Health Care Bill Includes at least $500 Billion in New Taxes

Obama promised not to raise taxes on those making less than $250,000. But that was necessary to get elected and no one should have believed he meant it. We all know Democrats just can't help themselves when it comes to raising taxes. And the health care bill is chock full of new taxes - estimates range from between $500 billion to $1 trillion in fact. Some of the taxes affect those making higher incomes, but at least seven affect everybody no matter how low their income. You thought your taxes were high already? Get ready for the steamroller.

Here's the rundown on some of the new taxes in the health care bill Obama signed this week:

1) Health insurance mandate. Beginning in 2014 (note - after the next presidential election), all legal citizens (what about illegals?) MUST purchase government-approved health insurance or pay 2.5% of their income (or $695) as a penalty. (Section 1501) Ka-ching!

2) Increase in Medicare Payroll tax from 1.45 percent to 2.35 for individuals making $200,000 or married couples making $250,000. Ka-ching!

3) 10% excise tax for indoor tanning services (N.B. Safe tanning beds are the best way to get Vitamin D3 during the winter months to boost the immune system. This will not have just a vanity impact.) Ka-ching!

4) A 40% excise tax on "Cadillac" health care plans on value of the plan over a certain amount. Most of these plans cover union workers and government employees who earn considerably less than $250,000. Increased costs levied on the plans will impact wages and benefits of employees. Ka-ching!

5) The law limits taxpayer deductions for medical expenses raising the threshhold from 7.5% of adjusted gross income to 10%. This will have a big impact on those with high medical expenses. Ka-ching!

6) Businesses with more than 50 employees are mandated to provide health insurance for their employees or pay hefty fines. The cost will be passed on to employees or businesses will reduce numbers to avoid the taxes meaning more job losses. Ka-ching!

7) From 10 percent to 20 percent increased penalty for those under 65 who make early withdrawals from health savings accounts for non-medical reasons. (Section 9004, takes effect next year. So if you have a big non-medical expense that requires borrowing from your medical account, be prepared to pay more.) Ka-ching!

8, 9, 10) New taxes on insurance companies, drug manufacturers, and medical device manufacturers. These expenses will be passed on to consumers in higher costs of everything from drugs to wheel chairs, walkers, prosthetics, and hospital beds.  Ka-ching!

Is it any surprise, in view of the increased tax burden levied by the "health care" bill, that it is being "enforced" by the IRS? Estimates are that 17,000 new agents will be required at a cost of $10 billion over ten years.

Those who supported this monstrosity will no doubt continue to tell us how cheap the new bill is and how we are all going to get better care at a lower price. No wonder the government has worked so hard to dumb down the schools. Selling this snake oil requires a gullible and stupid population. But, of course, they didn't sell it. Most Americans weren't dumb enough to buy the lie. So they had to shove it down our throats.

America hasn't even begun to realize the impact of this bill. It gives Uncle Sam unprecedented power to interfere in our lives from cradle to grave. No wonder Joe Biden called it an "effing big deal."

If you haven't joined the fight for liberty, today is the day to imitate our forefathers and say, "No taxation without representation." The earmarks and bribes used to pass this bill show just who was being represented by these Democrats, and it wasn't the American people.

See below for articles documenting tax increases:

Twelve Taxes in Health Care Law Violate Obama's Promises

Healthy tax increases, not only on wealthy

Deere, Caterpillar: Health-Care Law to Raise Expenses

US House Republicans Say Health Bill Expands IRS Power

Health Bill Extends Wage Tax to Investments

Kathleen Parker Nails Stupak

Columnist Kathleen Parker nailed Stupak as a deceiver in a March 23rd column. Stupak "dropped the baby" at the crucial moment when he could have been a hero, she said. She goes on: "Ultimately, he was weak and overwhelmed by raw political power. History is no stranger to such moments, but this one needs to be understood for what it was. A deception." He knew the executive order was phony and he "Stupaked" health care reform and the pro-life movement.

The final few paragraphs of Parker's article expose Stupak for the coward and hypocrite he is:

Stupak, too, knew that the executive order was merely political cover for him and his pro-life colleagues. He knew it because several members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops explained it to him, according to sources. The only way to prevent public funding for abortion was for his amendment to be added to the Senate bill.

Clearly, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the president didn't want that. What they did want was the abortion funding that the Senate bill allowed.

