Major tax hike from Obama

I guess when Obama says he will never raise taxes on anyone making under $250,000 he really means he'll never raise the taxes when he is in office. ObamaCare is going to raise the taxes to the middle class by the billions to try and pay for ObamaCare by 2019.

Taxpayers earning less than $200,000 a year will pay roughly $3.9 billion more in taxes — in 2019 alone — due to healthcare reform, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, Congress's official scorekeeper.

The new law raises $15.2 billion over 10 years by limiting the medical expense deduction, a provision widely used by taxpayers who either have a serious illness or are older.

Taxpayers can currently deduct medical expenses in excess of 7.5 percent of their adjusted gross income. Starting in 2013, most taxpayers will only be able to deduct expenses greater than 10 percent of AGI. Older taxpayers are hit by this threshold increase in 2017.

Once the law is fully implemented in 2019, the JCT estimates the deduction limitation will affect 14.8 million taxpayers — 14.7 million of them will earn less than $200,000 a year. These taxpayers are single and joint filers, as well as heads of households.

"Loss of this deduction will mean higher taxes for 14.7 million individuals and families making under $200,000 a year in 2019," Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told The Hill. "The new subsidy for health insurance would not be available to offset this tax increase for most of these households.

Welcome to "free" health care.

Health Care Problems?

I thought ObamaCare was going to fix everything? With ObamaCare health care would be far cheaper and better. Just further proof how right we were and how wrong the left was. ObamaCare doesn't put a stop to huge increases in premiums. In fact with ObamaCare premiums, especially for the young and healthy, are going to raise through the roof.

Public outrage over double-digit rate hikes for health insurance may have helped push President Obama's healthcare overhaul across the finish line, but the new law does not give regulators the power to block similar increases in the future.

And now, with some major companies already moving to boost premiums and others poised to follow suit, millions of Americans may feel an unexpected jolt in the pocketbook.

Although Democrats promised greater consumer protection, the overhaul does not give the federal government broad regulatory power to prevent increases.

Many state governments -- which traditionally had responsibility for regulating insurance companies -- also do not have such authority. And several that do are now being sued by insurance companies.

"It is a very big loophole in health reform," Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said. Feinstein and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) are pushing legislation to expand federal and state authority to prevent insurance companies from boosting rates excessively.

They call it a very big loop hole. We call it very horrific legislation. But of course I think this is how they planned it. The left wants to make private health care so outrageously expensive that the only place people can turn to is government run single payer health care.

To make things worse, not only are premiums going to sky rocket, but we are also going to face doctor shortages too.

The new federal health-care law has raised the stakes for hospitals and schools already scrambling to train more doctors.

Experts warn there won't be enough doctors to treat the millions of people newly insured under the law. At current graduation and training rates, the nation could face a shortage of as many as 150,000 doctors in the next 15 years, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

That shortfall is predicted despite a push by teaching hospitals and medical schools to boost the number of U.S. doctors, which now totals about 954,000.

The greatest demand will be for primary-care physicians. These general practitioners, internists, family physicians and pediatricians will have a larger role under the new law, coordinating care for each patient.

The U.S. has 352,908 primary-care doctors now, and the college association estimates that 45,000 more will be needed by 2020. But the number of medical-school students entering family medicine fell more than a quarter between 2002 and 2007.

A shortage of primary-care and other physicians could mean more-limited access to health care and longer wait times for patients.

Isn't this everything the media and the left said we were just crazy and nuts to mention? Just like the UK, Canada and other countries with national health care, we will have the same problem. Lack of good doctors and a long wait for any service.

To make things even worse. Lawmakers still don't know what is in the bill.

In a new report, the Congressional Research Service says the law may have significant unintended consequences for the “personal health insurance coverage” of senators, representatives and their staff members.

For example, it says, the law may “remove members of Congress and Congressional staff” from their current coverage, in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, before any alternatives are available.

