Here on Sept. 11, the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attack that supposedly altered America forever, some things never change. Washington remains shortsighted, as well as penny wise and pound foolish, as the latest developments in the debate over whether to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act demonstrates.

While members of Congress argue among themselves and with the White House over truly important matters such as the length of TRIA's renewal, as well as whether insurers should be forced to take on nuclear, chemical, biological and radiological risks, a relatively trivial cost estimate by the Congressional Budget Office has Washington scrambling.

Seems CBO says TRIA could cost Uncle Sam $8.4 billion over 10 years, even if there is no terrorist attack. That's because under House rules put in place by Democrats when they took control of Congress this year, any law authorizing the expenditure of federal funds must include some way to offset that anticipated cost–either via new revenues or by cutting existing program budgets.