While the House Democrats spent the week congratulating themselves for squeezing out the midnight passage of their version of health care reform, neutral observers were reminding them: You've left the job half-done.
Having watched Hillary and Bill Clinton try and fail even to bring their version of health reform to a vote, I can certainly join in saluting Speaker Nancy Pelosi, her leadership team and the Obama White House for maneuvering the 1,990-page behemoth to harbor.
But as many sympathetic voices have been telling them: Unless you find more realistic ways of paying for the promises included in the bill, you are simply setting the public up for more frustration — and yourselves for a political backlash.
At least a dozen health and budget experts have filled the Web and the airwaves with warnings that the House bill simply postpones the cost controls needed to finance the vast expansion of insurance coverage and Medicaid benefits envisaged by its sponsors.
One of them speaks with special authority: David Walker, the former head of the Government Accountability Office — the auditing and investigative arm of Congress — told me in an interview on Wednesday that the lawmakers are "punting on the tough choices, rather than making sure they can deliver on the promises they're making."
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