Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has finally brought out the health care bill he’s fashioned behind closed doors over the past several weeks, and it ain’t pretty. The Budget Committee fully implemented 10 year score of the bill is $2.5 trillion. The CBO score, which is really just a six year measure, says taxes will go up $493.6 billion, while Medicare will be cut $464.6 billion. It’s a massive piece of legislation, but will it actually solve any of America’s health care problems? Whatever this legislation is about, one thing is clear: it’s not about making us healthier. We’ll discuss the bill on today’s Coffee and Markets, a daily podcast from The New Ledger on politics, policy and the marketplace with Francis Cianfrocca, brought to you by BigGovernment.com.

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Related Links:

Keith Hennessey: Reid’s Tax Increases
Weekly Standard: 2,074 Pages of Bad Ideas
AUL: Reid Releases Pro-Abortion Health Care Bill
Reuters: Key Differences in Bill
Times Online UK: Obama Fears Double Dip Recession
WSJ: Showdown on Health Care

Welcome to Coffee and Markets, a daily podcast from The New Ledger on politics, policy and the marketplace with Francis Cianfrocca. Today we’d like to welcome first-time listeners at our new sponsor, BigGovernment.com.

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Yesterday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other House Democrats unveiled H.R. 3962, their latest version of the health care legislation that’s been hotly debated for months in Congress and across the country. (Read it here.) 

One thing is clear. Your concerns about a government takeover of health care have been totally ignored by Speaker Pelosi and her allies, who worked behind closed doors to write this bill. After months of debate, the bill they introduced today is essentially the same bill the American people have already flat-out rejected. 

Government-run insurance? Still in the bill. Higher taxes? You betcha. An individual mandate that restricts choices and innovation by requiring Washington to define what qualifies as health insurance? Check. A job-killing employer mandate, a budget-busting expansion of the Medicaid entitlement, and countless provisions that set Washington bureaucrats firmly between you and your doctor? Better believe it.

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