The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) dealt the Democrats’ government takeover of health care not one, but two sharp blows this weekend – confirming that a key proposal touted as a cost-saver would actually save taxpayers almost no money, despite Democrats’ claims to the contrary, and that the Democrats’ massive government-run plan will add billions to the federal deficit.   Here’s the news that has made Democrats’ month even worse:

• “For the second time this month, congressional budget analysts have dealt a blow to the [Democrats’] health reform efforts, this time by saying a plan touted by the White House as crucial to paying for the bill would actually save almost no money over 10 years…  [O]n Saturday, the Congressional Budget Office said the proposal to give an independent panel the power to keep Medicare spending in check would only save about $2 billion over 10 years – a drop in the bucket compared to the bill's $1 trillion price tag.  ‘In CBO’s judgment, the probability is high that no savings would be realized ... but there is also a chance that substantial savings might be realized.  Looking beyond the 10-year budget window, CBO expects that this proposal would generate larger but still modest savings on the same probabilistic basis,’ CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf wrote in a letter to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Saturday.” (“CBO deals new blow to health plan,” Politico, July 25, 2009)
• “As discussed in CBO’s letter of July 17, we estimate that the proposal as a whole would increase federal deficits by $239 billion over the 2010–2019 period…  In sum, relative to current law, the proposal would probably generate substantial increases in federal budget deficits during the decade beyond the current 10-year budget window.” (CBO letter to Rep. Dave Camp [R-MI], July 26, 2009)

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) highlighted the two CBO reports, which add to the list of problems Democrats face as they attempt to sort out their intra-party health care squabble this week: