Not much news out of Washington this week on the health care reform front. Apparently, someone forgot to send the bill to accounting for approval. Or, in this case, the Congressional Budget Office.
Now we're all stuck twiddling our thumbs while the number crunchers finish adding up all the zeroes. So while we're waiting, how 'bout a little small talk?
Am I the only one who wonders why this legislation didn't clear the bean counters sooner? Aren't the good senators going about this whole thing backwards? Doesn't the CBO normally get first crack at legislation before it heads to committee, which then tinkers with it a bit and sends it along to the full Senate for a vote?
Recommended For You
While we're on the subject, does anyone else wonder what specific piece of legislation we're talking about anymore? I'm not sure I should even reference the Baucus bill anymore since this thing's been passed around more than a Late Show assistant. This legislation's morphed into a simple brainstorming session. We're not seeing amendments; we're looking at ideas. And most of them aren't even solid enough to call trial balloons.
And, as a broker friend just pointed out to me, how do the Democrats plan to tax the so-called "Cadillac" benefit plans while leaving the unions alone? I'd like to see that bit of yoga. Why doesn't Baucus, or Rockefeller, or even Schumer remove all subterfuge and simply propose a conservative Republican tax instead? It would at least be honest.
Speaking of which, I couldn't be happier to tell you we just signed the deal this week for our closing keynote speaker at the Benefits Selling Expo in April in D.C. In fact, I think the ink's still wet. 'Course, I do use a Sharpie (I just love the smell).
Sorry, I digress. None other than Karl Rove will be wrapping things up for us at our show on the Potomac. See you there.
To attend Karl Rove's keynote session, register for Benefits Selling Expo 2010, April 19-21, 2010 – click here to register.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