The confusion raises the inevitable question: If they did not know exactly what they were doing to themselves, did lawmakers who wrote and passed the bill fully grasp the details of how it would influence the lives of other Americans?

The law promises that people can keep coverage they like, largely unchanged. For members of Congress and their aides, the federal employees health program offers much to like. But, the report says, the men and women who wrote the law may find that the guarantee of stability does not apply to them.

Because it would have made too much sense to actually read the bill before voting on it.

Where do I sign up for ObamaCare?

You can't make this stuff up. It's just like the ObamaZombies in Detroit thinking they were getting money from Obama's stash.

Now people are trying to figure out how to sign up for free ObamaCare.

Two weeks after President Barack Obama signed the big health care overhaul into law, Americans are struggling to understand how — and when — the sweeping measure will affect them.

Questions reflecting confusion have flooded insurance companies, doctors' offices, human resources departments and business groups.

"They're saying, 'Where do we get the free Obama care, and how do I sign up for that?' " said Carrie McLean, a licensed agent for eHealthInsurance.com. The California-based company sells coverage from 185 health insurance carriers in 50 states.

McLean said the call center had been inundated by uninsured consumers who were hoping that the overhaul would translate into instant, affordable coverage. That widespread misconception may have originated in part from distorted rhetoric about the legislation bubbling up from the hyper-partisan debate about it in Washington and some media outlets, such as when opponents denounced it as socialism.

"We tell them it's not free, that there are going to be things in place that help people who are low-income, but that ultimately most of that is not going to be taking place until 2014," McLean said.

Adults with pre-existing conditions are frustrated to learn that insurers won't have to cover them until 2014 (though those under 18 will be protected in late September); then they become both hopeful and confused upon learning that a federal high-risk pool for them will be established in the next few months. "Health insurance is so confusing. You add this on top of it and it makes it even more confusing," McLean said.

There is just no making free loaders happy.

You know a law is good

When Fidel Castro endorses it. That should make Democrats feel good at the Unconstitutional ObamaCare they just passed. It is so great even the communist dictator in Cuba loves it.

It perhaps was not the endorsement President Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress were looking for.

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Thursday declared passage of American health care reform "a miracle" and a major victory for Obama's presidency, but couldn't help chide the United States for taking so long to enact what communist Cuba achieved decades ago.

"We consider health reform to have been an important battle and a success of his (Obama's) government," Castro wrote in an essay published in state media, adding that it would strengthen the president's hand against lobbyists and "mercenaries."

But the Cuban leader also used the lengthy piece to criticize the American president for his lack of leadership on climate change and immigration reform, and for his decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, among many other things.

And he said it was remarkable that the most powerful country on earth took more than two centuries from its founding to approve something as basic as health benefits for all.

"It is really incredible that 234 years after the Declaration of Independence ... the government of that country has approved medical attention for the majority of its citizens, something that Cuba was able to do half a century ago," Castro wrote.

I'm pretty sure if Castro was elected President he would be acting the same way as Obama.

By trying to defend the Constitution we are aiding terrorism?

This is exactly how the loony left thinks. They think we are the terrorists. They are more afraid of those who want to uphold and support our founding father than they are of those in the Mid East who would strap bombs onto themselves to kill innocent lives. This just plain sickens me.

Most want the Republicans to keep on fighting ObamaCare

Of course they do. This is a center right country. We don't want it to turn into a socialist cesspool. The vast majority agree so. They want the Republicans to continue the fight.

That is actually bipartisanship. The media always cries about the lack of bipartisanship so now we have a demand by the party to actually do so.

I'd like to see a poll on an Article 5 Convention.

Need more proof this is about control?

Rep Dingel

I will not support any Republican

Who thinks we can fix ObamaCare rather than repeal it. This blows my fucking mind. This is why I hate most Republicans. They talk a big game, pretend to be conservatives, but legislate like pansies with no fricken balls. Grow a set Cornyn. Obamacare doesn't need to be fixed. It needs to be repealed.

