Free Republic

The architects of the Affordable Care Act thought they had a blunt instrument to force people — even young and healthy ones — to buy insurance through the law’s online marketplaces: a tax penalty for those who remain uninsured. It has not worked all that well, and that is at least partly to blame for soaring premiums next year on some of the health law’s insurance exchanges. The full weight of the penalty will not be felt until April, when those who have avoided buying insurance will face penalties of around $700 a person or more. But even then that...

Happy New Year, suckers That “affordable” health care the Democrats gave us in 2010 - on a reconciliation vote when none of them had read the entire 2,000-plus-page bill - sure keeps getting harder to afford. Of course, since ObamaCare is an unconstitutional mandate on individuals to purchase a product offered by private companies, it’s also quite difficult to afford not buying it - even though the product itself continues to devolve further into craptasm. Welcome to 2016, where the penalty you’ll face for not buying a product that’s now a bigger ripoff than ever will explode as follows:

Link only due to copyright.

The penalty for not having health insurance this year is more than doubling. Coloradans have until February 15 ,2015, to shop for plans through the Connect for Health Colorado market place. Under the Affordable Care Act individuals are required to either have health insurance or pay a penalty at tax time. That penalty is either a flat rate or two percent of family income. This year, that rate is $325 per adult, $162 per child and up to $975 per family. Compared to last year the fine for an adult was only $95 and up to $285 per family.

Exploiting loopholes in the rulebook helped launch Seattle's budding dynasty There's a team in Super Bowl XLIX that, for years, has created a major competitive advantage by blatantly disregarding NFL rules. I'm talking about the Seattle Seahawks, of course. Focused on 24 PSIs of missing hot air and hype in New England, we've all missed an actual rules revolution going on in Seattle that, with one more win on Sunday in Arizona, could fundamentally change the NFL -- forever. Over the past three years the Seahawks have done something no one in the white-socks-and-black-shoes, stuck-in-the-1950s NFL ever dreamed possible, or...

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A California wind farm will become the first in the nation to avoid prosecution if eagles are injured or die when they run into the giant turning blades, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Thursday. The Shiloh IV Wind Project LLC, 60 miles east of San Francisco, will receive a special permit allowing up to five golden eagles to be accidentally killed over five years. Previously, such a violation could potentially draw criminal charges and discourage private investment in wind farms known for catching birds in their rotors. The permit will require the facility to...

In true Marxist form, the ludicrously named "Affordable Care Act" mounts an all-out attack on marriage. In 2010 the Heritage Foundation pointed out under the bill couples would face massive financial penalties if they marry or remain married. Conversely, couples who cohabit without marriage are given highly preferential financial treatment. If the Senate bill becomes law, saying 'I do' would cost some couples over $10,000 per year.

Many are talking about teaching the GOP a lesson. As a fellow Freeper suggested - teach the Dems a lesson instead! 'Penalties' is the red hot topic. We the people can impose penalties on the violators of the Constitution by voting them out! So teach them a lesson by dishing out the most severe penalties - vote them out!

White House adviser David Plouffe urged fellow Democrats to take the offensive on the tax issue in the campaign to reelect the President. “The GOP is trying to twist Justice Roberts’ words into a campaign slogan implying that we favor imposing taxes on average Americans,” Plouffe contended. “The truth is that the President and the Democratic Party are not in favor of raising taxes on everyone. We are in favor of raising penalties on the non-compliant.” Plouffe emphasized that “it is absolutely critical that we clarify this distinction to the electorate. Those who are cooperating with the President’s agenda—whether it...

I just got home from work, and learned of the Supreme Court's ruling. For a moment I was dumbfounded, but was able to gather some scattered thoughts... The Supreme Court is no longer supreme. There a four liberals on the bench, and four conservatives, and then there's Roberts, who is, well that's anyone's guess. However, today Justice Roberts has upheld a clearly unconstitional law by calling it a tax. Incredible! Now, the federal government, can force anyone to buy the government's brand of health insurance. Or, stated another way, the government can now penalize, a once free citizen if they...

