Posted on 03/11/2010 6:37:55 AM PST by maggief
WASHINGTON (Fortune) -- The big talk on Capital Hill may be about health-care reform, but as part of this massive undertaking, the Democrats are quietly reshaping the tax system too. Tucked inside President Obama's latest health-care proposal is a major change to the Medicare tax.
Since its conception, the Medicare tax has always been tied to payrolls. Every paycheck, employers and employees each chip in 1.45%, regardless of how much someone makes. Under Obama's proposal -- which should be very close to what Congress winds up enacting -- a Medicare tax would now be applied to investment income too: Individuals who earn more than $200,000 and couples over $250,000 would pay an additional 2.9% surtax on unearned income from interest, dividends, annuities, royalties and rents.
Two things happen here. The first one is that the Medicare tax would go from being a payroll tax (like Social Security) to an income tax.
(snip)
But by giving the Medicare tax the qualities of an income tax, Democrats can raise taxes on high-earners without explicitly calling it an income tax hike. The proposal also targets this group by adding 0.9% to their payroll portion of the Medicare tax too. Adding a tax just for households making over $250,000 would make the tax progressive for the first time.
The Obama administration says taxing the wealthy on unearned income is only fair because anyone who lives off their dividends and interest should have that money treated as wages too.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
“You Lie” B#@TERDS
“You Lie” B#@TERDS
don’t you just love the irony of the Government calling any citizen’s money “unearned income”?
wow. I had not seen this before. This is significant. The terrible aspects of this bill keep trickling out.
PING!
More here:
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2010/March/09/medicare-tax.aspx
Five Questions About President Obama’s Proposed Changes To The Medicare Payroll Tax
This is what we need to get out to stop this monster. People may not care about healthcare but they care about their money.
While much of the public debate surrounding the Democrats’ healthcare plan has focused on the massive costs to be paid by American taxpayers, another flaw has stayed under the radar — until last week. That’s when the National Council of La Raza and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus pushed to include illegal immigrants in the president’s healthcare effort.
Despite statements to the contrary, the Obama administration could force the American people to pay for the healthcare of millions of illegal immigrants in the U.S.
The Democrats’ bill in the House, H.R. 3200, contains gaping loopholes that will allow illegal immigrants to receive taxpayer-funded benefits. And these loopholes are no accident. The legislation contains no verification mechanism to ensure that illegal immigrants do not apply for benefits. Republicans offered an amendment to close this loophole — it would have required verification using the existing methods that are already in place to verify eligibility for other federal benefits programs.
But, when they were asked to put the language of the bill where their words were, in a party-line vote, House Democrats rejected the amendment to require verification and close this loophole. The bill also leaves open the possibility that if one citizen family member is eligible for benefits, then the entire family — including illegal immigrants — is also eligible for the benefits. If Americans aren’t already concerned enough about the astronomical costs of the healthcare proposal, this taxpayer-funded benefit for lawbreakers should sound the alarms. (Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
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IBD Exclusive Series: Government-Run Healthcare: A Prescription For Failure
Paying The Price For Illegal Care
IBD Editorials | August 21, 2009
FR Posted by Kaslin
Democrats are right that uncompensated emergency care for the uninsured is driving up costs. What they don't say is it's illegal immigrants who are bankrupting ERs, and the federal government is encouraging them.
Last decade, the Clinton administration added teeth to a little-known Health and Human Services Department regulation mandating that hospitals provide emergency treatment even to illegals.
Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA, hospitals can't even ask for a patient's immigration status or ability to pay prior to delivering treatment. They also can't keep such uninsured patients waiting, even if their problem isn't an emergency. Nor can they discharge them until they're fully stabilized and have safe transportation. More, hospitals must post EMTALA signs in Spanish and English.
The law isn't limited to ERs. Hospitals must accept illegals at any facility on campus — including outpatient clinics and doctor's offices — located within 250 yards of the main buildings.
Hospitals end up treating uninsured illegals for the sniffles and other nonurgent care, and pass that exorbitant cost on to the insured, the Government Accountability Office has found. Resulting overcrowding leads to delays in "care for patients with true emergency needs." (Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com .....
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OBAMA CON JOB: Obama keeps saying "ObamaCare is not going to insure illegal aliens EXCEPT that the bill does not have verification provisions to make sure illegals can't apply and get benefits."
Obama surely knows (doesn't he?) that our courts have ruled repeatedly that hospitals cannot turn illegals away from emergency rooms.(And besides, Obama is planning to give illegals full amnesty by the time ObaCare kicks in.)
POSTED BY GRAMPADAVE: "If 0b0z0 gets socialized medicine this year, next year he will legalize every illegal in the states, and anyone who wants to come for free medical care. He will probably lose a large % of the Senior Citizen voters after they realize what socialized Medicare means. So he will just replace them by making illegals new citizens."
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” ~~ President Ronald Reagan
We The People, Ray Stevens (obamacare) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc_-L4fyLUo
OBAMANOMICS—TRICKLE DOWN DESTRUCTION of the economy
Bambi doesn’t keep his promises...so buyer beware!
SET THEIR LOCAL AND DC LINES ON FIRE!