In the wake of the passage of health care reform, nearly the entire slate of Republican senatorial candidates seems ready to run on a repeal of the bill. But now, the lawmaker overseeing their election strategy is softening the message. Rather than promising to scrap the bill in its entirety, the GOP will pledge to just get rid of the more controversial parts…

“There is non-controversial stuff here like the preexisting conditions exclusion and those sorts of things,” the Texas Republican said. “Now we are not interested in repealing that. And that is frankly a distraction.”

What the GOP will work to repeal, Cornyn explained, are provisions that result in “tax increases on middle class families,” language that forced “an increase in the premium costs for people who have insurance now” and the “cuts to Medicare” included in the legislation…

The senator’s comments on Tuesday also included a push to restore funds for Medicare Advantage — an odd political moment, considering the GOP’s self-promotion as the party that trims the fat off entitlement programs.

Cornyn isn't exactly a RINO either. Which pisses me off even more. But if he doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to repeal this Unconstitutional law than screw him. He no longer deserves any support from the conservative base. He is making his bed and he will have to sleep in it.

Pansies like him just makes the Article 5 Convention that much more important.

Article 5 Constitution Convention

I've said since ObamaCare was passed that this is our best chance of repealing it. State attorney generals have already promised to sue the federal government over the passage that might not be enough. If states are willing to sue over ObamaCare they should be willing to call for an Article 5 Constitutional Convention like Congressman Louie Gohmert is calling for.

Rep. Gohmert stated, “The usurpation of the rights of the states and of the people perpetrated by the U.S. House last night is blatant, arrogant, and cries out for action. A potentially bankrupting ‘mother of all unfunded mandates’ needs to be stopped. The courts may or may not do it, but the states are not helpless. Article V of our U.S. Constitution anticipates a time when states perceive a looming crisis and provides an avenue for amending the Constitution. It makes clear that if two-thirds of the states are fed up with the federal government’s abusive action, then they simply apply for a convention, and the Congress SHALL call such a convention for proposing an amendment.”

Ever since the safeguard of State legislatures electing U.S. Senators was removed by the 17th Amendment in 1913, there has been no check or balance on the Federal power grab for the last 97 years. Article V requires a minimum of 34 states to request a Convention which in this case, would be an Amendment Convention for only ONE amendment.

“That one amendment would put a check and balance back on Federal usurpation of rights reserved to the States and people under the 9th and 10th Amendments. When drafted, the amendment would require ratification by only 38 states. We already have 39 states and that number will, no doubt, grow as people become aware of the foundational damage being done to the country,” said Gohmert.

Now is the time to act. Now is the time to defend the Constitution.

This should tell you all you need to know about ObamaCare

It's so great Congress exempted themselves and their staff.

What else do you need to know?

States to sue over ObamaCare

This is a good first sign that we can over turn ObamaCare. The more states that sue the better our chances will be. We, as American citizens who care about individual freedom, need to keep ObamaCare as the main issue going into the 2010 elections. I know it's hard to keep up the emotions we all have had over the last few months debating ObamaCare but that is our only hope.

Florida's attorney general will file a lawsuit with nine other state attorneys general opposing the healthcare legislation passed by Congress, a spokeswoman said on Monday.

"The health care reform legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last night clearly violates the U.S. Constitution and infringes on each state's sovereignty," Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Republican, said in a prepared statement announcing a news conference.

"On behalf of the State of Florida and of the Attorneys General from South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania, Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota and Alabama if the President signs this bill into law, we will file a lawsuit to protect the rights and the interests of American citizens."

Virginia's attorney general said he plans to sue the federal government over the healthcare reform legislation, saying Congress lacks authority to force people to buy health insurance.

Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli, a Republican, said on Monday that Congress lacks authority under its constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce to force people to buy insurance. He said the bill also conflicts with a state law that says Virginians cannot be required to buy insurance.

