and the RNC talking points on deficit spending. (It was Republicans who doubled our national debt under George W. Bush and caused the worst economic decline since the Great Depression with their economic policies – why would anyone in their right mind listen to Republicans, they have no credibility.)

The "nattering nabobs of negativity" who comprise the corporate media villagers and Beltway bloviators remind me of Moriarty in Kelly's Heroes (1970). As Oddball says to him, "always with the negative waves, Moriarty, always with the negative waves" – "have a little faith baby, have a little faith" - "why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?"