The internet is alive with the sound of people analyzing the CBO’s “scoring” of the Max Baucus aka Senate Finance Committee Health Care Bill. Before everyone gets too deeply into their thoughts, please keep in mind the following (get ready, all CAPS, bold, indented signifies a really important concept):
THERE IS NO BAUCUS BILL.
The CBO scored the concepts described by the Baucus Committee. There is no legislative text. None. Baucus and his Democratic colleagues refused to reduce their concepts to actual legislation prior to a vote. Here is the CBO’s disclaimer:
CBO and JCT’s analysis is preliminary in large part because the Chairman’s mark, as amended, has not yet been embodied in legislative language.
The Baucus Concepts are disasterous, but that’s for another post. For this post, let me get across a simple concept: THERE IS NO BAUCUS BILL.
Your esteemed Senators on the Senate Finance Committee will not be voting on legislation because THERE IS NO BAUCUS BILL.
Your esteemed Senators have so little respect for you that some of them are willing to vote in favor of legislation which does not exist because THERE IS NO BAUCUS BILL.
The actual legislation will be drafted in secret by Harry Reid and a few other people, including staffers whose names and political connections you never will know, and the resulting legislation will be rammed through the Senate and House before anyone gets to read and analyze it.
Months of debate mean nothing. It’s all smoke and mirrors by people who think you are too stupid to realize what is going on.
Have I made myself clear on this? THERE IS NO BAUCUS BILL.
Update: Fausta Wertz understands that There is no Baucus bill. And so do Pundette and Pat in Shreveport who felt my post warranted a News Flash. An overview of the stinkiness of the Concepts (it’s not a Bill) starts at Dan Riehl’s place.
Update No. 2: The NY Times does not get it, titling their report “Health Care Bill Gets Green Light in Cost Analysis.” They make the misleading headline even worse with these opening words (emphasis mine): “The Senate Finance Committee legislation to revamp the health care system ….” Someone call them and tell them that there is NO BILL and NO LEGISLATION.
And the TaxProf notes that scoring the Baucus “concepts” could mean 80% Marginal Tax Rates After Health Care Reform?
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Related – There is a House Bill HR3200 and a Senate HELP Committee Bill, and they stink beyond belief, so take a look at some of these posts to find out why:
The Health Care Bills Still Stink
Bureaucracy Expansion Act of 2009
IRS The New Health Care Enforcer
Taxing Your Mere Existence
Health Care Tax Insanity Chronicles, Part 3 (IRS To Decide Amount of Taxation)
Get Rid of the Mandate
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Comments
So, William, correct me if I'm wrong, but are you saying in effect that you don't believe that there's a Baucus Bill?
If the Baucus Bill were a movie, Claude Raines would star as the "Invisible Bill."
Thanks for the update. I have posted this to my blog, with a link, of course.
Sick to my stomach. How much more do we have to watch of this wholesale rape and plunder of our economy by these congressional thugs?! Why hasn't our collective anger been enough to stop these Arsonists from torching our constitution?! Are we just wasting our energy sparring comments on blogs? What CAN we do to definitively end this Tyranny of Idiots?! Well, Mr. Jacobson? 2010 is too late.
"The latest Associated Press-GfK poll has found that opposition to Obama's health care remake dropped dramatically in just a matter of weeks."
Why bother writing any legislation at all? That only pins us down. Let's keep it purposely vague and see how many people we can sway with our rhetoric? Sheeple…
Well put. You´re linked here too. Great work.
There is no Baucus Bill? Next you'll be saying Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are not real either.
Rush is running with it as I predicted, he is even using your language.
Take a Bow.
How can people be so ignorant? The fact that there is no bill was on Hannity's show via Dick Morris last week. Were Rush taking his cue from websites like this or others, he'd have discussed this LAST WEEK.
Grow up. Just because your guys are looking like the big dim bulbs they are you've gotta find SOMETHING to get folks looking another direction.
Feh.
Great post! Keep up the great work!!!
COMMON CENTS
http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com
"The actual legislation will be drafted in secret by Harry Reid and a few other people, including staffers whose names and political connections you never will know, and the resulting legislation will be rammed through the Senate and House before anyone gets to read and analyze it."
This is TOTALLY likely to happen since, so far, the Democrats have been standing UNITED and voting to push all sorts of stuff over the protests of GOP members. Certainly, given that there are NO divisions between Democrats, we'll surely see our own US version of Britain's awful NHS rolled out within months – all thanks to the work of highly connected 22 year old Congressional staffers who rule the Hill and write our laws.
And given that the CBO report is simply littered with references to the "bill," which doesn't exist (use Ctrl+F and check it out!), it's clear they are trying to pull one over on us.
Thanks goodness blogs like these exist to confirm what I learned when I was in law school: law school is the last safe environment in which a lack of actual knowledge of the legislative process or understanding of the First Branch will NEVER stand in the way of fighting for our rights to remain ignorant and sick!
i don't get it… what's this then?
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/11382446/Baucus-Health-Care-Bill—Full-Text
@Chris – that's the Chairman's Mark – meaning a description of what they plan on doing, as opposed to actual legislation. The wording of the legislation can be critical, and often is where lobbyists and political types spend enormous time trying to get slight wording changes which make a big difference.
Not a lawyer, but doesn't voting on whatever the thing is, constitute a fraud?
Grassley is talking about this today.
Next thing you know and Jacobson will be trying to tell us the Baucus Bill doesn't exist. Phffft. Our most ethical congress ever (who just told us they defunded ACORN, but it turns out ACORN is only defunded through Oct 31, 2009) would never ever put forth a bill that didn't exist. RACIST!