Dems Admit to Cooking the Books

[Geee]

Front Page Magazine:

Last week, whether by accident or design, the Democrat party and the Obama administration revealed an unprecedented level of contempt for the intelligence of the American public with regard to that public’s understanding of economics. Sad to say, if a recent survey is accurate, a substantial portion of that contempt is cynically justifiable.

The three issues that reveal both the contempt and the justification for it are the true costs of ObamaCare, a future “balanced” budget, and what it will really take to get federal government spending under control.

First, ObamaCare. In her first appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee last Thursday, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), was forced to make an admission she clearly wanted to avoid. Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) asked the Secretary whether $500 billion in proposed Medicare cuts are being used to sustain the program itself or pay for the new health care law. “There is an issue here on the budget because your own actuary has said you can’t double-count,” said Shimkus. ”What’s the $500 billion in cuts for? Preserving Medicare or funding the health-care law? Which is it?” ”Sir, The Affordable Care Act adds twelve years to the Medicare trust fund according to every actuary, and the $500 billion represents a slowdown in the growth rate of Medicare over ten years, from what was projected at 8% to a growth rate of 6%,” she replied.

Shimkus persisted. ”So are you using it to save Medicare or using it to fund healthcare reform? Which one?” he asked for the second time. ”Both,” answered Sebelius.