The head of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office testified last week that the Democrats' health care plans provide no cost savings:

Here's a blow to President Obama and Democrats pressing health care reform.

One of the main arguments made by the President and others for investing in health reform now is that it will save the federal government money in the long run by containing costs.

Turns out that may not be the case, according to Doug Elmendorf, director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Answering questions from Democrat Kent Conrad of North Dakota at a hearing of the Senate Budget Committee today, Elmendorf said CBO does not see health care cost savings in either of the partisan Democratic bills currently in Congress.

Conrad: Dr. Elmendorf, I am going to really put you on the spot because we are in the middle of this health care debate, but it is critically important that we get this right. Everyone has said, virtually everyone, that bending the cost curve over time is critically important and one of the key goals of this entire effort. From what you have seen from the products of the committees that have reported, do you see a successful effort being mounted to bend the long-term cost curve?

Elmendorf: No, Mr. Chairman. In the legislation that has been reported we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount. And on the contrary, the legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs.

Conrad: So the cost curve in your judgement is being bent, but it is being bent the wrong way. Is that correct?

Elmendorf: The way I would put it is that the curve is being raised, so there is a justifiable focus on growth rates because of course it is the compounding of growth rates faster than the economy that leads to these unsustainable paths. But it is very hard to look out over a very long term and say very accurate things about growth rates. So most health experts that we talk with focus particularly on what is happening over the next 10 or 20 years, still a pretty long time period for projections, but focus on the next 10 or 20 years and look at whether efforts are being made that are bringing costs down or pushing costs up over that period.

As we wrote in our letter to you and Senator Gregg, the creation of a new subsidy for health insurance, which is a critical part of expanding health insurance coverage in our judgment, would by itself increase the federal responsibility for health care that raises federal spending on health care. It raises the amount of activity that is growing at this unsustainable rate and to offset that there has to be very substantial reductions in other parts of the federal commitment to health care, either on the tax revenue side through changes in the tax exclusion or on the spending side through reforms in Medicare and Medicaid. Certainly reforms of that sort are included in some of the packages, and we are still analyzing the reforms in the House package. Legislation was only released as you know two days ago. But changes we have looked at so far do not represent the fundamental change on the order of magnitude that would be necessary to offset the direct increase in federal health costs from the insurance coverage proposals.

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With about 2-1/2 months to go in the federal governments fiscal year, the budget deficit has already reached a record $1 trillion for the year (more than doubling the previous record):

The federal deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time ever and could grow to nearly $2 trillion by this fall, intensifying fears about higher interest rates, inflation and the strength of the dollar.

The deficit has been widened by the huge sum the government has spent to ease the recession, combined with a sharp decline in tax revenues. The cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also is a major factor.

The soaring deficit is making Chinese and other foreign buyers of U.S. debt nervous, which could make them reluctant lenders down the road. It could also force the Treasury Department to pay higher interest rates to make U.S. debt attractive longer-term.

"These are mind-boggling numbers," said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at the Smith School of Business at California State University. "Our foreign investors from China and elsewhere are starting to have concerns about not only the value of the dollar but how safe their investments will be in the long run."

The Treasury Department said Monday that the deficit in June totaled $94.3 billion, pushing the total since the budget year started in October to $1.09 trillion. The administration forecasts that the deficit for the entire year will hit $1.84 trillion in October.

As a reminder, 9-in-10 voters are concerned about the Democrat's exploding deficits, and 60% of Americans don't believe that President Barack Obama has developed a clear plan to with the budget deficit.

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Power Line Blog highlights a new set of Rasmussen Reports polls today that shows voters trust Republicans over Democrats on 8 of 10 key issues:

Being out of power can do wonders for a political party. Voters have now witnessed 2 1/2 years of Democratic control over Congress and six months of total control in Washington, and they don't much like what they see. As a result, the Rasmussen survey now finds that likely voters trust Republicans more than Democrats on eight out of ten key issues, including a 46-41 margin on the economy and 52-36 on taxes.

If these trends continue, we may see the beginning of a Republican comeback in 2010.

In case you were wondering, the eight issues are:

• Economy
• Iraq
• National Secuirty
• Abortion
• Social Security
• Taxes
• Immigration
• Government Ethics

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Michael Barone writes in his column today that voters are rejecting the Democrats' liberal agenda:

Last month's Washington Post/ABC poll reported that Americans favor smaller government with fewer services to larger government with more services by a 54 to 41 percent margin -- a slight uptick since 2004. The percentage of Independents favoring small government rose to 61 percent from 52 percent in 2008. The June NBC/Wall Street Journal poll reported that, even amid recession, 58 percent worry more about keeping the budget deficit down versus 35 percent worried more about boosting the economy. A similar question in the June CBS/New York Times poll showed a 52 to 41 percent split.

Other polls show a resistance to specific Democratic proposals. Pollster Whit Ayres reports that 58 percent of voters agree that reforming health care, while important, should be done without raising taxes or increasing the deficit. Pollster Scott Rasmussen reports that 56 percent of Americans are unwilling to pay more in taxes or utility rates to generate cleaner energy and fight global warming.

