Weekly Columns and Op-Eds

February 8, 2012

CONTACT: Apryl Marie Fogel, aprylmarie.fogel@mail.house.gov

Blog by: Congressman Paul Gosar, D.D.S (AZ-01)

Words: 432

Bloggers Corner- Rounding Up the Usual Suspects—Accounting Tricks and Tomfoolery

"Major Strasser’s been shot …. Round up the usual suspects!” barked Captain Renault in the classic film “Casablanca.”  Captain Renault makes it very clear that nothing will change; business will go on as usual, in spite of game changing events occurring right before everyone’s eyes.  A recent CBO reports suggests The Obama Administration and their allies in Congress are playing the role of Renault.

The CBO projects that the US will have its fourth straight year of trillion dollar deficits, and that trend shows no signs of abating.  According to recent projections, by the year 2022, we will more than double our national debt. One of the key drivers of this is our broken health care system.  Indeed, under CBO projections, spending on health care will nearly double in the next 10 years. 

Currently, Medicare, Medicaid, and the “Obamacare” health exchanges, subsidies and related expenses, cost about 41% of federal spending.  By 2022, this will rise to 51% of federal spending.  Of course, this will inevitably lead to either catastrophically high tax increases, huge, indiscriminate cuts of benefits to those who either do depend, or will come to depend on them, or most likely, both.  Essentially, if we continue on this path, we are facing a catastrophic meltdown of not only our financial system, but our health care system as well.

During the debate of 2009-10, the Obama Administration and its allies repeatedly claimed that the Government needed to take over health care, because with the federal mandate and other gimmicks in their legislation, costs would be held down.  Saying their projections proved to be inaccurate is putting it mildly.  In fact, they were willfully misleading, using accounting gimmicks and unrealistic projections to get them a number that was politically sellable.  It wasn’t a serious accounting of the costs; it was a political snow job.

As a health care professional for more than a quarter of a century, I believe we need a serious discussion about how to fix our broken health care system.  We should start by repealing “Obamacare,” and replacing it with something that actually saves Medicare for future generations and actually helps to bring down the costs of health care.  What we do not need is more trickery, or more ignoring the obvious impending financial catastrophe. Or, as Obama calls this—the usual suspects.

It is my hope that we can come together and fix these policies before the consequences get even worse.  But soon, we are going to have to face the consequences.  Business as usual simply won’t work for one simple reason: the bill is coming due. 

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