This ObamaCare thing gets scarier and scarier the closer you get to it.
Its all the bad I told you about yesterday and worse - a lot worse. The damn thing's been determined to be a tax - something the Democrats swore up and down it never was, never would be, not in a thousand years. It was a mandate, we were all going to be required to buy - whether we wanted it, whether we needed it or not - in order to make it fair; all in the name of fairness.
The mandate, of course, was declared unConstitutional, but the most brilliant lawyer in the history of the world convinced himself the law could stand if the mandate was considered a tax; because Congress can tax us, and the amount they can tax is unlimited.
Of course, this is a tax like no one has ever seen in the entire history of Human Civilization; a new kind of tax, to be collected by private entities - not the Government - in exchange for a service that nine times out of ten it's cheaper to pay cash.
Huh?
Oh yeah, and never mind that it doesn't fall under any of the three kinds of taxes that Congress may levy upon us; excise, fees, and income. This is a new kind of tax.
And if we don't pay this new tax - which is not a tax, never was, never will be and yet is all the same time - there is a fine, which over time can become draconian.
Obama Chief of Staff Jack Lew Ripped to Shreds Over ObamaCare Tax on FOX News Sunday With Chris Wallace:
"Mr. Lew, if it walks, looks and quacks like a duck, its a duck!"
Key Point: A new tax has just been levied upon us, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office numbers state that seventy-five percent of this new tax is going to be paid us poor slobs who make $125,000 or less. I say again: those of us who make $125,000 - and that's 90% of us - will pay 75% of the two trillion dollars it's going to take to make this thing fly.
As bad as that sounds, that's not what really scares me. What really scares me is the IRS will have terrifying new powers to investigate us under Obamacare.
SCOTUS Ruling Means Bigger, More Intrusive IRS
"IRS officials on background tell FOX Business the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on health reform gives the IRS even more powers than previously understood."
Bottom Line:
The IRS now gets to know about a small business's entire payroll, the level of their insurance coverage, and the income of not just the primary breadwinner in a family, but the entire family’s income, in order to assess/collect the mandated tax.
In addition to being able now to learn all about every penny involved in a small business, the IRS will then, because of this law, be able to share all of that information with other government agencies, insurance companies and employers.
Expect even more lien and levy powers; the IRS army will now add 16,000 new agents to hunt down tax cheats, and as it has been budgeted to spend $303.5 million building a new system.
If you don't pay the fine, the IRS will have the authority put a lien on your business.
The Taxpayer Advocate Office - a federal institution that oversees the IRS - warns that the new health law may require more IRS intrusions on taxpayer privacy, to determine whether individuals got appropriate health coverage, and whether small businesses provide 'affordable' coverage - as defined by the government as the Secretary shall determine.'
So there it is; we not only have to buy insurance, we have to buy the right kind. The government will determine how much we need, and then they'll determine what that costs.
The Taxpayer Advocate Office has noted that under the new law, Americans must now tell the IRS: insurance plan information, including who is covered under the plan and the dates of coverage; cost of your family’s health insurance plans; whether a taxpayer had an offer of employer-sponsored health insurance; the cost of employer-sponsored insurance; and whether a taxpayer has an exemption from the individual responsibility requirement. The TAO further warns us: 'This is different from the type of information the IRS typically deals with, and some taxpayers may feel uncomfortable about sharing it with the IRS.'
The TAO also advises that the IRS may not have the necessary skill sets, budget, or staffing to adequately enforce the new health reform law, that the federal tax code is already so complex that even the IRS makes numerous mistakes in administering it.
In other words the IRS - as usual - has the leeway of being wrong in assessing, and - as usual - we have no recourse. The final authority.
And everybody who supported this thing went into this thinking it's about healthcare, equal opportunity for everybody, that everyone is going to get free government health insurance.
Welcome to my nightmare, people.
- STORMBRINGER SENDS
Instead of being pissed at the individual mandate (which, by the way, was originally proposed by the Heritage Foundation), be pissed at the people who REALLY made it happen - the deadbeats who chose not to purchase health insurance when they had the means to do so. Every year, hospitals and doctors are stuck with millions upon millions of costs for uncompensated care when the uninsured decide not to pay their bills. Our insurers then get stuck with higher charges to make up for it. When you get insurance companies and hospitals on the same side, the wheels of Congress get greased.