Thus, the health care bill passed because of a mutually understood deception — a pretense masquerading as virtue. No wonder Stupak locked his doors and turned off his phones Sunday, according to several pro-life lobbyists who camped outside his office.

Stupak's fall from grace is a lesson in human frailty. In a matter of hours, he went from representing the majority of Americans who don't want public money spent on abortion to leading the army on the other side. Already he has lost a speaking invitation to the Illinois Catholic Prayer Breakfast next month.  [He also lost a speaking invitation from Catholic Vote and an award from a pro-life group.]

After the Sunday vote, a group of Democrats, including Stupak, gathered in a pub to celebrate. In a biblical moment, New York Rep. Anthony Weiner was spotted planting a big kiss on Stupak's cheek.

To a Catholic man well versed in the Gospel, this is not a comforting gesture.

See the full column at the Chicago Tribune.

Obama's Health Care Country Club: Private and Exclusive

The Democrats have assured us that the Obama/Pelosi/Reid healthcare plan is the best thing since sliced bread. Everyone will have better health care at a cheaper price than ever before. Thirteen million new folks will be added, no one will be denied care for pre-existing conditions, children will be dependents on their parents' plans until they're 26, and it will be cheaper.

Have you stopped laughing yet?

One thing is very interesting about this wonderful plan that is good enough for the hoi polloi. Congress and the president exempted themselves from it. That's right. This wonderful health plan, this gift from God, this Christmas present in March that will solve everyone's health problems doesn't apply to the president and members of Congress. That's not all. It also doesn't apply to senior staff members, presumably including those who drafted the bill. Hmmm...they know what's in it and want no part of it.

A Washington Times editorial yesterday provided some interesting information:

Last year, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, spearheaded efforts to have all Americans included in the plan, but he ran into heavy opposition from unions representing federal workers - the same unions that were pro-Obamacare stalwarts. In September, the Senate approved a scaled-down amendment that covered members of Congress and their staff. When this provision later emerged from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office, the leadership and committee staff loophole had appeared. A move in December by Mr. Grassley and Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican, to close this loophole and to extend the law to senior members of the executive branch - including the president, vice president and Cabinet members - was blocked by Senate Democratic leaders.

Now what exactly do they know about the plan that we don't. If it's so good why are they exempted? The Times put it well when they wrote:

At yesterday's signing ceremony, Mr. Obama said Americans will be "part of a big pool, just like federal employees are part of a big pool. They'll have the same choice of private health insurance that members of Congress get for themselves." But the American people will have a public pool; the executive branch and congressional staffers kept their country-club pool private....The special exemptions slipped into the health care law are another example of how those statists who rule consider themselves a privileged class, imposing burdens on the country that they will not accept themselves....Meanwhile, we await Mr. Obama's explanation why if his "historic" health care law is so great for America, it's not good enough for him and his family.

Your answer, Mr. President? 

(Read the complete Washington Times editorial. )

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops' track record for liberalism is intact

Apparently the U.S. bishops' conference has learned little or nothing from the recent scandals over the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and other issues promoting Democratic party politics. And now the bishops' mouthpiece announces they will support the health care bill if....

What's the if? According to Politico, "The Roman Catholic bishops signaled Thursday that if agreement is reached with House leaders on anti-abortion language, the church would work to get the votes needed to protect the provisions in the Senate — and thereby advance the shared goal with Democrats of health care reform." Read more here...

So let's get this straight. The federal government by this bill will take over about 18% of the U.S. economy. The bill mandates all kinds of draconian rules that affect doctors' relationships with their patients and limits the freedom of Americans with regard to choosing their own health care. It threatens seniors who will not be protected by abortion provisions. It will certainly be more expensive and require higher taxes.

If that's not enough reason for concern, the bill directly violates the Catholic principle of subsidiarity and is one more giant step toward socialism.

So the USSCB's reputation for being totally committed to the Democratic party continues. They gave us the Obama administration and have diverted massive amounts of money to aid and abet the culture of death. This latest position on health care is completely consistent. Abortion is not the only bad element in the bill and the Church should be actively working to make sure that health care is dealt with at the lowest level possible. Federal government takeovers of every element of our lives is not a Catholic principle!

