I'm currently on the drive back from Florida and I've caught up with all of the news. I could say that the Incompetent-Boob-in-Chief surprises nobody on the right we certainly saw that coming from a long way off - but it's a pleasure to see the left dumping on him finally. Not that I expect it to continue, but hey - Jennifer Loven is no ordinary lefty. She's a lefty's lefty - a leader of the swooning White House press corps. With all of those international flights doing her faux journalism for the AP, I bet she's a bit worried about her safety and the safety of her pals as well. Because now it matters, you see. It's affecting her. And then there's Bob Herbert - another lefty's lefty. Columnist for the New York Times, ol' Bob disses on ObamaCare, noting this big problem: The bill that passed the Senate with such fanfare on Christmas Eve would impose a confiscatory 40 percent excise tax on so-called Cadillac health plans, which are popularly viewed as over-the-top plans held only by the very wealthy. In fact, it’s a tax that in a few years will hammer millions of middle-class policyholders, forcing them to scale back their access to medical care.The tax would kick in on plans exceeding $23,000 annually for family coverage and $8,500 for individuals, starting in 2013. In the first year it would affect relatively few people in the middle class. But because of the steadily rising costs of health care in the U.S., more and more plans would reach the taxation threshold each year. Within three years of its implementation, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the tax would apply to nearly 20 percent of all workers with employer-provided health coverage in the country, affecting some 31 million people. Within six years, according to Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation, the tax would reach a fifth of all households earning between $50,000 and $75,000 annually. Those families can hardly be considered very wealthy. Wow - go figure. Utopia's expensive. Welcome to math, Bob.Some Republicans came out with strong statements in support of freedom, like this: "Today's vote should be a major disappointment for all of us who want to see affordable health care reform. Instead of lowering health care costs, this bill will result in increased taxes, higher premiums and cuts to Medicare." Oh wait - that wasn't in support of freedom. That's in support a smaller government solutions. Okay - well how about this one:As I have said, any true reform must meet the three-fold test of reducing costs, improving health outcomes, and protecting vulnerable persons. I love it when Republicans look to the Constitution to discern their authority. Thank goodness for that Jeffersonian approach - improving health outcomes - that's exactly what the founding fathers knew government could do best. It's good to know that the Republicans get it, showing us that we can trust the politicians in Washington to do better than anyone when it comes to "improving health outcomes."Good lord. We get to choose between Marxism and Marxism-lite. |
