In January, the Congressional Budget Office reported that healthcare legislation drafted by the Senate would add $1 trillion to the federal deficit and only reduce the number of uninsured Americans by 16 million. Then in July, the CBO reported that healthcare legislation drafted by the House would add $239 billion to the federal deficit and actually increase healthcare costs.

Now, Barack Obama wants a meeting with the director of the Congressional Budget Office. After these CBO numbers .. which some Democrats have described as "devastating" .. it's time to pull out the big guns. Get this guy a meeting with the President. So the director of the CBO Doug Elmendorf went and had his sit-down with Barack Obama.

The Republicans smell something fishy. They believe that the Obama administration is trying to influence the CBO in order to get a more favorable cost projection on healthcare reform proposals. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell says, "It strikes me as somewhat akin to an owner of a team asking the umpire to come up to the owner's box." Finally ... something compelling from Mitch McConnell. A GOP aide says, "In all of CBO's 35 years, this is the first time a CBO director has ever been called into the White House to meet with a president in this way."

Do the Republicans have a point? Do you think that the Obama administration would be willing to use their influence and star power to cajole this guy into giving his proposals more favorable reviews?

Do a hog love slop?