SHOCKED BY THIS, NEVER WOULD HAVE GUESSED – AT 8:33 A.M. ET:  Must be a mistake.  Maybe the calculator didn't have fresh batteries.  Or they hit a wrong key.  Or somethin'.  But this couldn't possibly be true...could it?  From Fox:

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law will increase the nation's health care tab instead of bringing costs down, government economic forecasters concluded Thursday in a sobering assessment of the sweeping legislation.

A report by economic experts at the Health and Human Services Department said the health care remake will achieve Obama's aim of expanding health insurance -- adding 34 million Americans to the coverage rolls.

But the analysis also found that the law falls short of the president's twin goal of controlling runaway costs, raising projected spending by about 1 percent over 10 years. That increase could get bigger, however, since the report also warned that Medicare cuts in the law may be unrealistic and unsustainable, forcing lawmakers to roll them back.

The mixed verdict for Obama's signature issue is the first comprehensive look by neutral experts.

In other words, we have to pay for it.  And you may be sure that the tab will be much higher than current estimates.  It always is.  These programs always expand.  And get this:

In particular, the warnings about Medicare could become a major political liability for Democratic lawmakers in the midterm elections. The report projected that Medicare cuts could drive about 15 percent of hospitals and other institutional providers into the red, "possibly jeopardizing access" to care for seniors.

COMMENT:  We want to see people receive proper care.  No one is against that.  But this incompetent, inflated legislation, as the last paragraph indicates, may in some cases actually reduce access. 

Oh wait.  I forgot something.  We'll be rescued by the Value Added Tax, the VAT.  Oh, you say you didn't hear anything about new taxes when the health bill was voted on?  Neither did I.  I guess we just weren't listening carefully enough.  I'm sure Barack, Harry and Nancy were honest with us.  Weren't they?

Let the outrage grow.

April 23, 2010