Posted on 09/16/2009 10:14:55 AM PDT by markomalley
It's not every day that you hear a Democratic senator charge that a fellow Democrat is proposing to raise taxes on the middle class, but that is what happened on Tuesday when Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., ripped into the health-care bill developed by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mt., the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
The Baucus proposal would impose, starting in 2013, a 35 percent excise tax on insurance companies for "high-cost plans" -- defined as those above $8,000 for individuals and $21,000 for family plans.
Health economists believe a tax on high-priced benefits could help slow the growth of health costs by making consumers more sensitive to prices.
The tax contemplated by Baucus is also a big revenue raiser. It is expected to raise $200 billion, money that Baucus is hoping to use to pay for subsidies for the uninsured.
Given how much money this kind of tax can raise, Rockefeller says he understands why it is "tempting."
The West Virginia Democrat worries, however, that a lot of middle class workers, like the coal miners in his state, will end up facing "a big, big tax" under the Baucus bill because they currently enjoy generous employer-provided health care benefits which they receive tax free.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.abcnews.com ...
Baucus is giving a LIVE presser now I can’t watch it.
Baucus is on Fox live right now. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a politician look so nervous. Actually, it’s more like scared. Imagine a minor soviet commissar having to go before Stalin to explain why he’d failed to deliver on the latest 5-year plan...
It’s a 200 billion dollar tax increase.
That’s how much he hopes to raise by taxing insurance plans.
That’s huge
A village in your state is missing an idiot.
This Baucus clown is conducting a live tv address now and he’s constantly smacking his lips together. What a maroon.
This will be verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry interesting...
$8000 is not much for heath insurance. A lot of people are going to fall under that.
They might raise money one time but then the insurance companies will simply drop the plans as they can't possibly make money with a thirty five percent tax. As soon as they pass that tax on to the consumer that customer will go bye bye. That's the end of the Baucus revenue stream. Then what will they do? Raise taxes somewhere else of course.
These people not only need to be stopped but they need to be gotten rid of permanently by law so that they can never come back. TERM LIMITS
You don’t really believe that crap, do you?
He sure looked lonely standing there all by himself. I guess this is the new bi-partisanship!
2010 will cure some of it if we can make it there. I hope those so called independents are paying attention!
I think Rockefeller would prefer that the insurance companies pay for it until they are run out of business.
Easily.
Baucus had earned a place next to Graham, Rudman and Hollings on the Mt. Rushmore of irrelevancy.
It’s LOOOONG way off at this point. I’m begining to think maybe a different outlook or strategy towards “Independents” may be in order. Something along the lines of.
To independents:
I mean really, independents, you can’t make up your mind? You can’t decide if maybe you want all out socialism and destruction of freedom? It is tempting I know but come on.
To independents:
You are either with us or against us! If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem. Get with the program or go away and vote for the socialist utopia.
Sorry, Rant off
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