Michele Bachmann, Congresswoman from Minnesota, has spoken very articulately against the health care legislation and promoted better options that leave the people, not the federal government, in control.

 

Constitutional Government Begins with the States!

Most Americans don't know or understand the history of the Republic. They are willing to let the federal government usurp the rights of the states despite the fact that it was THE STATES that wrote the Constitution and put into place its amendments to restrict the powers of the federal government. The founders worried about abuse by a strong central government. (Remember, they were fighting the powers of absolute monarchy.) That's why they were so careful to include checks and balances in the Constitution. They would be appalled today at all the huge departments in Washington, D.C. usurping so many states' rights.

In Virginia, a local state senator illustrated recently his flawed understanding of the relationship between Washington, D.C. and the states. Senator Dick Saslaw voted no in committee on the senate version of a bill already passed by the House of Delegates, HB 10, to forbid Congress from mandating that Virginians purchase health insurance. Saslaw in an almost unbelievable witness to his ignorance of the Constitution said, “You’re telling me that we’re going to tell Congress what to do? Congress can do whatever it wants.”

No, Mr. Saslaw, Congress may not do "whatever it wants." The federal government has only the authority to make laws about a limited number of items. The rest are reserved to the states and to the people. Read the doc! Congress, especially under Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, may THINK it can do whatever it wants, but the Constitution specifically forbids it. That's why liberals work so hard to stuff the courts with judicial activists who will run roughshod over the rights of the states and the people protected by the Constitution. And that, Virginia, is why the tea party movement is growing and flourishing. Read more about Saslaw's ignorant outburst here....

The Tyrants on Capitol Hill Can't Make You Buy Health Insurance! Go, Virginia!

It's Health Care, Stupid!

Scott Brown won in Massachusetts for one reason: HEALTH CARE! The citizens of Massachusetts, like the citizens in the rest of the country, DO NOT WANT GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE! Is that loud enough for you to hear, Nancy and Harry? President Obama?

According to the Rasmussen polling organization: "Health care has been a huge issue in this election. Fifty-two percent (52%) of Brown voters say it was the most important issue in determining their vote. Sixty-three percent (63%) of Coakley voters say health care was the top issue...."

Let's see whether the tyrants in Congress try to shove it down our throats anyway.

Now that's torture!

A little humor with a message!

As I've said before, the Arian heresy was spread with hymns that taught heretical positions. But two can play that game and music can be used to spread the truth too. This song addresses the bogus health care bill with humor. Pass it on.

Connecting the dots between ACORN, SEIU, and Obama

What I know about ACORN, the SEIU and Obama

"I'm quite sure part of Obama and the SEIU's long-term plan is to unionize every American health-care entity. And thuggery toward that end doesn't bother them."

Virtual Reality on Obama's Health Plan: A 50 day wait for an appointment!

Congressman Joe Wilson on his "inappropriate" outburst:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Responses to the President's Encore on Health Care

The president's speech last night offered nothing new, just more of same about his plan which actually doesn't exist. THERE IS NO OBAMA PLAN, just Democratic proposals like HB 3200, the 1000+ page monstrosity that most congressman haven't read. So when the president says that "my plan" will do this or that, what exactly is he talking about? It's convenient, of course, not to have anything written down because he can claim anything about "the plan" and no one can check it out. He can call his critics liars for saying abortion will be covered because he says it won't in "my plan." But the only proposals out there will allow it. So where's your plan, Mr. President?

Remember that with Obama we are basically dealing with a community organizer, not a politician. Politics is the art of compromise - coming up with the best legislation that a body of representatives, voting for the people, can agree to. Community organizing, on the other hand, has nothing to do with compromise. It is about bringing together a constituency that uses whatever means necessary to get what they want. Community organizers are basically lobbyists with clubs and pitchforks.

Saul Alinsky, the father of community organizing, said the organizer must "rub raw the resentments of the people of the community; fan the latent hostilities of many of the people to the point of overt expression.... An organizer must stir up dissatisfaction and discontent."

Is it any wonder that the government process is becoming so acrimonious? This is the experience our community-organizer-in-chief brought to the oval office. And the tactics being used throughout the health care debate, especially at the town hall meetings with union thugs manhandling people, illustrate the community organizer's talent for fomenting "dissatisfaction and discontent." The president knows nothing about "bi-partisan" working together. The incivility that is so obvious in the government process is fundamental to community organizing.

