Priorities: Dems Fund Urban Gardening While Cutting Medicare

May 17, 2012

Democrats Make Their Misplaced Priorities Clear as ObamaCare Cuts Medicare And Wastes Billions on Failed Healthcare Experiments and Pet Projects

The Democrats just can’t stop wasting taxpayer money. Recent revelations indicate that ObamaCare was wasting millions on things like “urban gardening” and billions on healthcare experiments that have turned out to be a bust.
But while Democrats waste billions on failed ObamaCare programs, seniors are paying the price for Democrats’ spending addiction as ObamaCare cuts $500 billion from Medicare.
The price tag for ObamaCare continues to rise, with recent estimates that the law will cost $1.76 trillion over the next ten years. With so much left to spend, one shudders to think how much Democrats have left to waste.

The Democrats just can’t stop wasting taxpayer money. Recent revelations indicate that ObamaCare was wasting millions on things like “urban gardening” and billions on healthcare experiments that have turned out to be a bust:

CITY OF BOSTON GETS $1 MILLION TO SPEND ON “URBAN GARDENING”:(Press Release, “EXAM ROOM: ObamaCare Funnels Taxpayer Dollars to Grant Program that Funds Pet Neutering, Bike Clubs, and Lobbying Efforts to Increase Taxes,” House Energy and Commerce Committee, 5/2/2012)

PITT COUNTY, NC GETS A GRANT TO PLACE “SIGNAGE TO PROMOTE RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING PUBLIC PARKS, BIKE LANES, AND MORE”: (Press Release, “EXAM ROOM: ObamaCare Funnels Taxpayer Dollars to Grant Program that Funds Pet Neutering, Bike Clubs, and Lobbying Efforts to Increase Taxes,”House Energy and Commerce Committee, 5/2/2012)

WASHINGTON STATE BIKE CLUB GETS PART OF $3 MILLION GRANT TO IMPROVE “WALKING AND BIKING ENVIRONMENT”: (Press Release, “EXAM ROOM: ObamaCare Funnels Taxpayer Dollars to Grant Program that Funds Pet Neutering, Bike Clubs, and Lobbying Efforts to Increase Taxes,” House Energy and Commerce Committee, 5/2/2012)

STUDY: “MORE THAN $20 BILLION SPENT ON HEALTHCARE INCENTIVES MAY BE WASTED”: (“More Than $20 Billion Spent on Healthcare Incentives May Be Wasted,” The Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch Blog, 5/14/2012)

But while Democrats waste billions on failed ObamaCare programs, seniors are paying the price for Democrats’ spending addiction as ObamaCare cuts $500 billion from Medicare:

PELOSI ADMITS “WE TOOK HALF A TRILLION DOLLARS OUT OF MEDICARE” WITH GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER: “You don’t have to have cuts in those initiatives in order to reduce cost there, and we have proven that we’re willing to make cuts in the cost to initiatives. We took half a trillion dollars out of Medicare in the Affordable Care Act, the health care bill, already, and there’s certainly more opportunities for savings in that respect.” (Remarks from Nancy Pelosi, CNBC’s “Closing Bell”, 10/29/2011)

PELOSI TO CBS: GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE TAKEOVER IS THE MODEL FOR MORE MEDICARE CUTS: “SCHIEFFER: ‘Let me just interrupt you. Don’t you have to though give some plan or idea of how you’re going to reform Medicare because we all know it can’t sustain as it is.’

“PELOSI: ‘Well, we in our health care bill as you probably know saved half a trillion dollars in Medicare. … That’s one of the fights that we are having, because we want to have those savings to keep Medicare solvent.’”(Remarks from Rep. Nancy Pelosi, CBS’ Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer, 6/5/2011)

TRANSLATION: DEMS CUTS $500 BILLION FROM MEDICARE TO PAY FOR OBAMACARE: “It would cut an additional $60 billion from Medicare, bringing total cuts to the program to more than $500 billion over the next 10 years.” (Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery, “With Senate ‘Fixes’ Bill, GOP Sees Last Chance to Change Health-Care Reform,” The Washington Post, 3/24/2012)

The price tag for ObamaCare continues to rise, with recent estimates that the law will cost $1.76 trillion over the next ten years. With so much left to spend, one shudders to think how much Democrats have left to waste:

OBAMACARE TO COST $1.76 TRILLION OVER THE NEXT 10 YEARS: (Phillip Klein, “CBO: ObamaCare to Cost $1.76 Trillion Over 10 Years,” The Washington Examiner, 3/13/2012)

TOTAL COSTS FOR OBAMACARE: $2.6 TRILLION: (“ObamaCare: A Budget-Busting, Job-Killing Healthcare Law,” Speaker of the House John Boehner, 1/6/2011)

“OBAMA’S TAX AND SPENDING POLICIES WILL YIELD $6.4 TRILLION OVER THE NEXT DECADE”: “The Congressional Budget Office said Friday that President Barack Obama’s tax and spending policies will yield $6.4 trillion in deficits over the next decade, more than double the shortfall in CBO’s own fiscal baseline — even after taking credit for reduced war costs.” (David Rogers, “CBO: Exploding Debt Under Obama Policies,” Politico, 3/16/2012)

“EVEN IF OBAMA WERE TO GET HIS WAY ON ALL FRONTS,” PUBLIC DEBT WOULD “NEARLY DOUBLE AGAIN” TO $18.8 TRILLION IN 2022: “That said, the picture is grim, and even if Obama were to get his way on all fronts, the federal debt held by the public would nearly double again from $10.1 trillion at the end of 2011 to $18.8 trillion at the end of 2022.” (David Rogers, “CBO: Exploding Debt Under Obama Policies,” Politico, 3/16/2012)