Sebelius: We don’t know what ObamaCare costs will be
posted at 11:36 am on April 23, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
Think of this as a companion piece to the sudden recognition that massive government interventions cost more than they save. On Wednesday, Kathleen Sebelius appeared before the House Appropriations Committee to discuss the appropriations for high-risk pool subsidies that ObamaCare provides to the states. The bill appropriated $5 billion for this program, but as Sebelius tells the committee, that was just a spit-balling number. In reality, no one has the faintest clue how much money will actually get spent on this program, via Breitbart TV and Naked Emperor News:
CMS is the actuary for Medicare and Medicaid, which warned that the forecasting in ObamaCare was hopelessly optimistic, and this appears to be one of those areas in which they’ll be proven right more quickly than most. The states will face billions of dollars each in new mandated Medicaid spending. What’s the likelihood of them not joining a subsidy program to cover high-risk enrollees? About the same probability of Obama scheduling a prime-time press conference tonight or skipping his golf game tomorrow. Not only will the $5 billion disappear twice as fast as Sebelius and the Obama administration predicted, it may go even faster than that.
But don’t worry — Congress knew exactly what they were doing when they passed the bill. Riiiiiiiiiiiight.
Blowback
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Gawd,it never ends!
canopfor on April 23, 2010 at 11:38 AM
We just have to wait for the bills to see what it costs, just like we had to pass it, to find out what’s in it.
RBMN on April 23, 2010 at 11:38 AM
These leftists parody themselves without shame or embarrassment. It’s just plain weird.
jwolf on April 23, 2010 at 11:39 AM
It’s like the Grand Canyon or something….trickle, trickle, trickle…erode, erode, erode…
ladyingray on April 23, 2010 at 11:41 AM
GM will take care of it no worries.
fourdeucer on April 23, 2010 at 11:42 AM
This never happens, I am shocked!!
tommer74 on April 23, 2010 at 11:42 AM
Hilarious…if it weren’t so sad and scary for the country and all its citizens.
MainelyRight on April 23, 2010 at 11:42 AM
So give PBHO a trillion bucks, and if there is money left over then it will be returned. Simple, really.
Bishop on April 23, 2010 at 11:43 AM
Ain’t it the truth.
MainelyRight on April 23, 2010 at 11:43 AM
Charlatans are indignant.
This bunch needs to be punished like no one ever was. This kind of charlatanery MUST be dealt with or this ere will go into our history as “America’s Shame”.
Schadenfreude on April 23, 2010 at 11:44 AM
So the MO of this government appears to be ramming through 2,000 page bills that no one has read and whose costs and unintended consequences no one can project and just worry about paying for it all later?
So what’s their plan for when “later” arrives?
Doughboy on April 23, 2010 at 11:44 AM
ere = era
Schadenfreude on April 23, 2010 at 11:44 AM
Nice to have adults in charge.
Cicero43 on April 23, 2010 at 11:44 AM
the slippery slope of arrogance and defiance…
cmsinaz on April 23, 2010 at 11:46 AM
It’s like the ObamaCare bill is self-aware. Nobody that seems to be helping it along knows anything about it.
………….SkyNet?
MadisonConservative on April 23, 2010 at 11:46 AM
Hey, I have a great idea everybody…!
Let’s elect Barack Hussein Obowma as President of the United States!
What do you say… who’s with me?!?!
Seven Percent Solution on April 23, 2010 at 11:46 AM
Dear Gods, Can 2013 come soon enough? I can’t wait to see the back of these clowns and the horses they rode in on!
So, is Sebelius a stupid bint for not knowing the costs of the policies she advocates, or is she a lying bint for giving the public a shine job on the bill’s real costs and trying to limit the political damage after the fact?
Sekhmet on April 23, 2010 at 11:46 AM
hasta la vista baby
cmsinaz on April 23, 2010 at 11:47 AM
“In a panic, they try to pull the plug.”
“Skynet fights back?”
“Yes.”
Doughboy on April 23, 2010 at 11:47 AM
lololol
cmsinaz on April 23, 2010 at 11:48 AM
They can just pay for it the same way GovMotors paid their TARP money back. Borrow it from themselves outta the left pocket where zero’s stash is kept. This is the worst shell game I’ve ever seen.
