Michael Cannon Explains it All to You: Democrats Lie to Gain Power

And that is supposed to help get the country right again? How? Hiding costs is not a game. It is a real problem for those who will be called on to pay the costs. Short term gain is not how to govern.

Michael Cannon Explains it All to You - Megan McArdle:

"The problem is that crafting the private-sector mandates such that they fall just a hair short of CBO's definition does not reduce those mandates' cost, nor does it make those mandates any less binding. But it dramatically reduces the apparent cost of the legislation. It's the reason we're all talking about an $848 billion Reid bill, rather than a $2.1 trillion Reid bill.

The MLR memo is the smoking gun: it shows that this is what they've been doing with CBO all along. Proposals that would result in a complete cost estimate are dropped. Because we can't let the public see how much this thing really costs."