The Chairman's mark is not a bill, cost estimates are preliminary

*Update: Via motorcitytimes, an underhanded plan to ram ObamaCare through by Thanksgiving. The Heritage Foundation says this has been confirmed. More on this later.

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There is no Baucus bill. The Chairman's mark is 200+ pages. When it's converted into inconveniently specific legislative language it will undoubtedly expand to the new norm of 1000+ pages. Any cost analysis of it will necessarily be inaccurate. This is part of the committee's plan.

In his letter to Sen. Baucus (last page), CBO Director Elmendorf writes:

CBO and JCT’s analysis is preliminary in large part because the Chairman’s mark, as amended, has not yet been embodied in legislative language.

Which is what Mr. Elmendorf said a few weeks ago when the committee decided to take the low road and vote on the Chairman's mark rather than on a real bill.

Read the caveats in Mr. Elmendorf's report, beginning on page 8.

The Chairman’s mark, as amended, has not yet been converted into legislative language. The review of such language could lead to significant changes in the estimates of the proposal’s effects on the federal budget and insurance coverage.

Linked at Legal Insurrection and Michelle Malkin (buzzworthy)

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