AND NOW FOR THE DETAILS – AT 7:54 P.M. ET:  This is a subject starting to see the light of day, as journalists look at the sleight-of-hand in the health-care bill:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional budget scorekeepers say a Medicare fix that Democrats included in earlier versions of their health care bill would push it into the red.

The Congressional Budget Office said Friday that rolling back a programmed cut in Medicare fees to doctors would cost $208 billion over 10 years. If added back to the health care overhaul bill, it would wipe out all the deficit reduction, leaving the legislation $59 billion in the red.

The so-called doc fix was part of the original House bill. Because of its high cost, Democrats decided to pursue it separately. Republicans say the cost should not be ignored. Congress has usually waived the cuts to doctors year by year.

This is an obscenity.  The Democrats cut the expensive feature out of the bill in order to rig the numbers and make it appear that the bill saves money.  But the feature, which essentially allows for at least respectable reimbursements for physicians who take Medicare patients, will have to be put back, or many, many doctors will opt out of the Medicare system, creating a medical crisis.  Bills that reinforce reimbursement are routinely passed.

But this time the feature will be passed after the main health bill, continuing the charade that the main bill will save money.

And that's the way it's done, folks.  You can get that kind of accounting on any street corner in a bad neighborhood in New York. 

Brace yourselves:  There'll be many more surprises like this.  On Sunday the Democratic Party will begin the process of breaking the bank.

March 19, 2010