Friday, July 10, 2009

Can the DMV do Brain Surgery?

Congress is now considering a $1.5 trillion health care plan. How will they pay for it? Via The Foundry, we have a list of proposed tax hikes:

Capping the value of itemized deductions (including charitable donations)
A 3% surtax on households earning over $250,000
A Millionaires tax
A tax on soda
A tax on beer (oh no!)
an increase in payroll taxes
a flat tax on health insurance companies
broaden the Medicare tax on investment income
an employer mandate
a value added tax on everything BUT food, housing and Medicare

These are all being considered, although some more favorably than others. Can our economy seriously handle this?

And what happened to that promise not to raise taxes on any family making less than $250,000 a year? What are we left with on that one? It's already been broken with the tobacco tax, but are we now to assume that families making under $250,000 would not be affected by any of the above, either? What was Cap and Trade if not a huge tax on anyone that uses energy or buys goods?

It's all just words.

As far as health care goes, it's not a right. Our government already has programs in place to take care of those people that need care. Maybe those programs aren't sufficient - I'll give you that. Nobody says the VA is a paragon of excellence. But do we want EVERYONE'S care to be like that? It'll be like getting your tonsils taken out at the DMV.