Not long ago, Phyllis Schlafly advised her Eagle Forum members to "Put Rules for Radicals on your must-read list if you want to understand much of contemporary politics." It was good advice. If you want to know your president, read the book that formed his politics.

Here are some of the responses to the president's speech:

GOP Response to Obama's Health Care Address

From Mike Huckabee

Sarah Palin: Response to the President's Health Care Speech

And from Brian Gibson of Pro-Life Action Minstries:

The following was written for our next newsletter After listening to President Obama's speech last night, it seems more pertinent than when I wrote it earlier this week. Feel free to distribute this as you see fit.


"I Met Obama" -- a Year Later

About a year ago, while returning from sidewalk counseling at Planned Parenthood, I had a "chance" encounter with our President. At the time he was the Democrats candidate for President. Mr. Obama had quietly come to the Twin Cities for an evening fundraising event. My encounter with him was the next morning on the sidewalk in front of the Copper Dome Restaurant. Mr. Obama's "surprise" visit to the restaurant had more police, Secret Service Agents, and media persons in attendance than "regular citizens."

When Mr. Obama came out of the restaurant, he began shaking hands of those who had started to gather on the sidewalk. I was the second to be greeted by the candidate. It was an incredible opportunity to challenge Mr. Obama's pro-abortion positions which I took up immediately as he took my handshake

Much has transpired since that morning in August. The response I received from Mr. Obama has become very telling of this man's way of handling issues which he has strong beliefs and purposeful intentions. His response to me that day, the only person in the vicinity challenging his positions, was remarkably cool and collected. Instead of reacting by backing away or trying to dismiss me quickly, he held my handshake and tried to let me know that he was empathetic to what I was saying, even thanking me for sidewalk counseling that morning. He told me of his deep religious struggle with the abortion issue. But since taking office, Mr. Obama has acted decisively in favor of the killing of the unborn, showing no outward signs of a religious struggle over abortion.

Many months later, as President of the United States, Mr. Obama had a meeting with Roman Catholic Francis Cardinal George which included the life issues. Cardinal George related afterward that he had to repeatedly tell Mr. Obama that they did not agree on abortion and other life issues. Apparently, the President continues to deal with these all too important issues by trying to get us to believe that he agrees with us, while he does something else entirely.

Now Mr. Obama is telling the nation that pro-life leaders are "bearing false witness" and disseminating misinformation regarding the inclusion of abortion and euthanasia in the health care reform legislation he is pressing so hard to get enacted into law. Yet even the mainstream media has begun to make it clear that the President is wrong. The Wall Strret Journal, the Associated Press, Time Magazine, The Washington Post, and FactCheck.org have all commented that taxpayer funding of abortion and the requirement that abortion be covered are included in the health care bill before the House of Representatives. Once again, Mr. Obama wants us to accept what he says and disregard what he actually is doing.

He is articulate. He is poised. He is a capable of endearing many to himself as he meets and speaks to thousands. He is very charismatic. But he is also very dangerous. A man whose word is opposite his actions is untrustworthy, no matter how amazingly smooth and articulate he may be.

As stated in Romans 16:18, "For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting." Let us not be the unsuspecting when it comes to our leaders in Washington. Let us keep them in our prayers, not for the success of their plans, but for what is truly for the good of our nation; the defense of the innocent and upholding of the truth. Let us pray for their change of heart toward He who is all good. And let us continue to challenge their evil positions, listening not to smooth and flattering speech.


Our weekly radio show airs on Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to Noon. Listen as it airs in the Twin Cities area on AM 1330 or hear it on the internet from anywhere at http://relevantradio.streamguys.us/flash/ondemand.html. Click on "Living the Gospel of Life" to hear the show.

Sincerely in Christ,

Brian Gibson
Executive Director
Pro-Life Action Ministries

American Papist tracks bishops opposing Obama Care

Check out the list of bishops who have come out against Obama's health care proposal. Most of the bishops have public statements that you can access from the American Papist blog. Is your bishop on the list? If not, ask him why not.

A "Government Commissioner" may decide your health care!

Another little-noticed provision of the health care behemoth gives Big Brother sweeping new authority under the guise of a "Health Care Commissioner." Read the complete article.

