The Senate is now considering amendments to its version of Obamacare. What a travesty.  John McCain proposed to eliminate the $400 billion in Medicare cuts.  The Democrats voted it down.  (Remember when Democrats accused Republicans of wanting to cut Medicare?) But then, another amendment was proposed by a Democrat senator. From the story:

The Senate voted 100 to 0 yesterday to maintain Medicare benefits currently offered to seniors.  What they actually voted on was a hastily prepared amendment proposed by Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)  The amendment states that any Medicare benefit which is currently available will be guaranteed under the health care reform bill being debated now.

I am sorry, $400 billion can’t be cut from Medicare and not affect current benefits. But see, the $400 billion isn’t really going to be cut. Indeed, if the bill now requires all benefits to remain untouched, how can it be?

This illustrates how profoundly dishonest our legislative process generally, and Obamacare specifically, has become.  The cuts are only in the bill so the CBO will conclude that Obamacare will not increase the deficit. They will never actually be made, because once the bill is through the actual budget busting numbers won’t matter anymore, illustrating why the government programs are always more expensive than advertised (except Medicare Part D, which is fully private sector with federal support).  It’s all a big sham.