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Fox promotes Boehner's falsehood that health care law will "bankrupt" the country

September 09, 2010 11:40 am ET — 19 Comments

Fox News' Bill Hemmer uncritically repeated House Republican leader John Boehner's statement that he would repeal or block funding for health care reform before it "'bankrupts' the country." Hemmer ignored multiple Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports stating that health care reform will actually reduce the federal deficit.

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Fox uncritically quotes Boehner falsely claiming health care reform would "bankrupt" U.S.

From the September 9 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom:

HEMMER: Also, the man hoping to be the next house speaker vowing to kill the health care reform law. House minority leader John Boehner telling a newspaper in Cincinnati saying he will repeal or block funding for the new law before it "bankrupts" the country, his words from yesterday.

CBO: Health care reform reduces the federal deficit

CBO in March: Health care reform law will reduce deficit by $143 billion over next ten years, and by more in second decade.  The CBO determined in March that the two health care bills signed into law that month "would produce a net reduction in federal deficits of $143 billion over the 2010-2019 period." The CBO also estimates a further reduction in the second decade after enactment "with a total effect during that decade in a broad range around one-half percent of GDP."

In June, CBO reiterated that health care reform reduces the deficit. The June 30 CBO long-term budget outlook stated that if the health care reform law is implemented as written, it will "increase projected revenues, particularly in the 2030s and beyond, thus slowing the accumulation of debt considerably." The CBO also noted in a footnote of its June outlook that although the law will increase federal spending on health care in the next two decades, it will also "reduce budget deficits over the 2010-2019 period and in subsequent years."

In August, CBO "confirm[ed]" its findings. In an August 24 letter to Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID), CBO director Doug Elmendorf wrote:

First, we can confirm the estimate of the overall impact on the federal budget of the major health care legislation enacted in March. Specifically, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or PPACA (Public Law 111-148) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-152) will produce $143 billion in net budgetary savings over the 2010-2019 period.That figure includes $124 billion in net savings for the health and revenue provisions of both laws and $19 billion in net savings for the education provisions of the Reconciliation Act.

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    • Author by progressivevoicedaily (September 09, 2010 11:47 am ET)
      6  
      For a group that prides theirselves on not knowing much, and playing to the stupid and ignorant, they sure seem to think they can read policy and predict the future. Which is it, are you all regular folk, or elites??
      Report Abuse
    • Author by grmce (September 09, 2010 12:55 pm ET)
      7  
      Fox promotes Boehner's falsehood that health care law will "bankrupt" the country
      And this is coming from the mob who unquestioningly accepted the wisdom of opening a war on two fronts without raising revenue to pay for it and failed to restrain misfeasance and malfeasance of the finance industry,

      Ha, bloody ha! It would be hilarious but for the death and destruction that they have rained upon so many innocent victims. I'm sure there is a special place in hell for such hypocrites.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by shaggles (September 09, 2010 1:32 pm ET)
        7  
        Had McCain won the election we'd probably be at war with Iran by now too.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by riverdog (September 09, 2010 2:04 pm ET)
          2 6
          Had McCain won the election we'd probably be at war with Iran by now too.

          i doubt it. i think if mccain won in 2000 we probably wouldn't be in iraq.
          Report Abuse
          • Author by raddave43 (September 09, 2010 2:10 pm ET)
            6  
            McCain from 2000 is different from the McCain of today. Afterall he was once joking about "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran."
            Report Abuse
          • Author by DellDolly (September 09, 2010 2:29 pm ET)
            6 1
            While it's true that McCain might not have taken us to war with Iraq in 2003, we're not TALKING about what would have happened in 2003 with him in office.

