I use the word “surprise” here sarcastically, of course. We knew the CBO numbers were gamed for political advantage from the get-go. Had the real cost of government-run health care been exposed prior to the House vote, the legislation would’ve died on the floor. So the administration and its allies in Congress engaged in gimmicks to hide the true cost to the American taxpayer.

As Allahpundit says, Obama’s signature domestic achievement was built upon lie after lie, the legislation’s real cost being the biggest of all. Government-run health care was never going to cost $940 billion and reduce the deficit. It’s a new entitlement program and it will function like its brethren — costing us more than we can imagine and leaving us further in debt. This won’t be the last cost revision; mark my words.

Congressional Budget Office estimates released Tuesday predict the health care overhaul will likely cost about $115 billion more in discretionary spending over ten years than the original cost projections.

The additional spending — if approved over the years by Congress — would bring the total estimated cost of the overhaul to about $1 trillion…

The CBO released the estimates in response to a request from California Rep. Jerry Lewis, ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Committee. A spokeswoman for Lewis said the inquiry was filed before the House voted on the bill…

The CBO estimated in March that the net cost of the overhaul would be $788 billion over 10 years, but cautioned that it couldn’t make an estimate of the discretionary costs without more time and information.

In this revision alone the supposed “savings” (deficit reduction) have gone from about $138 billion to $33 billion. For the moment, as Mark Knoller notes. You can also mark these words of mine: The “deficit reduction” will be entirely eliminated before Barack Obama leaves office.

A new federal entitlement program? Costing us more than the federal government claimed at the time of passage? Say it ain’t so.