As a companion must-read article to Tim’s column on the ObamaCare birth control mandate, John Cochrane…
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Cato on Contraception Mandate: 'We Should All be Exempt'

As a companion must-read article to Tim’s column on the ObamaCare birth control mandate, John Cochrane of Cato explains why President Barack Obama’s proposed compromise to exempt church-related institutions misses the point:

Our nation is divided on social issues. The natural compromise is simple: Birth control, abortion and other contentious practices are permitted. But those who object don't have to pay for them. The federal takeover of medicine prevents us from reaching these natural compromises and needlessly divides our society.

The critics fell for a trap. By focusing on an exemption for church-related institutions, critics effectively admit that it is right for the rest of us to be subjected to this sort of mandate. They accept the horribly misnamed Patient Protection and Affordable…[more]

February 10, 2012 • 04:52 pm

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What’s in the Health Care Bill? Print
By Sam Batkins
Thursday, August 06 2009
If you are a large employer unable to provide health insurance for your employees, then the bill imposes a ten percent tax, up to $500,000, hardly an expropriation that will drive job creation.

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the myriad of new taxes scattered throughout the 1,000-plus-page House health care bill will do little to lessen our $9 trillion national debt. In fact, the CBO projects that H.R. 3200, which will cost taxpayers well over $1 trillion, is set to increase the national debt by $239 billion over the next ten years. What’s worse, the cost-savings that taxpayers have been promised by President Obama are not in the bill. There are, however, plenty of other goodies hidden deep in its text.

Taxes. Taxes. Mandates. And then some more taxes. That’s the so-called health care reform President Obama and Congressional Democrats are pushing in Congress. Is that the change you believe in?

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the myriad of new taxes scattered throughout the 1,000-plus-page House health care bill will do little to lessen our $9 trillion national debt. In fact, the CBO projects that H.R. 3200, which will cost taxpayers well over $1 trillion, is set to increase the national debt by $239 billion over the next ten years. What’s worse, the cost-savings that taxpayers have been promised by President Obama are not in the bill. There are, however, plenty of other goodies hidden deep in its text.

For example, if you are a large employer unable to provide health insurance for your employees, then the bill imposes a ten percent tax, up to $500,000, hardly an expropriation that will drive job creation.

For small employers who fail to provide health care, H.R. 3200 imposes a $100 a-day penalty “for each day in the period beginning on the date such failure first occurs and ending on that date such failure is corrected.” If an employer failed to cover two employers for three months, the total cost would be $18,200. So much for only soaking the rich in our era of hope, change and new politics.

Congress does not stop with employers alone; the bill also provides mandates for employees and individuals. If you fail to get government-approved health care, then you are taxed. If you fail to get health care at all due to any reason, then the government imposes a penalty. This will specifically hit many young, healthy individuals who have heretofore chosen to postpone insurance in favor of other personal budget priorities.

The bill imposes a tax equal to 2.5 percent of a taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income. A middle-class taxpayer with a modified adjusted gross income of $60,000 would pay Uncle Sam $1,500. This amount is not enough to purchase private health insurance, but it is enough to break a family budget.

New taxes on employers, employees and individuals who fail to find government-approved health care should be more than enough to put a grin on the faces of even the most ardent liberal. But the worst part of the bill, if passed, will raise top marginal tax rates well above 50 percent.

While H.R. 3200 contains many “revenue enhancers” (tax hikes), Congress had to at least pretend it could conjure the money necessary to pay for the bill’s $1 trillion price tag. So, Congress chose the “soak the rich” approach to health care reform.

The bill imposes surcharges (new taxes) on high-tax-bracket individuals, who, more often than not, are actually small businesses. For those making $350,000 or more, the bill imposes a 1 percent tax on adjusted gross income. If your income exceeds $500,000, the bill tacks on 1.5 percent to your tax bill, and for those who make more than $1 million, the bill imposes a surtax of 5.4 percent.

And now Congress is currently debating a budgetary circuit breaker that would double those surtaxes if cost-savings are not realized. Since neither the Congressional Budget Office nor Congress’ Joint Economic Committee expects costs savings to be realized, then some earners could see a 10.8 percent surtax. The total tab for some taxpayers: an income tax bill over 60 percent, the highest in the world.

Taxpayers rich and poor can expect to take a hit to the quality of their care, in addition to their paychecks. As Representative Tom Price (R-GA) noted, “[A] government-run plan would result in 119 million Americans being crowded out of their current personal plans and enrolled in a bureaucratic, government-run program. After all, when the government enters the ring as both competitor and referee, the other guy gets knocked out.”

If H.R. 3200 passes, look for taxpayers to receive both a shock to quality health care and a shot to their wallets.

In sum, for taxpayers hoping that the new administration would leave their tax bill alone and only go after high-earners, the health care bill is a sober reminder that Washington is an equal opportunity wealth-destroyer.

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"Someone needs to ask Mr. Obama how an increasingly impoverished nation, limping along on food stamps and housing subsidies, is going to pay for the existing beneficiaries, along with 77 million Baby Boomers set to retire in the next 25 years. A president who has impaired the vibrancy of the private sector so badly has long since forfeited the moral high ground."…[more]
 
 
—Mona Charen, Nationally Syndicated Columnist
— Mona Charen, Nationally Syndicated Columnist
 
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