Screw you: Another Demcare tax scheme to punish the earners & producers
The WSJ reports that Democrats are now contemplating plan to apply the Medicare payroll tax to investment income:
House and Senate negotiators are considering applying for the first time the Medicare payroll tax to investment income as part of a compromise to pay for a health overhaul.
The extra Medicare tax would apply only to the wealthy and could allow congressional Democrats to reduce the sting of a tax on high-cost insurance plans, said Democratic aides and others briefed on the negotiations.
The proposal is intended to mollify Big Labor’s anger over the Cadillac plan tax:
Labor leaders complained directly to President Barack Obama on Monday about the tax on high-value plans, which would hit some union members who have negotiated generous health benefits.
At least one union is threatening to oppose the underlying legislation if the tax remains, and the president of the AFL-CIO suggested in a speech that Democrats who took unions for granted risked losing support in congressional elections later this year.
“Politicians who think that working people have it too good … are inviting a repeat of 1994,” when Republicans took control of the House after decades in the minority, said AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka.
So, only the “wealthy” would pay the new tax?
Think again:
Under the proposal now being considered, people making more than those amounts would also pay the Medicare tax on dividends and other income from investments, the people familiar with the talks said. Income from pensions and retirement accounts, including 401(k) accounts, would be exempt.
People familiar with the talks cautioned that the idea was still in the study stage along with other ideas, and that it was too early to say whether it would find favor among Democrats.
A version of the broader Medicare tax, put forward by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.), would raise $111 billion over 10 years, according to a December estimate from the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.
The proposal would also bring the Senate closer to the House version of the health bill, which contains a 5.4% income surtax on the wealthy. That surtax would apply to income above $500,000 for individuals and $1 million for couples.
The extra Medicare tax might bring in enough to scale back the tax on high-cost health plans and still have some left over to beef up subsidies to help the poor buy health insurance — a key goal of House negotiators in the talks.
“It’s an obvious compromise,” said Chuck Marr, director of federal tax policy at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “They need to find something between the House and Senate versions. The advantage of this proposal is that, like the House surtax, it is broad-based.”
Speaking of punitive Demcare measures, Phyllis Schlafly spotlights the government health care takeover’s marriage penalty:
Here is the cost in the House bill for an unmarried couple who each earn $25,000 a year (total: $50,000). When they both buy health insurance (which will be mandatory), the combined premiums they pay will be capped at $3,076 a year.
But if the couple gets married and has the same combined income of $50,000, they will pay annual premiums up to a cap of $5,160 a year. That means they have to fork over a marriage penalty of $2,084.
The marriage penalty is the result of the fact that government subsidies for buying health insurance are pegged to the federal poverty guidelines. Couples that remain unmarried are rewarded with a separate health care subsidy for each income.
When the Wall Street Journal reporter quizzed the Democratic authors of the health-care bill, they made it clear that this differential was deliberate. The staffer justified the discriminatory treatment because “you have to decide what your goals are.”
Indeed, the Democrats have decided what their goals are. They know that 70 percent of unmarried women voted for Obama in 2008, and the Democrats plan to reward this group with health insurance subsidies.
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Categories: Health care
Nice Deb
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*sigh* I guess I’ll just have to get a divorce. After 27 years of marriage. Oh, well.
So, let me get this right… I get to pay an 8% penalty for not covering my employees, and an extra tax for my own health care?
Yep, sounds like I should hire someone!
Wonder how it would work if I hired my wife? Just thinking!
Shut down Congress. Shut them down now! We are heading for a Super Depression with these criminals at the helm.
They will tax everyone but the precious unions medical insurance. There is no telling what these scum bags have put into this bill in the wee hours of the night! This has got to be stopped and killed, period!
L
I’d like to see a Republican stand up with a switch and publicly whip the living stew out of Harry Reid, and another to do the same to Pelosi. Call CSPAN in advance.
Just when you think Democrats could not convolute this bill even more, they take their lunacy to the next level.
The level of stupidity contained in this legislation as crafted is exponentialy proportional to the desire of Obama and Democrat leaders to pass something, ANYTHING.
Who cares if it wrecks everything else. We can control 1/6th pf the economy and Obama ha a 15 second Ste of the Union sound bite?
My wife just told me that if I divorced her, she is entitled to half of my Navy retirement.
I’m not worried. She couldn’t live on only half, and I don’t know what I’d do with all that extra money.
Instead of a divorce, the wife and I are joining the Amish. That religious exemption is the answer to all these universal health care woes.
Conservatives join the Amish and let the anti-religious ACLU and friends pay for health care.
They should quit all the attempts to tax specific groups and exempt and subsidize others and just propose a bill that taxes those that vote against the Democrats at a higher rate. Everybody knows this is what they are trying to do and this would be a lot simpler. Plus that would be so straightforward even the Dem base would understand it and make them far more likely to support it. Nothing like taking money from greedy, rich people and giving it to those less fortunate to mobilize the moochers.
