Do you receive company-paid health benefits? Should you have to pay taxes on those benefits as if they were income? President Obama seems to think so, or at least he said as much this weekend. Aside from the personal cost to you (and the fact that Obama deeply criticized Sen. McCain during the campaign last fall when McCain made almost the EXACT same proposal), what are the ramifications of this proposal?
I've been reading a lot of blogs and comments about this latest announcement coming from the Oval Office, and some are missing the point, although only slightly. These aren't taxes on health care YOU BUY. These are taxes on BENEFITS from your employer. If you BUY YOUR OWN, you won't be taxed (remember this key point, it will be important later). Taking that into account, consider the following... The average cost for my wife's school district to pay for health benefits (medical, dental, vision) for a family of 4 is about $1,000 a month. That works out to approximately $12,000 a year. Taking into account that the top marginal tax rate will rise to over 38% (although I believe that the actual final number will be MUCH higher) under the current administration, that works out to potentially an extra $4,560 ($380 per month, or $414.55 if you are a teacher who only gets paid 11 months out of the year) in taxes being deducted from people's paychecks. Now also remember that if the FEDERAL government decides to do this, that many states will most likely follow suit in short order. So, if you live in California, that's an approximate extra 11% per year potentially...
That KILLS many folks financially. That's a car payment that they cannot afford anymore, etc... What hurts American families' saving/spending, hurts the American economy in a very impactful way by killing the ability of consumers to consume and thus for companies to remain solvent and to help pull us out of this economic quagmire.
There are two realities to this proposed plan:
1) Following this announcement I fully expect the DOW to have a loss, most likely a SUBSTANTIAL one, on Monday the 16th of March. Should the plan become reality, WATCH OUT BELOW!!! Could I be wrong? Sure. Some good news could come out before tomorrow morning which could counter this devestation, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Also, remember what caused this past week's uptick in the DOW: the administration finally put a lid on all this "gloom and doom" about the economy (for the most part), and there was very good news coming out of Detroit (Ford reworking their UAW agreement and eliminating the "jobs bank") and CitiGroup announcing they expect to turn a profit.
2) People could actually SAVE money under this plan by purchasing their own health care insurance, and then getting a tax credit the following spring. Although the savings will only be seen when they file their returns, and that added cost per month to their budget for health care will be about the same as the taxes that would have occurred (thus, having the same impact on their wallets AND our economy). Also, does anyone REALLY believe that employers will replace that lost benefit with more pay? Of course not, they will take it as a nice new "profit". And I wonder who will sell the people that insurance? This is all a ploy to further the push of UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE.
Are we sufficiently angry yet folks? I know I am. And as odd as it sounds, I'm also tired of being RIGHT. The evidence keeps mounting... Government control of anything it can touch, a dependent electorate, etc... It is SO obvious what is coming...
Not, "We The Elites"...
About Me
- PubliusX
- While I am a conservative evangelical Christian, my belief system has not always this clear. As a newly registered voter in 1996, I identified myself as a Democrat. While one could have classified me as a moderate-liberal and a semi-socialist, a Marxist I was not. My own faith in Jesus Christ would never have permitted this as Communism has at its core a requirement of FORCED SCIENTIFIC ATHEISM. I would not say that my views changed as I got older insomuch as a more adequate statement would be that "I grew up". I stopped seeing government as a great equalizer. I saw through the veil that is "the culture of victim management" that both major parties perpetuate and of government control and behavior modification by elitists who believe they know better than anyone else. I have seen the potential danger of "mob rule" in democracy, much the same as our founding fathers saw in their immense wisdom. I have come to realize that government can do ALMOST NOTHING for me which I cannot do better MYSELF. My only prayer, is that I do my forebearers proud.
