WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama promised to fix health care and trim the federal budget deficit, all without raising taxes on anyone but the wealthiest Americans. It’s a promise he’s already broken and will likely have to break again.
Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress have already increased tobacco taxes _ which disproportionately hit the poor _ to pay for extending health coverage to 4 million children in working low-income families.
Now, lawmakers are looking for more revenues to help pay for providing medical insurance to millions more who lack it at a projected cost of $1 trillion over the next decade.
The floated proposals include increasing taxes on alcohol, which could raise $62 billion over the next decade, and a new tax on sugary drinks such as soda, which could raise $52 billion.
Senate Democrats this week pretty much rejected a proposal by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., to tax health benefits, an idea that Obama repeatedly criticized during the presidential election campaign but has refused to take off the table.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said negotiators are still looking for revenue alternatives. Asked during an interview with The Associated Press if they included tax increases on families with incomes less than $250,000 a year, Schumer said, “There are lots of things on the table now.”
The health care bill is a long way from Obama’s desk, but tax experts say the debate illustrates a stark reality: It is simply implausible for the vast majority of Americans to get a free ride while the nation tackles such an incredibly difficult _ and expensive _ issue.
[More]
Updates:
8:17 am EDT, July 9th, 2009 — Inhofe: Cap-and-Trade Worthless Without India, China
8:20 am EDT, July 9th, 2009 — Audit: States Using Stimulus Just to Stay Afloat
8:25 am EDT, July 9th, 2009 — Goldberg: Spread Freedom? Not So Much
8:32 am EDT, July 9th, 2009 — Rove: Obama Can’t Be Trusted With Numbers
12:59 pm EDT, July 9th, 2009 — Rosett: The Bear Scare
3:11 pm EDT, July 9th, 2009 — Rasmussen daily tracking poll
7:50 pm EDT, July 9th, 2009 — Obama’s Popularity Plummets in Ohio
I have yet to hear any information on how our Health Care System is regulated or whatever the word is, by our Provinces, with some funding from the Federal govt. It is not a one size fits all. Also, when talking about our system it never comes up that many of us are or were charged premiums. It is not free by any means. What did Layton tell the O team when he was in Washington. And it is never mentioned that one is taxed on benefits paid by the employer.
And it is also never mentioned that those who pay or paid premiums was a very low amount/yr to what it will cost the citizens of the US. I can understand why they do not want to be taxed on that amount. And how many of those not covered in the US are not covered by their own decision, not financial reasons.
When will the US media start to wake up and tell the truth about this President-probably never as they would have to admit they were bamboozeled by him and blinded by their hate for Pres. Bush.
Canada’s state controlled health care makes us the only country in the world where it is illegal to go out and purchase your own health care if you can afford it, besides North Korea and Cuba, is the finest in the world. Until you actually get sick and have to rely on it that is. My son recently contracted a virus and may have suffered permanent kidney damage. He only has to wait 6 months to see a specialist. One of my best friends may have a form of skin cancer, he is being fast tracked to see a specialist in just over 3 months. What’s not to love about a system like this?
Something I heard recently was that hospital budgets were given up front. So every sick person they treat is a drain on that budget, and as such they try to minimize the draw on that budget.
It makes far more sense for hospitals to bill (either the individual or the government) for services rendered.
Another politician has broken campain promises, it happens there, it happens here – it’s not news.