It's interesting that on these issues and many others independents are responding more like Republicans than Democrats. That's the opposite of what we saw up through 2008, when independents were almost as critical of the Bush administration and Republican policies as Democrats.

This apparent recoil against big government policies has not gone unnoticed by Americans. Gallup reported earlier this week that 39 percent of Americans say their views on political issues have grown more conservative, while only 18 say they have grown more liberal. Moderates agreed by a 33 to 18 percent margin.

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A new CNN poll shows that a majority of Americans believe that health care costs with increase -- and only 20% think their family will be better off -- under President Obama's government-run health care plan:

A new national poll suggests that a bare majority of Americans support President Barack Obama's health care plan.

But the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday morning indicates that most people are worried that their health care costs would go up if the administration's proposals are passed and only one in five think that their families would be better off under the Obama plan.

...

But the poll does provide some ammunition for Republicans opposed to the president's proposals. Fifty-four percent say their medical insurance costs will increase if the Obama plan becomes law, with 17 percent feeling their costs will decrease. Around one in four say their costs will remain the same. And only one in five say their family will be better off if the president's plan becomes law, with 35 percent feeling they would be worse off, and 44 percent saying they would be about the same.

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When the reliably liberal editorial page of the Washington Post calls Democrats out for their fiscal irresponsibility, it's clearly time to be concerned . . .

Now comes the CBO with yet more news of the sort that neither Capitol Hill nor the White House is likely to welcome: its freshly released report on the federal government's long-term financial situation. To put it bluntly, the fiscal policy of the United States is unsustainable. Debt is growing faster than gross domestic product. Under the CBO's most realistic scenario, the publicly held debt of the U.S. government will reach 82 percent of GDP by 2019 -- roughly double what it was in 2008. By 2026, spiraling interest payments would push the debt above its all-time peak (set just after World War II) of 113 percent of GDP. It would reach 200 percent of GDP in 2038.

This huge mass of debt, which would stifle economic growth and reduce the American standard of living, can be avoided only through spending cuts, tax increases or some combination of the two. And the longer government waits to get its financial house in order, the more it will cost to do so, the CBO says.

The CBO's new long-term forecast is considerably more pessimistic than the one it issued 18 months ago, mostly because of the recession, which has driven the budget deficit above 12 percent of GDP. But the report makes clear that the recent economic downturn did not cause the government's predicament and that the situation will not necessarily improve once the economy does. The principal cause of long-term fiscal distress is the aging of the U.S. population, coupled with rising health-care costs -- which, together, will drive spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security to new heights. Unchecked, federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid combined will grow from almost 5 percent of GDP today to almost 10 percent by 2035 -- and to more than 17 percent of GDP by 2080.

Recent polling shows that 9-in-10 Americans are concerned with the Democrat's ballooning deficits, and 60% of Americans have no confidence in President Obama or Congressional Democrats to demonstrate fiscal responsibility. It's no wonder that the Washington Post offered a vote of no confidence on President Obama to cut the deficit:

Like his predecessors, Mr. Obama is aware of this issue. Like them, he has promised a plan to deal with it. And like them, he has not come up with anything credible yet. It's time for that to change.

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The LA Times' Top Of The Ticket blog gives us insight on the growing concern Americans have for the Democrat's exploding deficits:

Currently, 90% of Americans are worried to some degree about the exploding federal spending deficit, a galactic number certain to gain politicians' attention on both sides. And yet to come is the final bill for Obama's healthcare legislation.

As it was noted by the Times, the concern is before the Democrat's massive-spending health care bill!

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The New York Times is reporting today on a poll they conducted shows that a "substantial majority" of Americans lack confidence on the President Obama and the Democrat party on fiscal responsibility.

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Michael Ramirez has a humorous cartoon about President Obama's massive expansion of government spending and deficits:

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The other week Democrats in the House and Senate passed President Obama's budget that is a three-pronged assault on American job creation:

• New taxes on America's industrial output and energy
• Tax increases on America's job creation through small businesses
• Tax increases on America's competitiveness

This is the wrong way to go! Thankfully, Republicans stood 100% united against this misguided plan.

We have a good chance to stop two of the most insidious parts of Obama's liberal agenda: a multi-trillion dollar national sales tax on energy and the march to socialized medicine.

I need your help today.

With support cooling for Obama's far-left policies, folks are starting to turn on his liberal allies in Congress. In fact, for the first time in nearly four years, Americans say they no longer prefer that Democrats control Congress.

Please donate $25 or more today to help rally opposition to Obama's fiscal irresponsibility.

Of course, it's not enough to just object to Obama's record spending plan. That's why I, along with other Republicans, offered a number of amendments to stop the Democrats assault on family budgets and the bottom line of our small businesses.

Can I count on your support?

P.S. As Barack Obama said during the campaign, "What you do right now will help decide America's future for decades to come." Can you join Orrin's Army and donate $10 or $20 a month to help restore fiscal responsibility?

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