Kissmygrits on April 23, 2010 at 11:48 AM
I have nothing nice to say after hearing this from KS, only expletives come to mind so I will refrain.
truetexan on April 23, 2010 at 11:48 AM
Let me see if I got this right!
Kathleen Sebelius has formally resigned as Kansas governor, minutes after the U.S. Senate confirmed her as the nation’s top health official.
————————–
http://www.wopular.com/sebelius-formally-resigns-kansas-governor-following-confirmation-cabinet
And,the Lefty idiots who had a 6 months of non-stop
savagery of Sarah Palin quitting as Governor!!!
Kathleen Sebelius is another outstanding Obama appointee!!
canopfor on April 23, 2010 at 11:48 AM
hear hear!
cmsinaz on April 23, 2010 at 11:50 AM
Yesterday, at the “Journalists’ children at work gathering”, a kid asks Nancy Pelosi “how come the government has so many problems?”.
Pelosi, laughs hysterically, in that weird way…after an interminable while she says “this might be a good time to talk about the problems of the past administration”.
The old bat taught the kids “blame everything on someone else”. She’s only had that hammer since Jan. of 2007.
THIS is our problem America.
Schadenfreude on April 23, 2010 at 11:50 AM
When have Democrats ever “known” anything?
“It’s all relative dude and we’re all on this big bobbing glob in the universe and we’re all one being dude . . .”
Great idea putting a bunch of dope addled morons in charge of our future, voters.
NoDonkey on April 23, 2010 at 11:50 AM
We’ll find out how “costly” it is when people die because they can’t get timely treatment.
Cody1991 on April 23, 2010 at 11:52 AM
I’m in. Free healthcare, gubmint will pay off my mortgage and make my car payments.
I don’t see a downside.
sarc/
fogw on April 23, 2010 at 11:53 AM
Salem communications, would it kill ya to get a comment service that allows editing after submit?
jeff_from_mpls on April 23, 2010 at 11:53 AM
The implementation of this bill is going to be a disaster. That much, I’m sure about. It’s way too complex and unwieldy, which is why I thought it was a bad piece of legislation. Too many cooks in the kitchen on this one.
And, the promises made were outrageous. Lawsuits will flourish, against the government, as people find out they don’t have the promised protections.
The cost factor is merely a small part of the problem.
AnninCA on April 23, 2010 at 11:53 AM
Ahhh, a trip down memory lane.
…so don’t boo the Senator for not reading a bill that isn’t written.
forest on April 23, 2010 at 11:54 AM
Remember Kansas was happy to see her leave. She left them a mess. This is why the Dems don’t check references. (I read she was a tax cheat so that means she fits the culture)
seven on April 23, 2010 at 11:55 AM
Make sure you get your swine flu shot too, there’s gonna be a pandemic!
Wander on April 23, 2010 at 11:56 AM
How unexpected.
Lily on April 23, 2010 at 11:56 AM
Jeff, they’s say “use the preview button” :) Always in a hurry…no worries.
Schadenfreude on April 23, 2010 at 11:56 AM
In the private sector, this woman would be fired…
… In the public sector, not only is she going to get a raise, but the invitations to the White House cocktail and golf parties keep coming in like junk mail.
No one read the ObowmaCare bill, and scenes like this surprise you? The next time you have an opportunity to vote, I suggest you take it.
Seven Percent Solution on April 23, 2010 at 11:56 AM
He lied!
Obama: I exaggerated.
Skywise on April 23, 2010 at 11:57 AM
canopfor on April 23, 2010 at 11:38 AM
——————————————
It’s like the Grand Canyon or something….trickle, trickle, trickle…erode, erode, erode…
ladyingray on April 23, 2010 at 11:41 AM
ladyingray:Pay attention to the Grand Canyon getting filled!
=========================================================
Bugs Bunny will represent the Liberal Party on
how far they have pushed it!!
——————————–
Bugs Bunny – Rebel Rabbit (1949)
http://www.jogyjogy.com/watch.php?id=19bb2
canopfor on April 23, 2010 at 11:58 AM
I really wish when this is brought up by Obama, Pelosi, or any other Democrat hack, that conservatives would repond by asking which “failed policies” specifically are responsible for our current economic malaise.
