There's chatter from Capitol Hill is that some Democrats are going to use the second-decade deficit reduction numbers as a justification to vote for the bill. These numbers claim deficit reduction "up to $1.2 trillion."
What's not noted is the heaps and heaps of qualifications that the CBO has repeatedly put on their second-decade numbers. This includes phrases such as "a detailed year-by-year projection... would not be meaningful because the uncertainties involved are simply too great" and "the legislation would maintain and put into effect a number of procedures that might be difficult to sustain over a long period of time."
Basically the CBO is saying that there's no way Congress can actually enact many of the Obamacare provisions that Democrats claim they're going to. But the CBO is forced to grade the bill as it's written. So they've qualified the hell out of every statement they've made. It will be stunning if Democrats do try to hide behind this puffed-up number.
Something to keep in mind: major health care legislation coming out of Congress has always exceeded its official budgetary projections.
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