An inconvenient truth

The state of the health care debate:

Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) said the price tag could easily reach $2 trillion, prompting Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) to reply that Gregg was throwing "sand in the gears."

Talk about shooting the messenger. Granted, the CBO estimate is $1.6 trillion, but is an additional $400 billion really that implausible?

Update: Here's how costs are looking for Massachusetts' government-run health plan:

Mitt Romney pitched his 2006 health reform -- which Democrats view as a model for universal coverage -- as modest and affordable, yet already its public option is annihilating the Massachusetts fisc. The original cost estimate for last year was $472 million; final spending came in at $628 million. Spending this year is at least $75 million over initial budget, while projections for next year range as high as $880 million -- and even those are probably too low.

Par for the course really with these sorts of things.