If they claim it’s deregulation, well we know who stood in the way of reforming Freddie and Fannie and which administration repealed Glass-Steagal(hint: they all had D’s after their names). If they blame the Bush tax cuts, well then simply ask them why they don’t repeal those cuts immediately. After all, if lowering taxes caused all our problems, then it would stand to reason that doing the opposite would fix everything.
Doughboy on April 23, 2010 at 11:59 AM
The bill couldn’t be read until it was passed. Would you please update your reality and get with the program?
Bishop on April 23, 2010 at 11:59 AM
Another solid B+
RBMN on April 23, 2010 at 11:59 AM
Of course, Dems always know the exact cost of not doing exactly what they say right away. Sob story after sob story.
Christien on April 23, 2010 at 12:00 PM
What a disaster we have wrought.
fourdeucer on April 23, 2010 at 12:00 PM
They know what they are doing. Single payor.
Marcus on April 23, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Previous to this “administration”, I would have thought the only way to have a continual multi-year nightmare such as this one, was to be in a coma, and hooked up to machines.
Edouard on April 23, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Cody, no kidding…they will be HAPPY that people die. More money for the sheeple who vote for them. There are people in Obama’s admin. who live for birth prevention and death management, under different names…it’s good for the green earth and good for their power. All in their plan. It’s the religion of socialism/communism. It’s the most powerful religion on Earth.
Schadenfreude on April 23, 2010 at 12:01 PM
Nor it seems, do you freakin care. Just so long as it’s not coming out of YOUR pockets!!!
A tad o/t….but Sebelius….if she picks her nose…what comes out? Nails? Thumb tacks? Bits of glass? Geeze, what a mug!!!
capejasmine on April 23, 2010 at 12:01 PM
Why can’t I be one of those people who sit around watching Jerry Springer and not only not care about this but be blissfully ignorant of it?
Cindy Munford on April 23, 2010 at 12:03 PM
Every ‘free’ populace deserves its leaders.
Schadenfreude on April 23, 2010 at 12:04 PM
Its almost as if they don’t know what they are doing.
tommer74 on April 23, 2010 at 12:04 PM
Because you’re not an arshole, or a moocher/looter.
Schadenfreude on April 23, 2010 at 12:04 PM
But we know it will ‘bend the cost curve’ down.
/sarc
Bobbertsan on April 23, 2010 at 12:05 PM
These people don’t know their aspholes from a hole in the ground.
thomasaur on April 23, 2010 at 12:05 PM
They KNOW exactly what they are doing, destroying you and our country, savoring the aim and the effect, even if they are destroyed. It’s their longer term aim they’re interested in.
Schadenfreude on April 23, 2010 at 12:06 PM
The first trillion doesn’t seem so bad now. It’s the second, third and fourth trillion that gets me.
Scott P on April 23, 2010 at 12:07 PM
Ahhh, a trip down memory lane.
…so don’t boo the Senator for not reading a bill that isn’t written.
forest on April 23, 2010 at 11:54 AM
forest:Excellent Intel grab!:)
canopfor on April 23, 2010 at 12:09 PM
And here I thought we had accurate CBO numbers as to the costs of Obamacare. Guess those were just bullsh1t, huh? ;)
lorien1973 on April 23, 2010 at 12:09 PM
Its one thing if I screw up my finances, I can blame myself and rectify the situation. The feds screw up everything and play shell games with money, yet noone takes responsibilty and nothing gets fixed.
I get more angry the more I think about this…..maybe I should start watching Jerry Springer
tommer74 on April 23, 2010 at 12:11 PM
How could this be? Our distinguished Speaker of the House told me that she loves numbers from the CBO because they are “so precise”. How could such wonderful numbers be incorrect? Surely, she was not mis-representing the cost to get the bill passed?
djtnt on April 23, 2010 at 12:13 PM
That’s the next guy’s problem.
tommyboy on April 23, 2010 at 12:14 PM
No wonder they didn’t bother to read it.
Jaibones on April 23, 2010 at 12:15 PM
It’s been clear that our incompetent Government does not know what anything costs b/c they are too busy attempting to change GAP, General Accounting Praticies, to CAP, Creative Accounting Practices. One should wonder if the IRS will audit these fools at a later date?
