Conservatives are apparently in full whine over what they're calling a new tax coming out of the SCOTUS health care decision this AM.
As we now know, the SCOTUS declared that a penalty for refusing to purchase health insurance is permissible as a tax, in essence, approving the mandate by another name. Predictably, that wording has led to silliness of this sort:
Grover Norquist: "Now that we recognize that the mandate is only constitutional because it is a tax, it's now clear that 'Obamacare' is all about taxes and it hits everybody, not just rich people."
Sarah Palin: "Obama lied to the American people. Again," tweeted Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor. "He said it wasn't a tax. Obama lies; freedom dies."
Gov. Romney: "Obamacare raises taxes on the American people..." [this one's unbearably ironic given that RomneyCare in MA has a mandate penalty as well... I know... whatever]
As my 12-year old would say: Really?? Seriously??!!
First of all, we're talking personal responsibility here. If you don't have insurance and you get treatment for your illness, that's uncompensated care, which I'll pay for. And that is a tax you're imposing on me and the other 84% of insured Americans. I thought conservatives were all about personal responsibility.
Second, according to these analyses, between 1-2% of the population will face this penalty. Democrats from the Ways and Means Committee explain why:
The vast majority of Americans will never have to pay a penalty. The law anticipates that most people will have access to affordable health care through an employer, the Exchange or a public program and will take advantage of the opportunity to obtain or maintain such coverage. In addition, there are three key exceptions to the penalty:
- Those who are uninsured because their coverage is unaffordable
- Those who are uninsured and do not file taxes because their incomes are too low
- Those who would encounter "hardship" by paying the penalty"
Third, note that the anti-tax shouters are conveniently ignoring all the tax benefits in the ACA, like the credits to help people buy insurance. According to CBO, they outpace the penalties by more than a factor of 10 ($686 billion versus $55 billion)!
In essence, Norquist/Palin et al are advocating for a tiny group of free riders to impose higher insurance premiums on the rest of us, while ignoring billions of tax benefits in the ACA -- which remains, I'm very happy to say: the law of the land!
Is it too much to ask these guys and gals to suck it up, recognize that the ACA is the legitimate health care reform program passed by a democratically elected government, and stop trying to block it?
OK, that's a rhetorical question. But I still think it's a good one.
This post originally appeared at Jared Bernstein's On The Economy blog.
Follow Jared Bernstein on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@econjared
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And virtually no one will take their complaint seriously.
I like the old video of Romney railing against irresponsible free riders in Massachusetts who refused to get coverage. I hope some PAC puts it out as a commercial!
Health care rationing, huge cuts to Medicare, unprecedented tax increases. They are all coming.
Unless the Tea Party fights back harder than ever.
This is what we are going to do:
First we need to again expose Obamacare for what it is – the largest tax increase in the history of the world.
75% of this monstrous tax will be paid by citizens making under $250,000 per year. We need to explain to voters in swing districts and swing states that the Obamacare tax will destroy our economy.
Next, we need show voters across American that this insanity is a perfect example how Washington works against the American people.
We are going to pound home this message across America until Congress repeals this Obamacare monstrosity. We are going to recruit, train, mobilize and deploy Tea Party volunteers all across the nation.
When we are through with the politicians, they will be practically begging for an opportunity to repeal Obamacare.
Remember what happened in 2010? Barack Obama and liberal Democrats pranced around Washington celebrating the passage of this law. Nancy Pelosi even taunted tea party protesters with a giant gavel!
And then we stomped them at the polls in a historic landslide.
Now history is about to repeat itself.
But Tea Party Patriots will have the last laugh.
One way or another we WILL repeal Obamacare.
These guys must have a knee jerk reaction to support the 1%, no matter what makes them that 1%.
The people making a big stink about this are the insurance company lobbyists who wanted to be able to continually grow profits on the backs of sick people while simultaneously shrinking coverage. It was a good racket.
"First of all" it may be that 55 million plus of the 84 percent are Medicaid. The conventional wisdom there is that working taxpayers are ALREADY paying that bill with a large and growing balance to the Debt. The payment is popularly referred to as "tax". The always growing Medicaid rolls are about to expand by 30+ million under ACA.... likely a permanent addition. More "tax". Whether "covered" or not the bill comes to the shrinking middle class, the only ones observing "personal responsibility".
Second: Most will not have to pay a penalty. Not much revenue there. The working middle class wil make up the difference(TAX).
Third: A credit to some will be a debit(TAX) to working taxpayers picking up the tab. The much touted and large credits are outgoing(never there) revenues while the small and seldom collected "penalties" are revenue sources(hardly there). Again, the middle class(TAX) and the Debt will bridge the revenue gap.
The Safety Net grows while the shrinking tax base and the Debt is hit harder.
Yeah, good times.
I used the same notion in another post yesterday - those people who receive a free-ride are taxing those of us who pay for healthcare.
The penalty/tax that folks will pay is still a great financial deal. If you pay the penalty/tax, you can still show up in the emergency room and get medical care (President Reagan signed that unfunded mandate). The cost of the penalty/tax is still far below the cost of treatments provided for free.
At least we understand even further that, for TeaPublicans, paying a tax is far worse than accepting personal responsibility.
Let me start the call for those on the right - No more child support, it's a tax. No more public schools, it's a tax. No more road repairs, it's a tax. No more food or drug inspections, it's a tax. No more wars, it's a tax (never mind, we like war).
The ACA requires insurance companies to spend 85% premiums on actual health care. No more $100 billion off the top for the insurance executives. No more $100 billion to lobby congress to cut your benefits while raising your rates. Easy to see why the insurance companies are spending billions to defeat it. Harder to follow the illogical rhetoric of the no longer fans of "personal responsibility" right.
Why not ask for an amendment if it's that important?