Over on NRO’s blog on deficits and debt, Exchequer, Kevin Williamson takes on Ezra “the Constitution’s old, and stuff” Klein’s “repeal obamacare = higher deficits” talking points (read Nicole Kurokawa’s excellent post on the subject here). Williamson carefully ticks off each of Klein’s debater’s trick to show a truly fragile argument–one that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.
First, it is worth asking how complete and how accurate the CBO’s estimates are. You know who has some useful insights into that question? The CBO. For instance, CBO director Douglas Elmendorf readily concedes that “estimates of the effects of comprehensive reforms are clearly very uncertain, and the actual outcomes will surely differ from our estimates in one direction or another.” One direction or another. (Guess!) It will not come as a shock to observers of federal activities ranging from the ethanol program to the Iraq war that – unthinkable as it may seem – a government program may under some circumstances exceed its budget. If Obamacare spends not a nickel more than the CBO estimates, and if Obamacare produces every dime of the revenue promised, then it will prove a deficit-reduction tool over the next decade, by definition: That’s $411 billion in spending and $525 billion in revenue. I wonder if Ezra Klein would like to place a very large bet with his own money on the possibility of that happening. I would. In fact, I am willing to bet not only that there will be significant variation, I am willing to bet on the direction of that variation, at least insofar as the spending goes. (I would not be surprised if revenue projections fell short, too: Those tax increases are going to be even less popular when people start paying them.)
Read Kevin’s whole post here.