"He who robs Peter to support Paul can always count on the support of Paul."
I don't know who said that but it captures the redistributionist political strategy perfectly. $19 billion may well be the estimated cost for the first year. Unfortunately, cost estimates have a way of being wrong. For example, back in the 1960s when Medicare was passed, the estimated 1990 cost for Medicare was $9 billion. The actual cost was over $100 billion. Hey, what's a 1000% (and then some) error when your intentions are good (meaning, your side keeps getting reelected)?