Why the CBO cost estimate is so important

The Congressional Budget Office is the non-partisan budget estimator for Congress. It calculates how much each piece of proposed legislation would cost the taxpayers.

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Second GOP senator open to health care overhaul

A second Republican senator signaled Wednesday she's open to voting for sweeping health care legislation this year, putting President Barack Obama closer to a historic achievement that has eluded generations of Democratic leaders.

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Details on costs of Baucus health care bill

A rundown of the new spending in Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus' health care overhaul bill, and a look at how it's paid for. The numbers are 10-year totals covering 2010-2019. Baucus pegs the overall cost of his plan at $856 billion over a decade; the Congressional Budget Office puts it at $774 billion. Baucus aides say the discrepancy is mainly because Baucus is adding up all the costs of the bill to get a gross total, while CBO uses some net numbers.

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CBO lowers estimate of bailout costs to $159B

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that taxpayers will lose about $159 billion from the government's bailouts of the financial and auto industries.

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Dems' health care plan stumbles but keeps moving

Democrats got a sobering glimpse of what it would look like if their ambitious health care overhaul ran into a wall — and they quickly pulled back to regroup and get moving again.

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'Individual mandate' key to universal health coverage

Both those Americans who can’t afford to buy health insurance and those who have decided to get by without it will face the same order from congressional Democrats as they prepare legislation to overhaul health care: buy health insurance. And if they can’t afford the coverage, taxpayers will help them pay for it.

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Agency says bailout will cost taxpayers more

Bailing out the financial sector will cost taxpayers $167 billion more than originally anticipated, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate.

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Analysts say number of uninsured Americans to grow

Without changes in federal policy, the number of Americans without health insurance will grow from about 45 million this year to about 54 million in 2019, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday.

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CBO projects $1.2 trillion deficit for 2009

The federal budget deficit will nearly triple to an unprecedented $1.2 trillion for the 2009 budget year, according to grim new Congressional Budget Office figures.

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Obama picks budget boss

President-elect Barack Obama intends to name Peter Orszag as his budget director, Democratic officials said Monday, turning to Congress' chief adviser on spending and taxes as he fills out his economic team.

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Obama chooses Peter Orszag to head budget office

President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Peter Orszag as his director of the Office of Management and Budget.

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Budget deficit hits record $438 billion, CBO says

The federal budget deficit hit a new record in the just-completed 2008 budget year under the latest estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.

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Retirement accounts have lost $2 trillion — so far

Americans' retirement plans have lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months — about 20 percent of their value — Congress' top budget analyst estimated Tuesday as lawmakers began investigating how turmoil in the financial industry is whittling away workers' nest eggs.

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CBO Sees $250B Federal Budget Deficit

The deficit for the current budget year will jump to about $250 billion under Congressional Budget Office figures released Wednesday, as a weaker economy and lower corporate profits weigh on the government's fiscal ledger.

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U.S. Deficit Estimated at $250 Billion

The deficit for the current budget year will jump to about $250 billion, the Congressional Budget Office estimated Wednesday, citing the weakening economy. And that figure does not reflect at least $100 billion in red ink from an economic stimulus measure in the works.

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CBO Touts Benefits of Dem Stimulus Plan

Economic stimulus proposals favored by Democrats, including tax rebates, extended unemployment benefits and a temporary increase in food stamps are cost-effective ways for Congress to try to boost the economy, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday.

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House Panel Critical of Iraq Contractors

Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House oversight committee, said Thursday that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has issued an order requiring his approval of any corruption investigations of himself or senior ministry officials.

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Immigration Bill's Cost Pegged at $127B

The Senate's immigration proposal would cost $49 billion over the next five years and $127 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

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In my column two weeks ago, I made this very simple point about the reporting surrounding the cost of the health care bill:

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House Republican leaders have produced their own health care reform bill. Here is the first thing you need to know: It would do almost nothing to reduce the scandalously high number of Americans who have no insurance.

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The bill will reduce the deficit by $104 billion over the first 10 years, according to the CBO. It will also cost $894 billion. NOTE this is the House bill; CBO has not yet scored the Senate's.

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Throughout the 1970s and 80s, the courts gradually shed notions that permitted legal distinctions between men and women. But the changes were slow in coming, and advocates say tougher legal protections are still needed.

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For Philistines like me, the mysteries of Washington can be both perplexing and wondrous. If you've been watching noted alchemist Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., conjure up health care gold this week, you probably know what I mean.

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Now that the Congressional Budget Office has concluded that the health-care bill proposed by Sen. Max Baucus will shrink the federal deficit over the next ten years, its champions are heralding the legislation as a model of fiscal responsibility.

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Medical malpractice reform would reduce the annual federal deficit, saving the government $54 billion over 10 years, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office.

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The federal budget deficit tripled to a record $1.4 trillion for the 2009 fiscal year that ended last week, congressional analysts said Wednesday.

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What is the CBO? And why are its cost estimates so crucially important in the debate over overhauling America's health insurance system? Here's a Q & A guide.

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It is a good thing that other congressmen did not follow Rep. Joe Wilson's lead. If they yelled out every time President Obama said something untrue about health care, they would quickly find themselves growing hoarse.

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In a bid to wrangle concessions from the Blue Dog Coalition on healthcare reform, House leaders Thursday released CBO estimates for liberals' preferred version of the public option that show $85 billion more in savings than for the version the Blue Dogs prefer.

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The senators who are debating Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus's bill this week are trying to walk a fine line: how to cut spending on Medicare Advantage, while not alienating the seniors in their own states who are happy with the plans.

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The aftermath of Joe Wilson shouting out "You lie" at a shameless liar in the midst of a shameless lie about health care has turned out to be one of the most Orwellian moments in recent memory.

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Financial Observations: Updated

Music: Hi-Ho - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs This may be an old article, but it needs to be repeated. I would prefer that you just read the "Link" if you don't want to spend a lot of time. Link I'm by no means a financial genius, but I do have common sense.

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No Economic Recovery in Sight: More Financial Chaos Ahead By Bob Chapman, The International Forecaster (reposted on DProgram.net)

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Financial Observations

Music: Hi-Ho - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs I'm by no means a financial genius, but I do have common sense. I can analyze financial information, and cut through the maize, if there is one.

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This weekend, some members of the media repeated a myth opponents of health insurance reform have been spreading: that people would be "forced" to choose a public health insurance option, and falsely attributes it to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

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Obama can't admit that he is bending the famous cost curve upward, any more than he can admit that the House plan might throw millions of people out of their private coverage or that the bill will -- despite its raft of new taxes -- add another $239 billion to the deficit over 10 …

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives pounced on a congressional budget analysis to bolster their plan for a government-run health insurance option on Monday, as party leaders said they were closer to agreement on healthcare reform.

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What happened to Obamacare? The truth of H.B.3200 finally surfaced and is beginning to be made public. It's not more coverage less cost the CBO debunked that claim.

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Today, as the HELP Committee began marking up the 'Affordable Health Care Act,' Republicans tried to obstruct the effort by complaining that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had not yet scored the entire proposal.

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To Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House Republican whip, it is "the nonpartisan Lewin Group." To Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee, it is an "independent research firm." To Sen.

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excerpt: ""Rep.

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H.R.

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Senator Ted Kennedy, who is now 76 years old and was diagnosed with brain cancer in May of last year, is telling the world that nationalized medical care is "the cause of his life." He wants to see it pass as soon as possible, before he departs this vale of tears.

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