On the surface, it seems the height of fiscal responsibility — if Congress adopts an expensive new health care entitlement, it has to find a way to pay for it.

That's the challenge delivered by President Barack Obama, who urged lawmakers last week to adopt pay-as-you-go legislation to cover the cost of his health initiative. So-called pay-go rules require Congress to cut spending somewhere else or raise taxes to cover the cost of a new program. But it doesn't work that way.

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