Senate Banking Committee Chairman Max Baucus stood before cameras Wednesday to announce his plan for a federal reform of health insurance. No Republican and no Democrat stood with him.  

This is a stealth bill if there ever was one. It hasn't satisfied pro-lifers who think there are loopholes that would allow federal funding of abortion. And people who fear illegal immigrants will be covered are not convinced by the administration's promise they will not. They want to see the language.

All of this is posturing. What matters is what eventually comes out of a conference committee with the more liberal House of Representatives led by the far-left Nancy Pelosi. That work will occur behind closed doors and, if past experience serves, it will mainly consist of how to use language that will hide the truth from the public.

Promises that the Baucus plan will cost less than one trillion dollars are worthless. Name one government program that has lived up it its cost promises. You can't. Keep an eye on this. It's your health and your life.

Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.