JOURNALISTIC SLANTS - AT 8:33 A.M. ET:  The New York Times gives a whitewashed report on the finding by the Congressional Budget Office that the health "reform" plan under consideration will actually save money:

WASHINGTON — The Senate Finance Committee legislation to revamp the health care system would provide coverage to 29 million uninsured Americans but would still pare future federal deficits by slowing the growth of spending on medical care, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.

The much-anticipated cost analysis showed the bill meeting President Obama’s main requirements, including his demand that health legislation not add “one dime to the deficit.” Indeed, the budget office said, the bill would reduce deficits by a total of $81 billion in the decade starting next year.

Wow!  What a great bill!  I'm cured, I'm cured!

You have to dig deeper into the story, beyond the liberal Democratic advertisement in the first two paragraphs, to realize that this "analysis" is smoke and mirrors all the way.  A real analysis goes through the legislative language of a bill, the fine print, where the money really is spent.  But that language wasn't even presented to the CBO.

And coverage?  Don't make us laugh.  Dig way, way down in the story and learn that there are loopholes large enough to drive a politically correct hybrid vehicle through:

Republicans were not impressed by the new numbers. Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the senior Republican on the Finance Committee, said: “The bill spends nearly $1 trillion and still leaves 25 million people without health insurance. That’s not much bang for the buck.”

That's right.  Some 25 million still uninsured.

And hospitals are furious:

“They have not yet met the standard of our deal,” said Charles N. Kahn III, president of the Federation of American Hospitals, a trade group.

But the CBO "report" will provide cover for on-the-fence Democrats and maybe one or two Republicans, like Olympia Snowe of Maine. 

There's a battle ahead.  We need more town meetings and public gatherings to stop this train wreck.

October 8, 2009