Reality Check: Three Democratic Claims That No Longer Pass the Straight Face Test | Republican Leader John Boehner

Reality Check: Three Democratic Claims That No Longer Pass the Straight Face Test | Republican Leader John Boehner
Reality Check: Three Democratic Claims That No Longer Pass the Straight Face Test
The Facts on Reducing Costs, Keeping Your Health Plan, and Holding Taxes at 1990s Levels

Washington, Jul 17 - Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director Douglas Elmendorf’s announcement yesterday that the Democrats’ government takeover of health care would increase costs – not lower them – is the third strike against the Democrats’ claims about their health care bills. But as Democratic leaders in the House move full speed ahead, there are three arguments they repeatedly use that NO LONGER ring true:

CLAIM: HEALTH CARE PLAN WILL REDUCE COSTS

- “Let me repeat - if you like your health care, the only thing reform will mean is your health care will cost less. If anyone says otherwise, they are either trying to mislead you or don't have their facts straight.” (President Barrack Obama, “Remarks at the Annual Conference of the American Medical Association,” 6/15/09)

- “It will bring down cost, improve quality, and make America healthier.” (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Transcript of Press Conference, 6/25/09)

- “We need to bring costs down. We need to bring costs down for government. We need to bring costs down for families. And we need to bring costs down for individuals.” (House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, “Transcript Fox News Sunday,” 7/5/09)

FACT: THE PROPOSALS WILL INCREASE COSTS

- “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… Elmendorf said CBO does not see health care cost savings in either of the partisan Democratic bills currently in Congress.” (ABC News, “CBO Sees No Federal Cost Savings in Dem Health Plans,” 7/16/09)

- “Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf warned lawmakers the legislation that he has seen so far would raise costs, not lower them. Elmendorf was asked by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.S., if the bills Congress is considering would ‘bend the cost curve.’ The budget director responded: ‘The curve is being raised.’” (Associated Press, “House Democrats Set to Vote on Health Care Bill,” 7/16/09)

CLAIM: IF YOU LIKE YOUR HEALTH PLAN, YOU CAN KEEP IT

- “If you like your health care plan, you can keep that too.” (President Obama, Remarks in the Rose Garden, July 15, 2009)

- “I say all the time, with respect to their health insurance program that they now have: if you've got it, you like it, you keep it.” (House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Press Conference, 7/13/09)

FACT: DEMOCRATS’ PLAN WOULD FORCE MILLIONS OUT OF THEIR CURRENT PLAN

- The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported that 23 million Americans would lose their current plans if a Senate Democratic health care “reform” bill was enacted. (Congressional Budget Office, Letter to Sen. Kennedy, 6/15/09)

- "When I say if you have your plan and you like it,…or you have a doctor and you like your doctor, that you don't have to change plans, what I'm saying is the government is not going to make you change plans under health reform,’ the President said.” (ABC News, “What Does the President’s Promise , ‘You'll Be Able to Keep Your Health Care Plan, Period,’" Really Mean?,” 6/23/09)

- “White House officials suggest the president's rhetoric shouldn't be taken literally: What Obama really means is that government isn't about to barge in and force people to change insurance.” (Associated Press, “Promises, Promises: Obama's health plan guarantee,” 6/19/09)

CLAIM: NO FAMILY WILL PAY HIGHER TAXES THAN IN THE 1990s

- “The pledge, as listed on Obama's campaign Web site, was: ‘No family will pay higher tax rates than they would have paid in the 1990s.’” (Associated Press, “House plan boosts taxes on rich to 20-year high,” 7/15/09)

FACT: HOUSE DEMOCRATS’ BILL WOULD RAISE TAXES TO 25-YEAR HIGH

- “The bill unveiled by House Democratic leaders Tuesday would create three new tax brackets for high earners, with a top rate of 45 percent for families making more than $1 million. That would be the highest income tax rate since 1986, when the top rate was 50 percent.” (Associated Press, “House plan boosts taxes on rich to 20-year high,” 7/15/09)

- “For New York state taxpayers, the top [tax] rate would hit 56.92 percent, third-highest in the nation. And in the five boroughs, the top rate would be 58.68 per cent -- highest in the nation. Having abandoned any notion of lightening the load with spending cuts, House Democrats have put forward a 1,000-plus-page proposal dripping with new taxes, surcharges and fees. The biggest losers? Small businesses -- companies with as few as five employees, who'll have to pay a penalty of up to 8 percent of income unless they provide their workers with health insurance.” (The New York Post, “Here Comes ObamaCare,” 7/16/09)

- “Another implication of the Rangel plan is that America's successful small businesses would pay higher tax rates than the Fortune 500, and for that matter than most companies around the world. The corporate federal-state tax rate applied to General Electric and Google is about 39% in the U.S., and the business tax rate is about 25% in the OECD countries. So the U.S. would have close to the most punitive taxes on small business income anywhere on the globe.” (The Wall Street Journal, “The Small Business Surtax,” 7/15/09)