BigMike252 on April 23, 2010 at 12:17 PM
Bad idea. We’d have trolls galore going back and editing their asinine comments and acting as if they never said that in the first place.
CurtZHP on April 23, 2010 at 12:18 PM
Well he is Spock, you know.
Bobbertsan on April 23, 2010 at 12:19 PM
Hey the CBO had follow the accounting and assumptions congress gave them. Which is why the report with the numbers had dozens of qualifications and hedges in it. But you didn’t read about those in the papers, did you.
tommyboy on April 23, 2010 at 12:19 PM
ObamaCare, the bill that keeps on giving. They thought, once passed, they could move on to other topics. Now they find they’re “re-visiting” the issue on a weekly basis.
Come on November!
GarandFan on April 23, 2010 at 12:20 PM
Sorry, USA!!!
We Kansans just HAD to get rid of Sebelius.
Kansas government improved drastically within 30 days after she left the Kansas Governor’s office. Now everybody in the country can see why.
One consolation: the country can look forward to feeling so much better when she’s gone. Kind of like when you stop hitting your head with a hammer.
Hope we can revoke her Kansas citizenship and re-entry visa by that time…
landlines on April 23, 2010 at 12:20 PM
I refuse to accept the premise that Bugs Bunny is a liberal. He is way too self sufficient and smart.
CurtZHP on April 23, 2010 at 12:20 PM
Help our country survive – defeat McCain.
Schadenfreude on April 23, 2010 at 12:23 PM
Can there be a class action lawsuit by taxpayers against an incompetent government?
albill on April 23, 2010 at 12:23 PM
This is just plain weird.
They go from totally fudging numbers to saying they just don’t know.
Normal human beings would have the sense to be embarrassed. This whole bunch appear more than stupid, they also appear mentally ill.
ORconservative on April 23, 2010 at 12:23 PM
Now can we vote them out without being called NAZI extremists?
csdeven on April 23, 2010 at 12:25 PM
Sorry, USA!!!
We Kansans just HAD to get rid of Sebelius.
Kansas government improved drastically within 30 days after she left the Kansas Governor’s office. Now everybody in the country can see why.
Ego te absolvo a peccatis tuis in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Don’t let it @#$!% happen again!
CurtZHP on April 23, 2010 at 12:26 PM
Can all the Congressional & Senatorial idiots who voted in favor of ObamaCare, now be impeached for dereliction of duty?
I will agree with some her who have said, this would be really funny, if it wasn’t so damn infuriating.
PappaMac on April 23, 2010 at 12:26 PM
These arrogant thugs rape us in plain daylight, with the police, er media, watching, and approving of it.
They are not “stupid”. They are doing exactly what they set out to do. The voters were stupid to put them there, with the access to the purse.
We need to stop paying taxes, en masse. If Nov. doesn’t change things, on both sides of the isle, that s/b Tea Party v. 2.0
Schadenfreude on April 23, 2010 at 12:27 PM
Actually, their only alternative at this point is to turn UP the shrill rhetoric. (and the press will be only to happy to oblige)
tommyboy on April 23, 2010 at 12:27 PM
Look, this is all actually very simple. Forget the fog of apparent confusion, incompetence and insanity.
Here is the bottom line, the answer to all, the big explanation.
Ready?
Here goes:
The Democrats want your money.
Not some of it.
All of it.
Every last penny.
They will figure out what to do with it when they have it.
This is why there is never ever a tax that the Dems do not love.
This is why they are spending us into unimagineable levels of debt.
justltl on April 23, 2010 at 12:27 PM
Bobbertsan on April 23, 2010 at 12:28 PM
Bugs Bunny – Rebel Rabbit (1949)
http://www.jogyjogy.com/watch.php?id=19bb2
canopfor on April 23, 2010 at 11:58 AM
————————-
I refuse to accept the premise that Bugs Bunny is a liberal. He is way too self sufficient and smart.
