GOP’ers Accuse Senate Dems Of Fibbing On Cost Of Health Reform
Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 1:27PM
Geoff Holtzman in Congress, Frontpage 2, geoff holtzman
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said Wednesday that a letter he received from Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director Doug Elemendorf shows that Democrats are using phony accounting methods to try and win support for their healthcare bill.

“I think it’s a potential game changer because...a lot of our Senate colleagues have said they expect this bill to be budget neutral and it’s not. That is not disputable,” said Sessions during a press conference with other key Republicans.

According to Sessions, Elmendorf wrote to him that the government will fund healthcare reform spending by borrowing money from Medicare, but is not planning on using newly generated revenues to refund Medicare in the future.

"To describe the full amount of HI trust fund savings as both improving the government's ability to pay future Medicare benefits and financing new spending outside of Medicare would essentially double-count a large share of those savings and thus overstate the improvement in the government's fiscal position," he wrote.

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), whose amendment to prohibit Medicare funds from being used to pay for health reform was rejected weeks ago, said Elemendorf’s letter could expose Democrats in the final hours before the bill is voted on.

“They’ve been called on it. The Democratic Party, the Democratic leadership, the White House...and the House of Representatives, they’ve been called on it by the CBO.”

The Senators spoke as Democrats on the floor below them continued to push the bill past the last of three procedural votes Wednesday afternoon. Final passage of the bill is set for Thursday morning, Christmas eve, marking the 25th consecutive day of Senate debate on health care.
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