Thursday, October 20, 2011

“Get Me Rewrite!”

That’s what several prominent Democrats might be saying about their speeches and comments about the CLASS Act.  The DC Examiner released this helpful video compilation of Democrats arguing that the CLASS program was solvent; among the highlights:

Leader Reid:  “[CLASS is] fully paid for – CBO said in the far future, decades and decades in the future, paid for.  I didn’t use a penny of that money in the bill that’s before the Senate.”  (For the record, the CLASS Act’s demise took place 570 days after it was signed into law.)

Then-OMB Director Orszag:  “There are a variety of tweaks that are being explored to make sure that the CLASS Act is on a firm financial footing on its own.”  (There were in fact “tweaks” suggested, but they never made it into the bill – and Orszag and the rest of the Administration never raised alarms when these “tweaks” were left out.)

HELP Committee Chairman Harkin:  “The CBO has scored this – this is completely paid for over 75 years, over 75 years.  I don’t understand why anyone wants to strike it.”  (If anyone has such a 75-year CBO score, by all means pass it on, because I’ve never seen it…)

Majority Whip Durbin:  “The fact that this program is virtually solvent for 30 straight years is an indication of the wisdom of that idea and the way it is planned.”

Perhaps these Democrats didn’t bother to consult with the many independent experts who questioned the program’s viability from Day One.  But they can’t say they weren’t warned about CLASS’ significant, and ultimately fatal, structural flaws – they just chose to disregard them.

We’ve previously commented about the deafening silence from prominent Democrats about the CLASS Act’s demise.  But if these or other Democrats wish to revise and extend their earlier remarks about the program’s solvency, we’re all ears…