Word: trillions
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...previous Congress hadn't dealt with their budget so we had an omnibus that had earmarks in it which got publicized. Then you had our budget that we had to introduce, that even though it actually reduced long-term budget projections, we had still inherited a $9 trillion deficit - so that number gets put out there. Then you add the supplemental, which even though the majority of the American people certainly still support making sure that our troops are safe and well-equipped, that was a big chunk of money...
...traction to this notion that we are interested in expanding government; which then feeds into suspicions that somehow health care is another big government project that we can't afford. And it's very hard, particularly when the figures get thrown out there - "This is going to cost $1 trillion" - even though it's $1 trillion over 10 years, even though we've identified $600 billion of the trillion dollars so that we're really talking about raising somewhere between $300 and $400 billion over 10 years, or $30 or $40 billion a year, which with very modest changes...
Nancy Pelosi played down the Blue Dogs' threat to the health-care bill, claiming that the $1 trillion overhaul could still be passed without them. But Democratic leaders aren't sure they have enough votes, and this past week has seen both Obama and Pelosi hold lengthy meetings with prominent Blue Dogs in hopes that they can be swayed. At issue are health-care costs (which Blue Dogs think are too high) and rural doctors' Medicare compensation (too low). The Blue Dogs will probably not cause the bill's defeat, but they may have enough leverage to force revisions...
...congressional lawmakers scramble to find ways to pay for health-reform legislation that could cost upwards of $1 trillion over the next decade, there is probably no funding method more unpopular with the American public than taxing health benefits. Employers have been providing tax-free insurance to workers since World War II, when federally mandated wage freezes led to a bonanza in this form of nonsalary compensation...
...easier to sell to voters, which helps explain why the powerful Senate Finance Committee has reportedly pivoted from taxing workers to embracing a plan to tax the insurers who offer the most expensive health-insurance plans. Doing so would generate some tax revenue - though far less than the $1 trillion-plus over 10 years that could be generated by eliminating the tax-benefit break entirely - and possibly help "bend the curve" (to borrow the wonky slogan du jour) of rising health-care costs. The theory is that high-end insurance that covers everything at little or no cost to consumers...