PLEASE ASK THEM TO REPEAL THE BIG NEW FEES in TRICARE for Life, the retired Military over 65 secondary health ins. which they passed in a DOD bill. They promised our Military these benefits, and our Military have earned them.
Sen Scott Brown’s number is 202-224-4543
Capitol Hill switchboard is 202-224-3121
Lots of local demwit phone numbers on this thread
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2408217/posts
Rename, repackage, rewrite it a tad smaller, and sell another pig in a poke. NO COLAs for granny, retired Military or retired fed employees. BIG NEW fees for Tricare for Life retired over 65 Military’s secondary health ins. (DOD bill already passed, delayed but goes into effect 2011 NEEDS TO BE REPEALED!
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OBAMA’s WAR ON SENIORS http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2433867/posts/
New Dem mantra: Woof, woof eat dog food granny....ala let them eat cake.
Obama Puts Social Security on the Chopping Block
http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/01/obama-puts-social-security-chopping-block
Obama says slight fix will extend Social Security, http://townhall.com/news/us/2010/02/19/obama_says_slight_fix_will_extend_social_security
Health Care Rationing for Seniors Another Problem in New Obama Plan http://www.lifenews.com/bio3058.html
Medicare tax may apply to investment income (ObamaCare tax hike)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2460988/posts
Obama: No reduced Medicare benefits in health care reform
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/28/obama.health.care/index.html
Will healthcare reform mean cuts in Medicare for seniors?
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2009/1017/will-healthcare-reform-mean-cuts-in-medicare-for-seniors
Health Reform’s Hidden Victims Young people and seniors would pay a high price for ObamaCare.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203517304574306303720472842.html
Defaulted Loans May Haunt Seniors (Cuts SS CHECKS)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2467213/posts
Obama to outline $313 billion in Medicare, Medicaid spending cuts
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/14/nation/na-obama-radio14
A trip to the grocery store Tuesday saw cost of food skyrocketing again.
http://seniorjournal.com/NEWS/SocialSecurity/2009/20090629-SenCitMayNotGet.htm
Report: Bill would reduce senior care Medicare cuts approved by House may affect access to providers
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/14/AR2009111402597.html
Unions Cut Special Deal on Health Taxes (Healthcare cost for seniors going up to pay for unions)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704281204575003040695279432.html
Mayo clinic
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=517004
Weighing Medical Costs of End-of-Life Care (Money, Death Panels and The Duty to Die)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/health/23ucla.html?_r=1&ref=business&pagewanted=all
Seniors’ coverage options dwindle as Medicare Advantage programs close shop
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/DN-advantage_22bus.ART.State.Edition1.3c912a9.html
Screwing the Seniors? AARP to Make Millions Off of Obamacare
http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com/2009/10/screwing-seniors-aarp-to-make-millions.html
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SOCIALIZED MEDICINE THREAD http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2468500/posts
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MILITARY & Retired MILITARY
Veterans’ G.I. Bill benefits MIA
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2464680/posts
TRI CARE FOR LIFE This from a google search:
Pushing Veterans Toward the Grave
http://www.christianpost.com/blogs/opinion/2009/08/pushing-veterans-toward-the-grave-31/
http://economicspolitics.blogspot.com/2009/05/tricare-for-life-is-obama-trying-to.html
This option would help reduce the costs of TFL, as well as costs for Medicare, by introducing minimum out-of pocket requirements for beneficiaries. Under this option, TFL would not cover any of the first $525 of an enrollee’s cost-sharing liabilities for calendar year 2011 and would limit coverage to 50 percent of the next $4,725 in Medicare cost sharing that the beneficiary incurred. (Because all further cost sharing would be covered by TFL, enrollees could not pay more than $2,888 in cost sharing in that year.) http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/99xx/doc9925/12-18-HealthOptions.pdf
Bill Would Restrict Veterans’ Health Care Options 11/06/09
Buyer and McKeon Offer Amendments to Protect Veterans and TRICARE Beneficiaries
Congress plans to block Tricare fee increases
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/military_tricarefees_blocked_100709w
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/10/military_tricarefees_blocked_100709w/
By Rick Maze - Staff writer, Oct 7, 2009
Tricare fee increases imposed last week by the Defense Department will be repealed by a provision of the compromise 2010 defense authorization bill unveiled Wednesday by House and Senate negotiators.
The fee increases were announced on Sept. 30 and took effect on Oct. 1, but the defense bill, HR 2647, includes a provision barring any fee increases until the start of fiscal 2011.
Retired Army Maj. Gen. Bill Matz, president of the National Association for Uniformed Services, said the announcement of fee increases was shocking considering that the Obama administration promised earlier this year to hold off on any new fee Tricare fee increases until fiscal 2011.
Indeed. My modest investments were made with money that I earned. I am long since fed up with skeevy legislators being generous with and assuming claim to my money.
The income tax is the horse that this socialist slide has been riding for years....the dumbest thing the American people ever allowed was the passage of the income tax. It is where the Congresscritters get their power. If we really want to stop the socialist take over of this country we need to rip the income tax code, the IRS out by the roots. FAIRTAX
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