A suspected looter in this week’s riots and his mother are being thrown out of their council home. In the first case of its kind, Daniel Sartain-Clarke, 18, and his mother have been served with an eviction notice as council bosses seek to turf them out of their £225,000 taxpayer-subsidised flat. Sartain-Clarke is charged with violent disorder and attempting to steal electronic goods from the Currys store at Clapham Junction, South London, on Monday night.

The state of Oklahoma is planning to execute death row inmates with drugs intended for use on animals. Lawmakers want to switch away from the only brand of anaesthetic that has been used in the US for lethal injections because there is not enough to go around. The replacement is likely to attract controversy because it is currently used by vets to anesthetise animals for operations. Other states are watching closely and may well follow suit, but such a move is likely to face a challenge from human rights groups to ensure that it is safe to use.

Isn't paying higher taxes patriotic? The Democratic National Committee and their private dining establishment in D.C., the National Democratic Club, are serious tax scofflaws. The Democratic National Committee and the party’s private club in the nation’s capitol have been delinquent with tax payments on sixteen separate occasions over the last seven years, Pajamas Media has learned. According to District of Columbia government records, since 2004 the Democrats’ main political committee and its National Democratic Club — an exclusive restaurant and hideaway on Capitol Hill where prominent Democrats and their guests dine — have been hit with fines and interest penalties...

WASHINGTON — About one-third of employers subject to major requirements of the new health care law may face tax penalties because they offer health insurance that could be considered unaffordable to some employees, a new study says. The study, by Mercer, one of the nation’s largest employee benefit consulting concerns, is based on a survey of nearly 3,000 employers. It suggests that a little-noticed provision of the law could affect far more employers than Congress had assumed.

WASHINGTON – Ditching its past cautious tone, the nation's top scientists urged the government Wednesday to take drastic action to raise the cost of using coal and oil to slow global warming. The National Academy of Sciences specifically called for a carbon tax on fossil fuels or a cap-and-trade system for curbing greenhouse gas emissions, calling global warming an urgent threat. The academy, which advises the government on scientific matters, said the nation needs to cut the pollution that causes global warming by about 57 percent to 83 percent by 2050. That's close to President Barack Obama's goal. "We really...

“Grant, I wonder if you are a football fan? Just because, if so, I hope you're demanding to the team ownership that the whole team should be put to death immediately. After all, a literal reading of the Bible does tell us that anyone who works on Sunday should be killed, right? And you've apparently linked belief in Christ with blindly following everything in the Bible.”

Nancy Pelosi’s healthcare plan presumes that about 8-14 million American workers will pay fines rather than buy health insurance. Unless they do, there’s a $167-billion hole in her financing plan...Like the rest of us, this group would face higher-than-ever insurance prices under Pelosi’s proposed bill. Pelosi, President Obama, and others claim they will make coverage cheaper, yet the official projection relies upon millions who would prefer to pay fines rather than join their system. In some cases the individuals would pay the penalty; in others their employers would pay... The plan is built around a major contradiction. Only if it...

Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.), an often contrarian member of the Congressional Black Caucus, on Sunday called proposed penalties against small business that do not provide their workers health insurance, "indefensible." The congressman addressed insurance mandates that would levy fines against small businesses of 25 or more employees that do not provide health insurance or would require a business to offer health coverage based on the size of its payroll. "Frankly, the House leadership seems wedded to keeping that in," Davis told the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser. "And the more you look at it, the more indefensible that is."

September 03, 2007 New liturgical position Have you ever been a Sunday morning quarterback during Mass where you critique and liturgical abuses or experimental oddities that you have observed. You just wish at times that somebody would step in and do something about what your are observing.Well we have some good news for you! Francis Cardinal Arinze the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has introduced a new program that will surely have an effect.The recently created position of Liturgical Referee has been instituted to help to bring uniformity to the celebration of...

Keith Ellison's Excuse Brigade -- the "don't touch Keith" crowd in the DFL, the media and the blogosphere -- has gone into overdrive for the man who is the DFL's choice to represent Minnesota's Fifth Congressional District in our nation's capital. The Brigade cut its teeth on Ellison's 40 or so unpaid parking tickets, and his nine moving violations since 2000. Its candidate hit the campaign trail in June with a suspended driver's license, thanks to his failure to pay his fines. This was nothing new for Ellison, who seemed unfazed. "I don't know how many prior suspensions I've had,"...