ROVE: Well, he said it would not add to the deficit. The Congressional Budget Office says it will add to the deficit in the first 10 years because, remember, under his proposal, you have 10 years of tax increases and benefit cuts in Medicare to fund eight years or less of the program. So by the eighth and ninth year, you've run through the surplus you've built up in the first two years where all you're doing is collecting the money and not spending it, so it is in deficit by the tenth year. The CBO says that, and the CBO also said in a letter that it will get worse in the second 10 years. He's not shooting straight with us. This program has 10 years' worth of revenue to cover eight years of costs, so it's running annual deficits by -- I think it's the eighth year.
But Obama did not say the House bill didn't add to the deficit -- he said he "will not sign" a bill that did so. From Obama's speech:
Finally, let me discuss an issue that is a great concern to me, to members of this chamber, and to the public -- and that's how we pay for this plan.
And here's what you need to know. First, I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits -- either now or in the future. (Applause.) I will not sign it if it adds one dime to the deficit, now or in the future, period.
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