Stimulus Plan Wasn't Political. Why Would Health Care "Reform" Be?

From The Hill.com (emphasis mine):

Senate Democrats are bracing for what they expect will be a huge price tag connected with revamping the nation’s healthcare system.

The soon-to-be-delivered estimate on Democratic healthcare reform proposals is expected to be so expensive that lawmakers are talking about changing the chamber’s normal accounting procedures.

Some Democrats are arguing behind the scenes that they should not use the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) cost estimate, as is custom. Instead, they would use cost estimates from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Don't like the facts? Change the facts.

Next thing you know, the White House will be saying it doesn't support Ted Kennedy's health care bill, now that CBO has preliminarily reviewed it.

Oh, wait, that's what the White House did this morning.

Now, why would the WH put some daylight between it and EMK's bill (even though the WH hasn't explicitly endorsed it yet)?

Perhaps, and I'm just spitballing here, because CBO estimates the legislation will:

• Increase federal budget deficits ~$1.0 trillion between 2010 and 2019.
• Decrease the number of people uninsured ~16 million.
• Allow parents to claim as dependents for the purposes of the legislation children up to 27 years old (the budget estimates don't include this, nor does it include administrative cost estimates).

I'll concede "fixing" health care is really f**king hard. There are huge vested economic and political interests, an uninformed electorate and perverse incentives built up and reinforced over decades. I'll also concede federal and state governments have a meaningful role. But the smartest guy ever was happy to use fear to sell a crap stimulus bill that could have been a good one because he's as political as anyone who's ever been President, maybe even more.

Keep that in mind when he says he doesn't intend to make health care, like GM, an owned and operated subsidiary of the U.S. Government.