"If a person decides not to buy health insurance, that person by definition is not engaging in commerce," Cuccinelli said in recorded comments. "If you are not engaging in commerce, how can the federal government regulate you?"

Well it happened

Congress passed ObamaCare last night 220-211. They are lying to us saying that this is now going to go back to the Senate for reconciliation. But that isn't going to happen. This bill is going straight to Obama's desk to get signed. Welcome to the United Socialists States of America.

As a country we only have 3 options. Firstly there are going to be lawsuits all over the place starting with Mark Levin and his Legal Landmark Foundation. I'm sure ObamaCare will be put in front of the Supreme Court. Since this bill is Unconstitutional it should be over turned. But I don't have much faith and I'm a little afraid of that option. The same Supreme Court upheld McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform which was also Unconstitutional.

Secondly there are going to be quite a few states protesting this new law starting with Idaho and Virginia. I'm sure Texas and other conservative leaning states will join in protesting against ObamaCare. According to the Constitution states are supposed to have the power to over turn the Federal Government if it becomes to intrusive. Which ObamaCare is. There are up to 38 states who have pledged to oppose this. That is enough to make a Constitutional Amendment to get rid of ObamaCare.

If those two options don't work. The only thing else we could hope for the Republicans to take over the House and Senate in 2010 and 2012 and repeal ObamaCare. I have the least amount of faith in this. The Republicans have proven over and over again they are spineless cowards. Maybe this will be the one time they prove me wrong. And I really hope they do. ObamaCare is going to bankrupt the country much like RomneyCare is bankrupting Massachusetts.

Well I guess there is always a 2nd revolution.

Wonder how many jobs this will save or create?

Caterpillar says if ObamaCare passes the house it will cost the company $100 million in the first year alone. This is exactly what Caterpillar needs in this booming economy. The only way Caterpillar can of set this cost is by laying off employees.

Caterpillar Inc. said the health-care overhaul legislation being considered by the U.S. House would increase the company's health-care costs by more than $100 million in the first year alone.

In a letter Thursday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio, Caterpillar urged lawmakers to vote against the plan "because of the substantial cost burdens it would place on our shareholders, employees and retirees." Caterpillar, the world's largest construction machinery manufacturer by sales, said it's particularly opposed to provisions in the bill that would expand Medicare taxes and mandate insurance coverage. The legislation would require nearly all companies to provide health insurance for their employees or face large fines.

The Peoria-based company said these provisions would increase its insurance costs by at least 20 percent, or more than $100 million, just in the first year of the health-care overhaul program.

"We can ill-afford cost increases that place us at a disadvantage versus our global competitors," said the letter signed by Gregory Folley, vice president and chief human resources officer of Caterpillar. "We are disappointed that efforts at reform have not addressed the cost concerns we've raised throughout the year."

I hope they are having all their employees call their Congressman to vote against this bill.

True Cost of ObamaCare

A lot more than the 940 billion Obama and Pelosi have been saying.

To see the bill’s true first-decade costs, we need to start the clock when the costs would actually start in any meaningful way: in 2014. The CBO says that Obamacare would cost $2.0 trillion in the bill’s real first decade (from 2014 to 2023) — and much more in the decades to come.

But $2.0 trillion wouldn’t be the total ten-year costs. Instead, that would merely be the “gross cost of coverage provisions.” Based on earlier incarnations of the proposed overhaul, the total costs would be about a third higher (the exact number can’t be gleaned from the CBO’s analysis, which is only preliminary and is not a full scoring) — making the total price-tag between $2.5 and $3 trillion over the bill’s real first decade.

