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The Baucus Bill Is a Tax Bill
The Wall Street Journal ^ | 10/13/09 | DOUGLAS HOLTZ-EAKIN

Posted on 10/13/2009 8:00:33 PM PDT by MissesBush

Remember when health-care reform was supposed to make life better for the middle class? That dream began to unravel this past summer when Congress proposed a bill that failed to include any competition-based reforms that would actually bend the curve of health-care costs. It fell apart completely when Democrats began papering over the gaping holes their plan would rip in the federal budget.

As it now stands, the plan proposed by Democrats and the Obama administration would not only fail to reduce the cost burden on middle-class families, it would make that burden significantly worse.

Consider the bill put forward by the Senate Finance Committee. From a budgetary perspective, it is straightforward. The bill creates a new health entitlement program that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates will grow over the longer term at a rate of 8% annually, which is much faster than the growth rate of the economy or tax revenues. This is the same growth rate as the House bill that Sen. Kent Conrad (D., N.D.) deep-sixed by asking the CBO to tell the truth about its impact on health-care costs.

To avoid the fate of the House bill and achieve a veneer of fiscal sensibility, the Senate did three things: It omitted inconvenient truths, it promised that future Congresses will make tough choices to slow entitlement spending, and it dropped the hammer on the middle class.

One inconvenient truth is the fact that Congress will not allow doctors to suffer a 24% cut in their Medicare reimbursements. Senate Democrats chose to ignore this reality and rely on the promise of a cut to make their bill add up. Taking note of this fact pushes the total cost of the bill well over $1 trillion and destroys any pretense of budget balance.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 111th; baucus; baucusbill; bhotaxincrease; healthcarereform
If this abomination passes, it should just about finish the Rat party. Fortunately Senate liberals and "moderate" Democrats are beginning a stealth civil war with one another over these competing bills, with liberals peeved there's no public option and openly complaining about "moderate or conservative Democrats" hijacking the reform legislation with non-public option plans.

If Reid includes a public option in the reconciled Senate bill, it will be the last nail in his political coffin in Nevada. If he doesn't include one, Senate liberals will go into open rebellion and maybe even seek to replace him as majority leader. Get the popcorn. This is going to be good.

1 posted on 10/13/2009 8:00:33 PM PDT by MissesBush
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To: MissesBush
Puts the lie to:

"I can make a firm pledge, under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."

Barack Obama

2 posted on 10/13/2009 8:07:59 PM PDT by engrpat (A village in Kenya is missing their idiot...lets send him back)
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To: MissesBush

Hussein again needs Stephanopoulos and his dictionary to explain the meaning of ‘tax’.


3 posted on 10/13/2009 8:11:18 PM PDT by South40 (Islam has a long tradition of tolerance, ~Hussein Obama, June 4, 2009, Cairo, Egypt)
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To: MissesBush; TigersEye

So was the McCain-Lieberman-Warner carbon tax bill.

And Douglas Holtz-Eakin was a McCain adviser, so he can go stuff it where the Sun doesn’t shine.


4 posted on 10/13/2009 8:14:40 PM PDT by rabscuttle385 (Kick corrupt Democrats *AND* Republicans out of office in 2010!)
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To: MissesBush

For the whole series of Zero dollar bills, go here:

"Flickr Archive of Zero Bills"

5 posted on 10/13/2009 8:18:13 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
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To: MissesBush

yes it is and healthcare will be no care...


6 posted on 10/13/2009 8:19:31 PM PDT by dalebert
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To: MissesBush

Ponzi scheme #1001 to loot the taxpayer.


7 posted on 10/13/2009 8:24:44 PM PDT by VRWC For Truth (Throw the bums out who vote yes on the bail out)
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To: rabscuttle385
Tax 'em when they're up, tax 'em when they're down.

Tax 'em when they're up, tax 'em all around.

8 posted on 10/13/2009 8:26:35 PM PDT by TigersEye (Everybody knows it's a spotted dog...)
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To: MissesBush
The Baucus Bill Is a Tax Bill

No s*** Shamus. Is that supposed to be a revelation?

9 posted on 10/13/2009 8:52:28 PM PDT by paul51 (11 September 2001 - Never forget)
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To: MissesBush
Consumers will pay the excise tax on high-cost plans.

Let's see how the RATs manage to make the labor unions immune from this tax. Would this effect government employees?

10 posted on 10/13/2009 9:16:53 PM PDT by Mike Darancette (No to Crap -n- Trade)
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To: Mike Darancette
"Let's see how the RATs manage to make the labor unions immune from this tax."

No problem whatsoever. Stroke of a pen followed by 60 votes, and labor union plans are exempt.

11 posted on 10/13/2009 9:47:38 PM PDT by The Good Doctor (Democracy is the only system where you can vote for a tax that you can avoid the obligation to pay.)
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To: MissesBush

i thot all tax bills had to start in the h of reps...according to constit.


12 posted on 10/14/2009 1:48:36 AM PDT by Recovering_Democrat
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To: MissesBush

Bump


13 posted on 10/14/2009 11:21:44 AM PDT by MissesBush
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To: Recovering_Democrat
i thot all tax bills had to start in the h of reps...according to constit.

It already did.

14 posted on 10/14/2009 12:50:14 PM PDT by Mike Darancette (No to Crap -n- Trade)
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