ObamaCare: Vultures suddenly appear

posted at 1:45 pm on March 11, 2010 by Karl
printer-friendly

Last month, Cato’s Michael F. Cannon observed:

A good way to tell when ObamaCare is all dead is when Democrats start picking at the carcass for pay-fors.

As Cannon notes, Democrats have a ginormous agenda. With deficit spending unpopular (at least in the abstract), and broad tax hikes generally unpopular, palatable spending cuts are a valuable commodity.

Yet this story from The Hill went largely unnoticed yesterday:

Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.), the acting chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said a House-Senate conference might be needed on the $138 billion tax extenders bill being debated in the Senate.

One reason would be differences between the House and Senate over how the legislation should be paid for, Levin said Tuesday.

The Senate bill is partially paid for, but uses offsets included in President Obama’s health care proposal. Since offsets can’t be used in two bills, that’s a problem.

It’s more than a problem. It is likely a conference can find other pay-fors on this (relatively) smaller bill. But the Senate’s raid on ObamaCare pay-fors may suggest a certain lack of confidence in ObamaCare’s chances of passage. The vultures are not committed to picking at the carcass, but they seem to be eyeing a potential meal.

Blowback