I thought there is a limit to how much of one’s income can be used to pay for medicare?
Perhaps us, too.
But…
Would I have to give up my beloved Harley-Davidson Sportster? And our beloved Silverado? And our 4×4 Blazer? And our Chrysler Sebring? And my guns?
That 2000 Silverado was my first brand-new, off-the-showroom-floor vehicle I bought. When I married, I drove my wife home in it. AAAAAAAnd, I drove both of our children home from the hospital in it.
I’ll just pay more taxes before giving it up, we’ve been through too much together.
Yeah, on the one hand, they could screw the wealthy, and on the other hand, the wealthy could get screwed.
Could this Congress suck any more????
Beachy Amish – nope. TV – yes. Internet and cell phone – maybe.
Is there anyone left in The United States of America that doesn’t understand redistribution of wealth? Being poor is not a virtue!!!! Why do we all have to be poor to make socialists happy?
This is exactly what theu want to destroy the middle class in this country to finally control the population.
This whole bill is a nightmare of bureaucratic disasters.
Everyone will have to get a certain type of plan. The difference will be how much you pay for the plan. You will get subsidies from the federal government for your health care based on your income.
So the next time you apply for health insurance, you will have to disclose your income to determine how much you would actually pay.
It’s layers upon layers of idiocy. The cost to implement this program will more than exceed any benefit to passing this boondoggle.
It’s just ridiculous all the way around. I bet if Obama and Rahm had to do it over, they wouldn’t have touched health care.
Because when we are poor, the socialists can control us. When they can control, they are free to do whatever they wish with impunity and that power makes them happy.
They receive all of the benefits of those who toil with no effort of their own.
People exploiting others for their own selfish desires is as old as recorded history itself.
Next up to be taxed: IRAs, 401(k)s, 527 Plans, Piggy Banks, and the change under your sofa cushions.
When your goal is the destruction of the basic building block of every successful society (the family), then yes, have at it. But please be honest and say your goal is destruction of the foundation of society.
Of course, this destruction carries over to affirmation and glorification of homosexuality, rewarding out of wedlock procreation and then the killing of babies.
There never has been a successful society historically doing these things.
1) this is a tax on the rich, our union workers, especially gubmint union workers are the rich.
2) this is really a tax on the older worker (45 – 65) as these are the people who will have expensive health insurance policies. my insurance, small business group, is set by a person with a prior disease, and so i can’t change policy, no one will accept us, and they have raised my policy 240%
over the last 5 years trying to drive me out. anyone over 55 will have a real hard time finding a policy under 7000 bucks if they have ever had a cold.
Nope. You wouldn’t have to give up a thing.
Just be ‘bad’ Amish.
I hate liberal politicians.
Can I be Amish-ish?
Nope, the plan for those is to force them into the Public Bond market, to subsidize the Treasury Bonds no one else will buy…
Could there be a pseudo-religion called OBAMish? Would that work? Could that be exempt from mandatory healthcare? We could worship The Won and be exempt. Wow.
On January 12th, 2010 at 3:17 pm, Roland said:
On January 12th, 2010 at 2:31 pm, tre said:
Ewww… is that like a Pro Abortion Kennedy Catholic?
So what’s to stop people from getting civil divorces to avoid the marriage penalty?
It’s pretty clear Obama wishes to do to all of America what liberals have done to the black community for several decades: destroy the family and make as many of us reliant on government as they can.
That’s right … all we have to do is define “wealthy” down, just like everything else:
1. If you own an alarm clock, then you’re “The Rich.”
2. If you wake up to said alarm clock, then you’re “The Filthy Rich.”
How dare any of us with two cents of our own money to rub together after taxes complain, when it’s common knowledge among donks that at best we came by that sum through “Winning Life’s Lottery”(TM), or more likely by cheating/taking advantage of The Noble Poor?
And encouraging single women to “marry the government?” Well, this may be the one exception to the axiom that you can only “equalize” downward: if the donks have their way, the 70% figure for children born to single mothers will apply to everyone, and not just blacks. That’s the “progress” that progressivism promises…
The Democrats are the gift that keep on giving…First they intend to give more money of producers to the parasites. Then, they’ll give their jobs to conservatives in a few months. I say let them continue with their insane grandiose plans. All that need be done is that we can stall until then.
The logo of someone holding a gun to someone else’s head ought to be changed into an animated GFI where the holder then points the gun at their own feet and fires…
This idea will backfire big time with senior citizens and the boomer/union crowd who plan to live off of investment income during their retirement.
They sure don’t suck any less!
That’s right, keep tearing apart the family unit! Need to procure more single moms to beef up our welfare rolls!
Any body want my alarm clock? I’m taking a vow of poverty, plus, I could use the extra sleep.
GLD but not SLV…
Speaking of UNINTENDED consequences, how can INCREASING capital gains taxes be a good idea?
