Good thing I'm not wealthy, cost of health care

[Torch]

57 Percent Tax Looms for Biggest Earners in NYC - Political News - FOXNews.com

[timshatz]

Yeah, that's if the money is collected. Rich people tend to be pretty smart about money (which is why they have it in the first place). Odds are, the projected collections aren't going to match reality. That's if this comes to pass. Seems like the whole plan is screwy.

[RabidAlien]

Sounds kinda like a "throw a bone to the little guys who are getting screwed over with all these assinine bailout plans, make them think the big guys are getting taxed too, even though there's so many loopholes they won't have to pay a penny..."

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Careful everyone. You know this thread will dabble into the world of Politics. You know what happened to that sections...

[Torch]

Was not interested in the politics of this one, just the mere sum of the the number(57%) that was thrown out there, that my friends is huge, plus all the other taxes one has to work thru. I don't want to go any further because this can turn to politics quickly, just mind blowing...

[RabidAlien]

My bad. Funny, though...the article said that rates could get up to 57%, then a paragraph later said some residents could pay 58.__%. So....which is it?

[Amsel]

July 17 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. lawmakers attempting to reshape the nation’s health-care system encountered a stumbling block when the head of the Congressional Budget Office said their proposals would fail to rein in spending.

“We do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount,” Douglas Elmendorf, director of the nonpartisan agency, told the Senate Budget Committee yesterday. “The curve is being raised.”

Elmendorf’s comments on draft plans issued by one Senate committee and being debated by three House panels may hinder efforts to pass the biggest expansion of health care since the establishment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. His office releases cost projections that can make or break legislation.

Democrats are trying to craft a plan to both trim health- care costs and expand coverage to an estimated 46 million uninsured Americans. A leading issue is how to pay for the measure, which may cost more than $1 trillion over a decade.

Health Bill Hits Snag as Budget Office Questions Cost-Cutting - Bloomberg.com

75% of Americans are happy with their health insurance now. I don't think we can afford this change. I just signed a petition against this bill.

[Amsel]

Yesterday the independent scorekeeper for Congressional spending proposals, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), dropped a bombshell on Obamacare. The core of President Obama’s case for his health care plan has been his claim that it will “bend the curve” on rising health costs thereby eventually lowering our nation’s exploding deficits. In a Senate Budget Committee hearing yesterday, chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) asked CBO director Douglas Elmendorf point blank: “I’m going to really put you on the spot. From what you have seen from the products of the committees that have reported, do you see a successful effort being mounted to bend the long-term cost curve?”

Elmendorf responded: “No, Mr. Chairman. On the contrary, the legislation significantly expands the federal responsibility for health care costs.”

The independent verdict on Obamacare is in: Instead of saving the federal government from fiscal catastrophe, the health reform measures being drafted by congressional Democrats would worsen an already bleak budget outlook, increasing deficit projections and driving the nation more deeply into debt. This runaway spending, coupled with the Democrats plans to raise taxes, will kill our struggling economy and leave us with double digit unemployment for years to come.

Trillion Dollar Deficits: In his blog yesterday, CBO director Elmendorf laid out the economic impact of Obama’s never ending trillion dollar deficits: “Large budget deficits would reduce national saving, leading to more borrowing from abroad and less domestic investment, which in turn would depress economic growth in the United States. Over time, accumulating debt would cause substantial harm to the economy.”

Employment Tax: Both the House and Senate bills help pay for their new spending by instituting an employer mandate to buy health insurance that, as CBO director Elmendorf explained earlier this week is really just a job killing employment tax: “[I]f employers who did not offer insurance were required to pay a fee, employees’ wages and other forms of compensation would generally decline by the amount of that fee from what they would otherwise have been.”

French Levels of Taxation: The House’s main vehicle for paying for their $1.3 trillion bill is a surtax on higher income Americans that, when coupled with state and local taxes, raises the top rate higher than economic competitor’s like Germany and Japan, and even higher than France. And that is just the opening bid. If health care savings do not materialize, as the CBO says they will not, the House bill gives Obama the unilateral authority to raise the surtax even higher.

The White House reads polls. They know that confidence in Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package, like the economy it was supposed to stimulate, has tanked. Just 38% of Americans are confident the stimulus will turn around the economy. That is why President Obama continues to pressure both the House and Senate to pass his health plan before the August recess. But moderates in Congress are beginning to push back. Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR) has promised to keep the current bill off of the House floor until the runaway spending and taxation are addressed: “I don’t like the idea of raising taxes in the worst economic crisis since World War II.”

We need more time to look over the bill and not rush it.

[BikerBabe]

Well here in DK the top taxes for the wealthy is around 75%, so what are those guys complaining about???
The average taxes for the everyday worker/office worker is around 42 to 50%, so what's the big deal?

[Torch]

I could live with a flat tax if everything else was'nt tax. Tax me 40% and no other taxes, would depend on salary amount but it would make life easier.

[vikingBerserker]

It's Social Security all over again..........

[Amsel]

If healthcare and everything else is going to be provided for by the goverment, I'm going to retire 30 years early and go fishing. It will be great, no worries anymore. I'll get foodstamps, disability, welfare, healthcare, section 8 housing and whatever else my generous fellow countrymen is willing to provide me during my lifelong vacation. I can't wait, Alaska here I come!