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Quick fact: FNC senior judicial analyst Judge Napolitano claims "unfunded" health care bill "add[s]...another trillion"

November 10, 2009 6:04 pm ET — 5 Comments

While discussing the current economic situation on Glenn Beck and referencing the House health care bill, Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano claimed that "the government wants to add...another trillion in healthcare, unfunded healthcare."

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From the November 10 edition of Fox News'  Glenn Beck:

NAPOLITANO: Dr. Binswanger, let's see. Deep recession, 10.2 percent unemployment, $13 trillion in debt, and the government wants to add -- you were here during the earlier part of the show -- another trillion in healthcare, unfunded healthcare to this mess. Do they even understand economics 101?

Fact: CBO estimated the House bill would reduce deficit by $109 billion

Contrary to Napolitano's claim that the bill is "unfunded," the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962)"would yield a net reduction in federal budget deficits of $109 billion over the 2010-2019 period." Further, the CBO estimated that in the decade after 2019, "the legislation would slightly reduce federal budget deficits ... relative to those projected under current law -- with a total effect during that decade that is in a broad range between zero and one-quarter percent of GDP [gross domestic product]."

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    • Author by egb (November 11, 2009 2:58 am ET)
         
      CBO, as everyone knows, uses "static analysis". They don't allow for changes to the economy due to the effects of the law they are studying. Thus, CBO projects economic growth in the future, but has no way of factoring in HR3962, Cap and Trade and restrictive foreign tariffs.

      Believing that the CBO estimate is anything more than a guess is like believing we can predict next year's climate. The history of both climate prediction and CBO estimates is equally pathetic.

      Just ask yourself, how can no increased deficits, no increase in taxes for the middle class and job growth happen when, suddenly, 45 million people need free health care? It doesn't take much sense to know that our government is not doing any favors for anyone.
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      • Author by justin32099 (November 12, 2009 7:43 am ET)
           
        "The history of both climate prediction and CBO estimates is equally pathetic."

        egb:
        How do you justify a statement like that? The estimate is saying that the deficit will be lower than it would be were HR 3962 not to be passed. It's impossible to prove or disprove that statement, even in hindsight, since it requires the analysis of two different realities (one with the bill, one without). But before you dismiss CBO estimates as "pathetic," you have to have some sort of evidence for that statement.

        Also, your statement that 45 million people need "free" health care is false. A great number (I'd say the majority) don't need free health care, they can pay a premium, but they either can't afford current market rates or have pre-existing conditions that prevent them from getting private insurance right now. They most certainly do not need "free" health care, they just need someone willing to sell them a policy at a reasonable rate.

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    • Author by DixieChyc (November 11, 2009 1:07 pm ET)
         
      The last comment made in the video clip was from the guest, who said that people do not understand that the government has no money of its own. That's a fact, Jack!

      I received a request from the American Cancer Society to notify my House representative to tell him that I did not appreciate his vote of NO on the recently passed House health care bill. Well, let me tell you, I am very GLAD that my representative voted no. I went to the link the ACS gave me, which is www.acscan.org/voted-no, and I wrote the following in the space where the ACS had a canned letter:

      I am a cancer survivor and a PAST volunteer for the American Cancer Society. The ACS sent me a request to contact you to tell you how disappointed I am that you voted "no" on H.R. 3963, The Affordable Health Care for America Act. But the truth is, I DO NOT agree with the ACS on the passage of the House health care bill! And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for voting no.

      In fact, the ACS has lost my support, not only because of their endorsement of this massive, unaffordable health care bill, but because they have also lobbied for increasing taxes on cigarettes in the state of Florida in order to supposedly fund health care for children. I hope you, as my representative, did not support that sin tax.

      It is my opinion that charity comes from an individuals heart and NOT thru taxation. In America, the land of the free, a citizen who WANTS to give is how it should be. Giving should not be forced through taxation! The ACS has lost my support because it is has gone the way of forcing citizens to give up their hard-earned money to the government so that the government can give it to those who are, for whatever reason, financially challenged. May I remind the ACS, my House representative, and my Senator of the following axioms?

      You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
      You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
      You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
      You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
      You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
      You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
      You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
      You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
      You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence.
      You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.
      Written by William John Henry Boetcker (1873 - 1962), an eloquent public speaker and American religious leader. Originally published as the "Ten Cannots" in 1916, the axioms are often misattributed to Abraham Lincoln.

      The ACS declares that the House health care bill “makes significant progress in providing adequate, affordable coverage to the uninsured and the underinsured by expanding access to Medicaid for those earning up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level and providing subsidies for the purchase of insurance to people earning up to 400 percent of poverty…”

      Well, I DO have compassion for the less fortunate (myself included; as a single woman, I live on $14 per hour), BUT I DO NOT SUPPORT a trillion-dollar bill that would forcefully take money away from hard working capitalists to reallocate to the poor, especially through the failed welfare program called Medicaid! If I were wealthy, I’d be leaving this country and taking my money with me. And if all the wealthy capitalists left America for greener pastures, now wouldn’t that be a fine thing? I think not.

      The ACS informed me that the bill also calls for an investment of $34 billion over five years in a new Public Health Investment Fund for community health centers, primary care training and prevention and wellness research. Excuse me? But America DOES NOT have the money to pay for this, nor does it have the money to pay for a trillion dollar health care monstrosity!

      America is deep in debt and it is time for some serious FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY. A person cannot continue to spend what they do not have, because they eventually get so far in debt they end up bankrupt. And neither can our federal and state governments continue to spend borrowed money as if there were Money Trees in the back yards of the White House and the state capitol buildings. In all actuality, the Money Trees are hard working capitalists on which the poor, the slackers, the Welfare recipients, the prisons, and EVERY government program feeds off.

      The ACS DOES NOT have my support any more. I would ask the ACS, my House representative, and my Senator the following question. Since every major federal government program is deep in DEBT and crumbling before us (including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid), WHY OH WHY should any American believe that a new government-run program would actually work? It won’t! It will be just another failed Big Brother program that takes from the haves and attempts to give to the have-nots, all while burdening a country that is already deep in debt.

      Government-run health care will join the ranks of the behemoth IRS, which is a big heavy weight on the shoulders of taxpayers (which is why I support the Fair Tax). And government-run health care will do nothing but increase the size and control of a federal government that is already way too big for its britches!

      I have encouraged my friends and family (if they agree with me) to please go to the link and voice their opinion. I also suggested to them that they can make a difference by contacting their Senator to let him or her know how they feel, because now the health care "ball" is in the Senate’s ballpark! I hope our senators do not take the government-run health care bill and run with it unless they run to the nearest dumpster and throw it inside (which is where it belongs)!
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      • Author by boulderhippy (November 11, 2009 2:36 pm ET)
           
        Your post while very well thought out, is way too long for the typical reader on this site. Most readers here have the attention span of a gnat and only listen to sound bites to shape their opinions.

        Please keep it short for the audience you are trying to reach.
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        • Author by DixieChyc (November 12, 2009 12:42 am ET)
             
          You are right. I realized after I posted I should not have gone on so much. I got passionate and I do apologize. Thank you.
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