These people do not understand what they are doing.
Hey dems, we have half the employees we did last year. At this rate, we’ll be laying off more and it wont be due to your lousy economy either.
We need to stop letting the MSM call it “health care reform” without fighting back.
Can we please make Congress subject to their own stupidity?
For years I have believed that the Statists consider you rich if you have money left after taxes. After all it’s their money, not yours.
Here’s the solution:
We arm ourselves. March on Washington. Hang whoever voted for the bill,Hang whoever thought about voting for the bill. And then start all over.
P.S This is not treason if we win.
It’s only a matter of time until these A-Holes find a way to tax the amount of air we breath and our visits to the bathroom!
The ATM was supposed to be only for the wealthy too and we know how that turned out. Why don’t they just come clean about what they are doing? The gov just wants to tax everything as many times as it can.
Got up the stomach to go a peek around at a few liberal blogs. The comments were that obama hasn’t raised anybody’s taxes and the “crazy right wing” won’t give Obama a chance to show how brilliant he is at solving our economic problems. OOOOH, Gag me.
Forgot, lots of blaming Bush for the mess Pelooney and Reid have gotten us in. I feel sick now.
So, congress wants another tax. Don’t they have enough already? Oh, wait! They’re socialists. Of course not. Silly me.
Eventually, socialists run out of other people’s money.
- Margaret Thatcher
Strenghtening the economy should have been Obama and congress’s first priority. Instead, it’s health care. There is a good reason for taking over 17% of the economy. Once health care is in place, the democrats will always run on the platform of “fixing it” or “adding to it”, while denouncing the Republicans for trying to take it away, or reducing it. This will become a permanent election issue that the democrats think they will profit by. Hence, the rush to get it through. Jobs and the rest of the economy can wait. It’s all about power.
Before the election in 2008 I said I’d never been more afraid for my country. Today, I’m paralyzed by fear. Can anyone besides me admit they feel something ‘evil this way cometh’ and it’s just over the horizon? Everyday is a whole new assault. Can I claim PTSD with this healthcare reform bill but have never faced combat?
My advice to our elected congresscritters is to never back an American into a corner – it has never ended well for the aggressor.
If we all become Christian Scientists, they’d rapidly find out what it’s like to have their stupid plan go broke.
No smoking, no drinking, no running around on your spouses. Or you could be a bad Christian Scientist.
The nice part is that if your faith isn’t strong enough to heal you or family members that you can go to doctors without getting excommunicated.
ECS
They are going to consider VA medical benefits as a “Cadillac” plan, so Obama gets his wish (that is, previous threat) come true to make veterans pay for their medical care. Neither bill provides protection from that happening.
***
HI HANGFIRE–#8. I sometimes wonder like you do about how “half and half” would work out between me and my wife. But with her wild Mexican temper I would never dare to say so out loud.
***
I hope you live in a warm climate. Otherwise you’re going to get cold as well as lonely sleeping on top of Snoopy’s dog house in your back yard!
***
Like the old joke asked, “Why did the Good Lord give women to be men’s wives and men to be women’s husbands?” The answer is so that they can help each other out with the problems they wouldn’t have if they were still single!
(Not!)
***
John Bibb
***
Yes, tax increases will not cease as long as these Statists are in power. It’s a vicious cycle. First, they raise taxes on the wealthy and successful. This may, in the beginning, result in a temporary increase in tax revenue, which they quickly spent on increasing the size of government. But the revenue stream soon begins to decrease as less money is available to invest in the private sector and jobs begin to disappear.
Second, the Statists raise taxes again in an attempt to make up for the lost revenue needed to fund their additional government mandates and payroll. Jobs continue to dry up as more money is shifted from the private to the public sector and the wealthy move themselves and their businesses to more tax-friendly locales.
Third, after finding themselves in a deep hole, the Statists decide to keep on digging. They’re absolutely convinced that tax revenues are not increasing because they haven’t spent enough to stimulate the economy and they haven’t raised taxes high enough. So, like the insane, they keep on doing the same thing over and over, hoping each time for a different result.
Eventually, the Statists are either voted out of office or they increase the size of government to the point that civil service and union votes, alone, are enough to keep them in office. (This has already happened in a few states and in many congressional districts.)
They truly believe that if everyone worked for the government, we would all be better off. But they never stop to think about where the taxes would come from to meet the government payroll. Government does not make a profit, it only knows how to consume. If everyone worked for the government, a 100% income tax would be required just to meet payroll.
Government is a parasite. It lives off its host: the private sector. When the government, like a tapeworm, grows too large, the host becomes too weak to keep them both fed. Then, like North Korea, they either get someone else to feed them or they slowly starve to death, together.
No nation has prospered after destroying its private economy and replacing it with government. Even the Chinese have learned that lesson. When are the Statists in this country going to learn it?
Politicians, all of them, are doing their best to destroy the US. There is no other explinations for their actions.