There’s a certain danger in politics of, as they say, “drinking the kool-aid”.   This is usually a reference (and it’s used by both sides) of believing one’s own rhetoric to the point of suicide  (it’s a colloquialism based on this event).

In this case we have the constantly repeated mantra coming from the right about the “huge, astonomic, likely-to-bankrupt-us” cost of the healthcare-reform legislation passed last year.  This mantra is, as per, a big lie.  Note that it wasn’t the biggest lie of 2010 (that went to saying HCR was a “government takeover“)

So on the one hand you have this “HCR is too expensive” kool-aid, which has been drunk from extensively, and on the other hand you have the official scorekeeper continue to point out how the legislation actually cuts the deficit in the logn-term, another campaign promise from the R’s (note: this is possible when you tax *and* spend, and not possible if you *cut taxes* and *spend*).

Washington (CNN) — Legislation being pushed by House Republicans to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul will add $230 billion to the federal debt by 2021, according to an analysis released Thursday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

[full article]

Then they get elected on the lie (and the CONSTANT OUTRAGE!!  ABOUT NOTHING!! THAT DISAPPEARED AFTER THE ELECTION!), then create hard and fast spending rules they should have to follow which would expose the big lie…and then quickly provide an exemption to that rule in order to provide the smoke and mirrors necessary to disguise how bad that kool-aid actually tastes. 

I love how the article puts these two statements together, it doesn’t get more succint than this…

“I don’t think anyone in this town believes that repealing Obamacare is going to increase the deficit,” [New Speaker of the House John Boehner] said.

Republicans have exempted a repeal of the health care law from new rules prohibiting legislation from adding to the federal debt.

Note that bit.  Boehner says *no one* thinks it saves money…EXCEPT FOR THE REPUBLICANS THEMSELVES (and the CBO and the Democrats….which is actually pretty much everyone).

I’d get used to this stuff.   When you are rewarded for using deceptive practices, you have zero incentive to stop doing them.

Oh, and bonus points for Boehner.  He makes sure to cover all the buzzwords.   The quote…

The people “want this bill repealed, and we are going to repeal it,” said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. If it is not repealed, “it will ruin the best health care system in the world … (and) will ruin our economy.”

This is a great flavor of the ole ‘aid.  It comes from guys like this (and asstarts like Frank Luntz) (note: read this linked article, it’s great background on how these lies gain flight)…

 In 2008, [Wendell Potter’s] conscience got the best of him after visiting the Remote Area Medical’s healthcare fair in Wise County, Virginia and saw people standing and sitting in long lines, waiting for free care. “They were treating people in animal stalls and barns. It looked like it might have been a war torn country. I could not believe this was the United States of America.”

Shortly after leaving his six-figure job, he decided to expose and speak out against the very practices he once defended.

In his new book, Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care And Deceiving Americans, he writes, “If you are among those who believe that the U.S. has the best healthcare system in the world–despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary– it’s because my fellow spinmeisters and I succeeded brilliantly at what we were paid very well to do with your premium dollars.”

“And if you were persuaded that the health care bill President Barack Obama signed into law in March 2010 was a ‘government takeover of the health care system,’ my former colleagues and I earned every penny of our handsome salaries.”

UPDATE:  The champions of Democracy also quickly disenfranchised about 4,500,000 Americans.   Expect them to try and do so to many, many more.