Roy T. Meyers, Political Science, on PolitiFact

In a recent Meet the Press appearance, Rep. Michele Bachmann said that “secretly, unbeknownst to members of Congress, over $105 billion was hidden in the Obamacare legislation.” The Pullitzer Prize-winning site PolitiFact.com fact-checked the comment this week in an article that explains how federal spending works broadly and in relation to the health care bill. Roy T. Meyers, professor of political science and a former CBO analyst, argued that funding for the health care legislation is consistent with precedent: “Congress has routinely provided appropriations in authorization bills, for multiple years of availability, and has also routinely transferred funds from one account to another.” The article concluded that $105 billion of already approved spending is included in the health care bill, as Bachmann stated, but that this was plainly noted in the bill passed by Congress and the funding process follows from past congressional practice.