How would we pay for all of this? According to the CBO, by diverting $1.1 trillion away from already barely-solvent Medicare and spending it on Obamacare, and by increasing taxes on the American people by over $1 trillion. Among the Medicare cuts would be cuts of $25,000 in Medicare Advantage benefits per enrollee — up from $21,000 in the previous scoring. To be clear, those living in South Florida wouldn’t have to worry about this, as the newly politicized nature of health care would cause them to be exempted. These cuts would affect only less-fortunate seniors, namely those living in just about any other part of the country.

They lie to us about everything else. Why would we expect any less from them now?

Idado ready to sue over ObamaCare

Similar legislation is pending in 37 other states. Maybe Congressman will take the hint. No one wants socialized health care. If the this does pass all the states can band together and basically say no. We don't want your socialism. Even if it became the law of the land. There would be no way for it to get enforced.

Idaho took the lead in a growing, nationwide fight against health care overhaul Wednesday when its governor became the first to sign a measure requiring the state attorney general to sue the federal government if residents are forced to buy health insurance.

Similar legislation is pending in 37 other states.

Constitutional law experts say the movement is mostly symbolic because federal laws supersede those of the states.

But the state measures reflect a growing frustration with President President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. The proposal would cover some 30 million uninsured people, end insurance practices such as denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, require almost all Americans to get coverage by law, and try to slow the cost of medical care nationwide.

Democratic leaders hope to vote on it this weekend.

The AP got one thing wrong. This isn't mostly symbolic. That's not how the founders set up this country. The founders set up this country so the states superseded the federal government. But reporters would actually have to read the Constitution to know that. I wouldn't expect anyone in the AP to be a Constitutional Scholar.

Government run pharmacies?

I guess that is what is coming next. No politician has talked about it. But if they get ObamaCare why wouldn't they try and get government run pharmacies? Walgreens just announced they aren't going to take any new Medicaid patients because they don't many any money filling their prescriptions.

Effective April 16, Walgreens drugstores across the state won't take any new Medicaid patients, saying that filling their prescriptions is a money-losing proposition — the latest development in an ongoing dispute over Medicaid reimbursement.

The company, which operates 121 stores in the state, will continue filling Medicaid prescriptions for current patients.

In a news release, Walgreens said its decision to not take new Medicaid patients stemmed from a "continued reduction in reimbursement" under the state's Medicaid program, which reimburses it at less than the break-even point for 95 percent of brand-name medications dispensed to Medicaid patents.

I'm not genius but if the government isn't going to pay pharmacies enough money to even make a small profit from filling prescriptions why would pharmacies do it? So if every pharmacy tells the government to go screw who is going to fill ObamaCare prescriptions? Government run pharmacies.

We are well on our way to socialism...

Lawsuits to come if House tries to pass Health-Care

With the Slaughter-Rule. I'm sure Mark Levin's Landmark Legal Foundation won't be the only ones to files a lawsuit too.

Landmark Legal Foundation President Mark Levin, who served as chief of staff in the Reagan Justice Department, said he plans to file an immediate lawsuit if House Democratic leaders try to use an unconstitutional manuever to pass the Senate health care without actually having to vote on it.

“I cannot predict if we would win or lose--this is not as simple as some would have you believe--but I want to put the marker down right now and make it clear to members of the House of Representatives who think the quickest way to pass this is to adopt a rule that assumes that they voted on an underlying bill when they didn’t--that is going to be challenged if they do it,” Levin said on his nationally syndicated radio show Tuesday evening.

Mark Levin is a great American. This country could definitely use more people like him. People who actually know and understand the Constitution. Something the Democrats are Hell bent on destroying.

Health Care is going to destroy our economy

Not only will this Health Care legislation raise the cost of premiums despite Obama's moronic claim it could lower companies premiums 3000% but it could also lead to almost 700,000 lost jobs.