            What the discussion was about was if McCain had been elected in 2008 (5 1/2 years after we invaded Iraq - and no, he doesn't have a time machine), what he would have done WRT Iran.
            Report Abuse
          • Author by Johaely (September 10, 2010 9:36 am ET)
            3  
            But then, that's when John McCain had integrity.
            Report Abuse
        • Author by riverdog (September 09, 2010 2:26 pm ET)
          1 6
          Had McCain won the election we'd probably be at war with Iran by now too.

          i doubt it. i think if mccain won in 2000 we probably wouldn't be in iraq.
          Report Abuse
      • Author by sambo (September 10, 2010 3:13 pm ET)
        3  
        Boehner's falsehood that health care will bankrupt the country.
        Well what a surprise,silly me, I thought they pretty well gutted it,in the 12 yrs they controlled it before handing it over to Obama. by the
        way,how big was the surplus Clinton left Bush? back to Boehner,that man has no morals,and like Bush the truth is not in him,there is nothing to low for him to stoop, to retake power. The man is so evil,he is turning orange
        Report Abuse
    • Author by magnolialover (September 09, 2010 12:58 pm ET)
      9  
      You mean, the same bill that will reduce the deficit? That one?
      Report Abuse
      • Author by DellDolly (September 09, 2010 3:23 pm ET)
        4 1
        Yes, they look ONLY at the isolated costs, without considering the costs of the status quo plan.

        And they poo-poo the CBO estimates of the cost of HCR versus the status quo - yet they RELY upon OTHER estimates from the CBO to assert what the cost of HCR will be!

        They are hypocrites to the nth degree.

        And that's because they can't be successful if they acknowledge reality!
        Report Abuse
    • Author by shaggles (September 09, 2010 1:31 pm ET)
      9  
      I like that Obama called Bonehead out. All Dems need to keep pointing out that the Reps are advocating a return to the Bush era policies that got us into financial difficulties in the first place.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by txthinker (September 09, 2010 2:13 pm ET)
      9 1
      Fox promotes Boehner's falsehood that health care law will "bankrupt" the country
      John Boehner is morally and intellectually bankrupt.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by DellDolly (September 09, 2010 2:31 pm ET)
      5 1
      Not only won't HCR bankrupt America, but in fact will actually help lower the forecast deficit, but it would have done an even BETTER job of that goal if the Republicans hadn't blocked much of the initiatives originally included!
      Report Abuse
    • Author by little poncho (September 09, 2010 4:27 pm ET)
      4  
      the tan man can.... (DO NOTHING)
      Report Abuse
    • Author by whatIthink (September 10, 2010 4:18 am ET)
      4  
      Fox News...always probing and asking the hard questions...

      [http://cdn-www.i-am-bored.com/media/tvsleepwboys.jpg]
      Report Abuse
    • Author by open_mind (September 10, 2010 8:06 am ET)
      3 1
      I have a quibble here. MMFA quotes that the savings of the Healthcare Bill were estimated by the CBO to be $143 billion over the next ten years. The problem is that some future legislative action will need to be done in order to get to that figure. Considering these budget cuts to Medicare will not be popular and easily demagogued by the opposing party, it is safe to argue that confidence in such legislation is not very high.

      The Republicans went to the CBO to ask them two questions recently:

      1. What would be the cost of not implementing these cuts do?

      In its August 2010 report on the budget outlook, CBO extrapolated the estimated effects of the legislation to cover fiscal year 2020. On balance, the two laws’ health care and revenue provisions are estimated to reduce the projected deficit in 2020 by $28 billion
      2. How much would we save by repealing the healthcare bill?

      If those provisions were repealed, CBO estimates that there would be an increase in deficits similar to its original estimate of $455 billion in net savings over that period.
      I guess Republicans should be careful what they ask for.

      http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/118xx/doc11820/CrapoLtr.pdf
      Report Abuse
    • Author by GreenLantern (September 11, 2010 11:49 pm ET)
      1  
      I found out why our media is so librul.
      If boehner tells several lies and gets exposed in the media, they are librul!
      If a Democrat tells the truth and the media reports it, they are librul.
      If the president makes a speech on TV and the media covers it, they are librul!
      If anyone in the media is for civil rights, human rights, taking care of our environment, equal rights and truth and honesty, they are LIBRUL!
      (Just putting this in since boner was caught in yet another flagrant lie and I am just worried not enough of us our out there pushing other forums to get our point across.)
      Report Abuse

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