CurtZHP on April 23, 2010 at 12:20 PM
CurtZHP:And crafty,now if you don’t mind,I’m going to seek
therapy,as my entire childhood experience with the
Bugs Bunny Hour has been a lie!!(i kid):)
canopfor on April 23, 2010 at 12:30 PM
Show us how to sneeze againg woodja?
Wander on April 23, 2010 at 12:30 PM
All of it.
justltl on April 23, 2010 at 12:27 PM
justltl: “STEALTH REPARATIONS”!!
canopfor on April 23, 2010 at 12:32 PM
Lets also sue the people who voted on it.Surely as time goes by, we can prove that there was fraud involved.
BruceB on April 23, 2010 at 12:37 PM
How about sending her and the rest of the traitors in Washington to Club Fed?
tru2tx on April 23, 2010 at 12:40 PM
That is not a laugh that Nancy Pelosi delivers,,,it is a psychotic cackle,,probably developed through years of botox, lying and covering up.
retiredeagle on April 23, 2010 at 12:42 PM
Obama (sans TOTUS, 2008): It’s gonna cost, what it’s gonna cost, help me out here, I can’t hear myself, but we’ll get all revved up here!
Pelosi: Pass the bill, so you know what’s in it!
Sebelius: I don’t know how much it costs.
American People: Now that we know what’s in it, and what it costs, let’s REPEAL it!!!
Good thing the benefits don’t start until 2014. If a GOP Congress and President repeal it in 2013, the only thing people will miss is the extra taxes!
Steve Z on April 23, 2010 at 12:42 PM
I feel so much better after watching that…/
d1carter on April 23, 2010 at 12:44 PM
Any chance the Appropriations committee won’t appropriate the money for Obamacare?
ctmom on April 23, 2010 at 12:45 PM
Reparations, spreading the wealth, social justice, whatever, Sir canopfor.
It’s all the same.
The Democrats believe that government knows best.
Taxes equal control.
More taxes equal more control.
Total taxation equals total control.
Seriously. Think about it. Look at virtually any of their positions. Have you ever heard of a tax that a Democrat didn’t love? Have you ever heard a leftist say that we’ve been taxed enough? Does that make any sense whatsoever without the guiding principle that taxes enables government control of the way things should be?
I wish that they would just get it over with and say, “We are going to take everything that you do and decide the best way to apply it.” It would make things much simpler to understand.
justltl on April 23, 2010 at 12:47 PM
Now where did I put my torch and my pitchfork???
D2Boston on April 23, 2010 at 12:48 PM
We had to pass it to find out what was in it, and we have to live under its crushing burden for a few generations to find it what it costs.
Kensington on April 23, 2010 at 12:50 PM
Shocker!!
vcferlita on April 23, 2010 at 12:52 PM
I wish that they would just get it over with and say, “We are going to take everything that you do and decide the best way to apply it.” It would make things much simpler to understand.
justltl on April 23, 2010 at 12:47 PM
justltl: Yup,Social Engineering!!:)
===========================================================
Obama Blueprint for Change
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6966875/Obama-Blueprint-for-Change
canopfor on April 23, 2010 at 12:53 PM
In honor of this not so surprising news, maybe hubby and I will attempt to create future little taxpayers! I feel so patriotic already… ;)
atlgal on April 23, 2010 at 12:54 PM
The Health Care plan was never even remotely about health care.
Just like cap and trade has nothing to do with the environment.
They are about acquiring government power and control.
It is no surprise at all that no one has read the health care bills. And it is no surprise that there needs to be no proof whatsoever that the environment is even in trouble, let alone that a cap and tax scheme would be able to help with it if it were in trouble. The specifics are irrelevant. They are simply tools to extract money from the citizenry so that the government elite can decide what is, in their view, the most socially just way of distributing it.
justltl on April 23, 2010 at 12:59 PM
We should be ‘thanking’ them, right?
lukespapa on April 23, 2010 at 1:00 PM
Let’s be honest and straight up about it.
They are communists.
Funny how they have been able to successfully stigmatize the use of that word such that even its utterance causes raised eyebrows. Kudos for having achieved even that.
Let’s call it collectivism then.
Or even statism.
There, that’s better.
They are collectivists.
justltl on April 23, 2010 at 1:14 PM
She looks tired.
percysunshine on April 23, 2010 at 1:16 PM
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