The result is a loss of between 119,000 and 698,000 jobs between enactment of the bill this year and 2019. A breakdown is below:

Sector	ESI	Jobs
	%	Low	High
Agriculture, mining and construction
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting	20	-923	-5,441
Mining	68	-939	-5,478
Construction	37	-7,374	-43,316
Manufacturing	65	-18,022	-105,229
Trade
Wholesale trade	57	-8,149	-47,663
Retail trade	39	-14,364	-84,339
Transportation and communication
Transportation and warehousing	55	-6,290	-36,806
Utilities	80	-906	-5,271
Services
Information	63	-4,510	-26,342
Financial Activities	66	-13,236	-77,269
Professional and business services	44	-22,606	-132,596
Educational services	61	-5,493	-32,102
Leisure and hospitality	25	-8,436	-49,682
Other services	48	-7,946	-46,564
Totals		-119,194	-698,098

I'm starting to think more and more that the Democrats want to destroy this country. I don't think they can claim ignorance anymore. There ideas are going to destroy this country. I think it is safe to say Obama and his ilk hate the United States and everything it stands for.

That is the only logical conclusion I can come up with to why they still are pushing for a bill that is going to destroy the country.

Imagine if a Republican...

Said they were going to pass a bill, hated and despised by a majority of Americans, with out even voting on it. That is true Democracy right there. /sarcasm. The media would be blowing its lid if the Republicans tried to pull this crap. You'd be hearing how the Republicans are trying to kill democracy and the Constitution. It would be a media Hell storm.

After laying the groundwork for a decisive vote this week on the Senate's health-care bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested Monday that she might attempt to pass the measure without having members vote on it.

Instead, Pelosi (D-Calif.) would rely on a procedural sleight of hand: The House would vote on a more popular package of fixes to the Senate bill; under the House rule for that vote, passage would signify that lawmakers "deem" the health-care bill to be passed.

The tactic -- known as a "self-executing rule" or a "deem and pass" -- has been commonly used, although never to pass legislation as momentous as the $875 billion health-care bill. It is one of three options that Pelosi said she is considering for a late-week House vote, but she added that she prefers it because it would politically protect lawmakers who are reluctant to publicly support the measure.

"It's more insider and process-oriented than most people want to know," the speaker said in a roundtable discussion with bloggers Monday. "But I like it," she said, "because people don't have to vote on the Senate bill."

Republicans quickly condemned the strategy, framing it as an effort to avoid responsibility for passing the legislation, and some suggested that Pelosi's plan would be unconstitutional.

Since Pelosi doesn't have the votes. This is the only way she thinks she can pass ObamaCare.

Of course I really don't think this has a prayer in Hell of happening. I think this is more scare tactics from Pelosi trying to strong arm her fellow Democrats to vote for this even though it is widely unpopular.

Health Care Votes

I'm getting so sick of reading and hearing about health care. I just want the House to vote on it and get this over with. But I think Pelosi is still trying to bribe, strong arm and beg for votes. Otherwise they would have voted for it weeks ago. But the WHIP count, per The Hill, is 216-215. If that's the case they would be voting on it today.

The Hill's survey/tracking of House Democrats' positions on healthcare reform legislation.
UPDATED: 3/15/10 at 12:19 a.m.

House Democrats not on this list are expected to vote yes. However, some members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who are not mentioned below have threatened to vote no unless the Senate's immigration-related provisions are changed.

All House Republicans are expected to vote no.

If every member votes and all GOP lawmakers vote no, the maximum amount of Democratic defections to pass a bill is 37, which would lead to a 216-215 tally.

House Minority leader John Boehner agrees with me, if the Democrats had the votes it would have been voted on long ago.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Sunday that Democrats don't have the House votes to pass the healthcare bill.

"If she had 216 votes this bill would be long gone," Boehner said of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on CNN's "State of the Union."

The Democrats "tried to pass it in September, October, November, December, January, February," Boehner said. "Guess what? They don't have the votes."

Boehner again panned the idea that President Barack Obama's healthcare summit had made the bill bipartisan, saying "he may have taken a couple of Republican ideas," but "this bill is nowhere near the middle."