image from topnews

CBO chief contradicts the President - Medicare benefits would be cut in healthcare reform bill

Defending his Healthcare Reform agenda this weekend on national television, President Obama insisted that provisions included in both the House bill and the Senate Finance Committee bill–which fine individuals who choose not to purchase coverage–were not a tax.  What else do you call money that is collected by the IRS?  Even the Associated Press took issue with Obama’s claim “printing” the headline, “FACT CHECK: Coverage requirement enforced with tax.“  The article quotes Clint Stretch, head of the tax policy group for Deloitte, (a major accounting firm)…

“If you put something in the Internal Revenue Code, and you tell the IRS to collect it, I think that’s a tax…  If you don’t pay, the person who’s going to come and get it is going to be from the IRS.”

Furthermore, the language in the House bill calls the penalty a “tax on individuals without acceptable health care coverage.”

The Healthcare bills currently under consideration in the U.S. House and Senate are poorly written and very unpopular with the American people.  But instead of scrapping the current liberal efforts in favor of true bipartisan reform (that would reduce costs and increase access to quality medical care), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) warned Republicans that he would force Obama styled healthcare reform through Congress with “Reconciliation” if needed.  Congress simply refuses to listen to the American people.

• Newt Gingrich, “Turning the Senate into the Chicago City Council,” Human Events (September 23, 2009)
• Alexander Bolton, “Reid gives GOP direct warning on healthcare,” The Hill (September 22, 2009)
• Brian Darling, “Your Guide to Budget Reconciliation and Obamacare,” Human Events (September 22, 2009)