I’ve decided to put off the 2,074-page Senate health plan and instead start with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) 36-page analysis.

CBO’s Table 1, “Estimate of the Effects on the Deficit . . .” provides the backing for Senator Reid’s assertion that his proposal will reduce the deficit by $130 billion over the ten fiscal years from 2010 through 2019.

The string of numbers to the left of $130 billion, the year-by-year impact, shows how Senator Reid plans to win this race. He has two runners, spending and savings. He wants savings to win by $130 billion. But looking at their speed, spending is a faster runner. Savings can still win if it starts first. Senator Reid plans to use two starter’s pistols: one for savings, one for spending. Savings starts first, and only when savings hits its stride does spending start. Summing up the numbers on the CBO table, savings will be $146 billion ahead of spending through 2014, when eligibility for new health-insurance subsidies begins. Then spending hits its stride and wears down the disadvantage of a late start, ending the ten-year race only $130 billion behind.

While Senator Reid gets his talking point for describing a ten-year race, the legislation signs us up for the marathon, and unfortunately, in that long a race, spending can win.

– Hanns Kuttner is a visiting fellow at Hudson Institute.