In 2009, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) famously urged Congress to pass the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, in order to “find out what is in it.”
Well, we are finding out what is the massive and inadequately vetted bill as the 2014 implementation date draws near. The Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus (D-Mt.), describes it as a “train wreck,” and has decided to call it a career and head home to Montana. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) used the exact same words, “train wreck,” in his assessment of Obamacare if it is not “properly implemented.” By properly implemented, Reid means it will need a massive infusion of cash beyond the original $898 million price tag. The Congressional Budget Office now places the cost of implementing the bill at $1.85 trillion over the next decade – more than double the original estimated cost.
Another prominent player in enacting Obamacare was Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) who now warns that health insurance premiums “could go through the roof” and it “in part due to Obamacare.” President Obama himself admits that we could be in for some “glitches and bumps.”
Not satisfied with a health care plan that, by their own admission, is coming off the rails even before it has left the station, many of the same folks who were involved in passage of Obamacare are now trying to rush through the next train wreck, aka, the Gang of Eight immigration bill, S.744. The Heritage Foundation estimates the cost of the S.744 to be about $6.3 trillion, making it the mother of all train wrecks.
Maybe this time it might be a good idea if members of Congress find out what is in the bill before they vote on it. Having just bought a hugely expensive and massively defective product from the likes of Schumer, Reid, Pelosi and Obama, perhaps Congress might want to take note of all “the glitches and bumps” before voting on whether to burden the American people with additional trillions of dollars.