ReplyDeleteLike it or not, having health insurance is necessary and responsible in today's America. Only the most successful can really afford an inpatient hospital bill. You can whine about the IRS all you want, but I for one am sick of picking up the tab for the bums who would rather buy a car than insure themselves and their families. Frankly, they're pretty much the only ones who will face the tax, and I don't have a problem with that. Yeah, I feel for the folks for whom insurance bills are a burden, but you know, when I was out of work, I managed to pay my bills - including my insurance bill.
Sorry, but everybody with insurance (whether commercial insurance or Medicaid/Medicare - the ultimate in socialized medicine) can blame the deadbeats for the individual mandate and the IRS horrors you describe.
When you attempt to share this article on Facebook, the above comment appears instead. Very misleading.
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about Facebook - what I do know after having been on the recieving end of Government medicine for the better part of 3 decades (thru the military Tricare system) is 2 things: A) Tricare rhymes with Welfare and is one step above prison medicine, and B) if you're expecting the Government to take care of you, take a look at what happened to the American Indian.
ReplyDeleteIf what we had was so bad we had to have the US Govt step in and take over, then how come we have the highest cancer survival rates in the world by a factor of 80, and how come our life expectancy keeps going up?
You'll see - you suckers who voted for Barry Soetero - you'll see. You'll get your Govt healthcare now, and then you'll get in line and take what they ration out with no recourse - can't sue the Govt - and then you'll see.
Me personally I liked it the way it was - even if I was funding the poor people who had to go through the emerg room to get healthcare - cheaper & more effectively managed by private medical ins co's than by the US Govt any day. I mean, we're talking the people who can't even run a post office - what makes you think for a minute they can manage a healthcare system for a continent-sized country of 330 million divergent souls?
This thing is going to make the Titanic look like a ride at Disneyland . . .
. . . you'll see . . .
To the first comment, you've got to be kidding me... Saying it is the fault of, as you put it, "the deadbeats who chose not to purchase health insurance when they had the means to do so." You really think that's where the blame lies? The middle class family making $120k/yr. that could actually afford private health insurance if they wanted to? Yeah, those are the ones not paying their bills... That's the reason why they're going to be taxed now, right? Because it's all their fault.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is this idea that everything should be "fair." I'm all for programs that take care of the poor but not at the expense of those who actually look down, find their boot straps, and pull up. I came from a dirt poor farming family that couldn't afford a gallon on milk but worked my "butt" off, got undergraduate and graduate degrees, and not once did we use any govt assistance.
Assist the poor, give them an icentive to make something of themselves (not make welfare better than getting a min wage job), and don't punish those that work hard and do it on their own.
Stormbringer, It's collected by the IRS & is based on your income, how can you not see that it IS a tax?
ReplyDeleteAs far as knowing the entire payroll and family income, they already know that. They are still enjoined from sharing any tax information with other gov't agencies.
Once you stop and look at it, this was the only possible course of action roberts had.
He kicked it back to the people and congress to get rid of this piece of crap legislation while keeping congress from getting any more power under the commerce clause.
"nine times out of ten it's cheaper to pay cash"...
ReplyDeleteThat isn't at all accurate though, is it? The point is that medical costs are randomised. If you go to the doctor as a cash-paying individual 9 times and save up, if a grave illness is determined on the tenth, then most people relying on this basis would be broke.
Medical services can be viewed as a community service. Such as a neighbourood watchman bening hired to watch over 5 houses. If two houses opt not to pay in at all, the other three will pay in for the five and provide them with protection for nothing. It is simple economics that some things rely on community understanding.
In "communist" France today, everything in done by private insurance, with some coverage for thsoe without. Those who are employed in France and Germany (for example) must pay in to an insurance scheme.
The purest example of the obamacare as "tax" is in the UK. Doctors have told me that the real advantage of this system is that it is cheap. There is a surprisingly small trade off in benefits for extra cash expenditure on medical care above this level. However, even in this system, General Practitioners are private businesses, paid collossal sums from the private purse until those identified with major problems are passed on to NHS-run hospitals.
The major issue that should irk Americans is not that they will have a healthcare system that is more like a government service than a network of private interactions, but rather that, as Britain has, America will continually misdirect resources towards votes based on medical funding rather than sensible and worthwhile projects such as 22 Aircraft carriers.
When Britain went NHS, there was a deliberate decision to spend high sums on medical provision by nationalising private trusts, hospitals and friendly societies. It really isn't a coincidence that the British Navy (I cannot bear to call it the Royal Navy any longer) is reduced to the level of Belgium in naval prowess.
SL is right:
ReplyDeleteYou will see.
Unfortunately.
“Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.”