THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIV, Issue # 142, June 30, 2012
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
OBAMACARE -- THE LIAR'S TAX
By Alan Caruba
OBAMACARE: THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF THE COMING 2012 FEDERAL ELECTIONS, FOLLOWED BY THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE
AMERICAN ECONOMY --
OBAMACARE AS A TAX IN THE PROCESS OF ELIMINATING THE COMMERCE CLAUSE OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AS A JUSTIFICATION FOR IMPOSING THIS
BURDEN ON AMERICANS -- AMERICA'S HEALTH POLICY ON A PATH THAT WILL RESTRICT INDIVIDUAL CHOICES, STIFLE INNOVATION, & SHARPLY INCREASE
HEALTH-CARE COSTS -- THE HIGH PROBABILITY THAT THE COMING ELECTIONS WILL END THE TYRANNY OF PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA & HIS
MINNIONS
FULL STORY:
The most singular aspect of Obamacare is the way Democrats, from the President on down, consistently lied about the fact that it was a tax. Interviewed by George
Stephanopolos on ABC News, September, 2009, President Obama was asked if he rejected the criticism that it was a tax increase. “I absolutely reject that
notion,” was his reply.
No need to quote the others. They all lied. It took the U.S. Supreme Court and, in particular, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., to call Obamacare a tax in the
process of eliminating the Commerce Clause of the Constitution as a justification for imposing this burden on Americans.
As CNBC’s Larry Kudlow was quick to note, “Twenty new or higher taxes across the board are bad for economic growth, bad for job hiring, bad for
investors, and bad for families,” adding that when “you tax something more, you get less of it.”
Most Americans have been repeatedly told that Obamacare would ensure more care for more people, but the fact is, with or without health insurance, Americans
receive health care, even if the hospital emergency room is their last resort, even if they are homeless, and even if they have no way to pay for it.
The multi-millionaire former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, who told Americans that we would have to wait to know what was in
Obamacare until after it was passed, reacted to the Supreme Court decision saying, “Call it what you will.” That is the equivalent of “Let them eat cake,” Marie
Antoinette’s famed statement before the enraged citizens of France separated her head from her body.
Obamacare just became the single most important element of the November 6th national elections, followed by the economy. Both stink! Both are the direct result
of Obama’s declared intention to “fundamentally transform America.” If he had even a schoolchild’s grasp of American history, he would know that Americans
hate taxes. They declared their independence from England over the issue of taxation without representation.
What will emerge in the months between now and the elections is the fact that the Congressional Budget Office has projected that the implementation of
Obamacare will cost $1.76 trillion over a decade, an increase of $820 billion over the initial estimate when it was first signed into law. A nation already $17 trillion
in debt can hardly welcome such news, nor absorb such costs.
For most Americans, though, the realization that Obamacare contains twenty-one new taxes will likely tip the scales in November to the Republican presidential
candidate, Mitt Romney, who has promised to begin the repeal of the law the first day he takes office. Yes, it is an irony that he introduced Romneycare in
Massachusetts when he was Governor there, but that is not going to affect the outcome of the election.
Among the many new taxes buried in the 2000-plus pages of Obamacare, there’s a 2.3% excise tax on U.S. sales of medical devices that observers believe would
prove to be a $20 billion blow to an industry that employs an estimated 400,000.
There’s a 3.6% surtax on investment income from capital gains and dividends on those earning more than $250,000.
Obamacare imposes a $50,000 excise tax on charitable hospitals that fail to meet new “community health assessment needs,” whatever they are.
There’s a $2.6 billion-a-year tax on drug companies. A 10% excise tax on indoor tanning salons. An $87 billion hike in Medicare payroll taxes for employees, as
well as the self-employed.
Between now and November voters are going to be reminded that Obama promised to fix the economy and then spent the first two years getting Obamacare
through Congress. No Republican voted for it and, in 2010, voters replaced some sixty Representatives and Senators with Republicans.
Obama promised to create jobs. Instead he gave us a multi-billion “stimulus” that utterly failed. He promised to cut the deficit in half. And he promised that
Americans could keep their current health insurance plans. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that as many as twenty million will lose theirs.
Lies! Lies! Lies!
In a thoughtful analysis of Obamacare, two Senior Fellows at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution were joined by the dean of the Columbia Business School,
who concluded that “In upholding the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court has allowed the President and Congress to put the country’s health policy on a
path that will restrict individual choices, stifle innovation, and sharply increase health-care costs.”
As that sinks in, the November elections will end the tyranny of Barack Hussein Obama and his minions in Congress. If you wonder what will replace it, just ask
Congressman Paul Ryan (Republican -Wisconsin) who has a plan in place to reform Medicare and Medicaid. If you haven’t heard much about it, you can thank
the mainstream media and its slavish adoration of the President.
It is a liar’s tax. It is a liar’s penalty. It is a liar’s plan to further bankrupt the nation.
© Alan Caruba, 2012
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Political Economy -- Philosophies, Systems, & Public Policies:
Government, the Economy, & Economic Prosperity
Fiscal Policy: Taxation, Government Spending, & the Public Debt
Alan Caruba's commentaries are posted daily at Warning Signs, his popular blog -- and thereafter on dozens of other
websites and blogs. His monthly report on new books is posted at Bookviews.
A business and science writer, Caruba is the Founder of The National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information
about "scare campaigns" designed to influence public opinion and public policy.
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity