Jake Tapper: President Obama to Delay Release of Mid-Session Budget Review:
The Obama administration announced Monday that its Mid-Session Budget Review would not be released this month, as previously scheduled, but rather would be pushed to August.
The Obama administration’s projections of economic growth, the deficit and the unemployment rate in preliminary budget estimates in February and May have since been proven overly optimistic. As the president pushes for the House and Senate to pass health care reform legislation before adjourning for the August recess, it could complicate matters to have an official White House acknowledgment that the economy is far worse that it had predicted – especially as moderate Democrats in the House and Senate balk at the cost of the proposals. more…..
…………….
House Republican Leader John Boehner: Fact Check: President Repeats Debunked Claims on Health Care in Weekly Address :
Democrats’ Expensive Government Takeover of Health Care Will Add to the Deficit, Drive Millions Off of Their Current Plans
Washington, Jul 18 - President Obama is using his weekly address today to repeat some of the same claims that have been debunked time and time again during the health care debate. While Republicans have offered a better solution to give more Americans access to affordable health care without a small business tax, without raising health care costs, and without forcing millions of Americans off of their current plans, Democrats have stubbornly barreled ahead with their flawed government-run plan. Here are some previously-debunked claims the President resurrected in his weekly address today: more…..
…………….
Newsmax: Obama Health Plan to Cover 12 Million Illegals
On Friday, Democrats moved one step closer to giving free health insurance to the nation’s estimated 12 million illegal aliens when they successfully defeated a Republican-backed amendment, offered by Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., that would have prevented illegal aliens from receiving government-subsidized health care under the proposed plan backed by House Democrats and President Barack Obama.
The House Ways and Means Committee nixed the Heller amendment by a 26-to-15 vote along straight party lines, and followed this action by passing the 1,018-page bill early Friday morning by a 23-to-18 margin, with three Democrats voting against the plan. more…..
…………….
Donald Marron: House Bill Fails Budget Test
Lawmakers face more work if they want to pay for health reform. According to the latest analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, the House health bill fails two key budget tests:
- New spending isn’t fully paid for. House committees haven’t identified enough spending reductions or tax increases to offset the spending. As a result, the bill would increase the deficit by $239 billion over the next ten years.
- The bill would widen the structural deficit. CBO estimates, for example, that the program would increase the deficit by $65 billion in 2019, the final year of the budget window.
These budget challenges stem from the fact that the House bill would increase spending in two major ways: more…..
…………….
TARP Inspector General: Financial Bailout Support Could Top 23.7 Trillion Dollars
The total price tag for federal support stemming from the financial crisis could reach $23.7 trillion in the long run, the government’s top bailout watchdog says in a new report to Congress.
Neil Barofsky, the inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, plans to deliver his report Tuesday to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The $23.7 trillion figure is admittedly a high-ball number and reflects the total potential gross exposure, but Barofsky in his prepared testimony notes that the TARP — which started as a $700 billion bailout — has expanded well beyond that. more…..
…………….
…………….
n