Old Harry Reid takes the term tax & spend to a new level. Besides the $300 Billion in Senate bribes, and the $480 Billion in Medicare “cuts,” his Senate Obamacare bill includes nearly $400 Billion in new or increased taxes. Some quite arbitrary, like those on tanning salons! Decroy Murdock summarizes them well in today’s National Review Online post:
“A $2.7 billion levy on indoor tanning salons that Reid imposed after ditching a plastic-surgery tax. He just as arbitrarily could tax haircuts, or heirloom tomatoes, or Hula Hoops. Why not a tax on guys named Harry?
A $5 billion Medicine Cabinet Tax specifically permits insulin purchases but otherwise prohibits using money in Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts, or Health Reimbursement Accounts for non-prescription, over-the-counter medications. While diabetics thankfully are spared, how does this benefit those who use antacids or asthma inhalers?
A $15 billion individual mandate would force Americans to buy health insurance. In 2014, those without “qualifying” government-approved coverage would pay $495 or 0.5 percent of Adjusted Gross Income, whichever is higher. In 2016, that rises to 2 percent of AGI, or approximately $640 today.
A $15.2 billion tax requires costs to reach 10 percent of AGI, up from 7.5 percent, before Americans may deduct itemized medical expenses.
A $28 billion tax would hit employers who do not provide health coverage to their payrolls of at least 50 employees. If only one worker qualifies for a health-care tax credit, the employer must pay a fine of $750 on all 50 staffers, not just the one tax-credited employee. For 50 staffers, this penalty equals $37,500 annually. Small-business owners who file personal returns and earn below $250,000 will suffer this tax themselves.
Sen. Mike Crapo (R., Idaho) tried to enforce Obama’s pledge by deleting from Obamacare all taxes on families earning less than $250,000 and individuals making under $200,000. Every Republican supported Crapo’s amendment. All but five Democrats ganged up and killed it.
Beyond the $250,000 threshold, Santa Harry’s sleigh overflows with other new taxes:
A $149.1 billion, 40 percent excise tax awaits those with “Cadillac” health plans worth at least $8,500 per individual and $23,000 per family. These taxes, the Congressional Budget Office predicts, “would be largely passed through to consumers in the form of higher premiums for private coverage.” Also — in an affront to equality before the law — longshoremen are exempt from this tax. Why not ship captains, or nurses, or test pilots?
An additional $59.6 billion tax on health-insurance companies also will make costly coverage costlier.
A $22.2 billion tax on drug companies would increase price pressures and slash funds available for pharmaceutical research and development.
A $19.2 billion medical-device tax would boost prices of hearing aids, heart stents, artificial limbs, and similar implements and divert money to Washington that could refine such products and create new therapeutic, life-saving inventions.”
Obama says he wants to create jobs, yet he kills job creation with his expensive socialized medicine. He says he wants to reduce the deficit, yet he increases it by some $300 Billion with this Obamacare fiasco. Can we believe a word that this demagogue says?
Tom Motherway