The Health Choices Commissioner would establish “the benefits to be made available under Exchange-participating health benefit plans during each plan year,” according to page 84 of the 1,018-page bill. That means the commissioner would determine what benefits the participating insurance companies must offer participating customers in the exchange

The commissioner would also set rules for insurance companies to participate in the health insurance exchange, and establish criteria for individuals to receive federal subsidies to purchase insurance in the exchange, according to section 142 on page 42 of the legislation.

Further, the commissioner would have the authority to establish “automatic enrollment” of individuals who qualify for the health insurance exchange....

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) believes giving one bureaucrat this much power over the health insurance of Americans is among the least noticed provisions of the legislation.

“The American people want two things from health care reform: lower costs and more choices,” Boehner said in a statement. “Yet Democrats have done exactly the opposite coming up with a bill that actually raises costs--increasing the deficit by $240 billion--and letting a new federal bureaucrat make health care decisions that should be left to patients and their doctors.”

The legislation also gives the commissioner power to determine who can participate and under what conditions.

“The commissioner shall have the authority to establish such rules as may be necessary to deal with special situations with regard to uninsured individuals and employers participating as Exchange-eligible individuals and employers,” the bill says on page 82, “such as transitions periods for individuals and employers who gain or lose, Exchange-eligible participation status, and to establish grace periods for premium payment”

Obama's Health Czar Favors Rationing

Among the reasons America's health care is so expensive are advances in treatments in the last twenty to thirty years that offer a better quality of life as people age and a greater probability of cure. Consider the difference that knee and hip replacements have made in pain-free mobility for the elderly. Dialysis offers those waiting for kidney transplants a longer window of opportunity. In-utero surgery saves babies who wouldn't have survived the pregnancy twenty years ago. Advances in cancer treatment have made the word less terrifying as more and more Americans beat the disease.

Ezekiel Emanuel would like to see health care rationed and one can presume that his views are shared by the man who appointed him as an advisor. And yet, do you think he would have recommended rationing for Ted Kennedy? He wants to eliminate options for those with dementia, how about an incurable brain cancer? Would he have urge Kennedy to forgo the aggressive treatment that enabled him to live 15 months beyond his diagnosis and call for palliative care only?

The elite always have two sets of rules: one for themselves and the rest for the unwashed masses. If you want to understand how it works, read George Orwell's Animal Farm. All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.

Marine Corps Vet Nails His Congressman!

It's been interesting to see the manipulation of the Town Halls by ACORN operatives and liberals while they rant about the "brownshirt" locals who dare to disagree with Obama-no-care. Watch the camera pan this town hall meeting in Washington State. The entire crowd cheers on this Marine Corps vet as he challenges Congressman Brain Baird on health care.

Top Canadian Doctor Says System is "Not Sustainable"

Overhauling health-care system tops agenda at annual meeting of Canada's doctors

Was Ronald Reagan a Prophet?

"One of the traditional methods of imposing statism or socialism on a people has been by way of medicine. It's very easy to disguise a medical program as a humanitarian project. . . . Now, the American people, if you put it to them about socialized medicine and gave them a chance to choose, would unhesitatingly vote against it." - Ronald Reagan

Psst! Want to buy a historic covered bridge -- cheap?

Religious freedom is guaranteed under the first amendment of the Constitution, right? Do you think that matters to those who have a secular liberal agenda? Take a look at the Belmont Abbey College case. The college developed a health plan that removes coverage for abortion, sterilization, and contraception. Eight faculty members filed a complaint with the North Carolina Department of Insurance saying that the school was violating state law and didn't qualify for a religious exemption. Their case was dismissed. Then, with the support of the National Women's Law Center, they went to the local EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) in Charlotte, NC claiming "gender discrimination." The case was dismissed there as well.

Funny thing, though. Two months later the school received another letter reversing the decision. According to college president, Dr. William Theirfelder, "My understanding is it went to Washington, and that it was in Washington where this was decided, not the Charlotte office."

So a Catholic college MUST provide health coverage for immoral procedures condemned by Catholic doctrine.

Watch developments in this story. It throws light on the treatment Catholics can expect for not only Catholic schools, but every Catholic organization in the country that has employees. If you think Obama health care will respect the religious liberty of Catholic health workers and Catholic facilities, I have a nice historical covered bridge outside Woodstock that I'd be glad to sell you. All reasonable offers considered.

See the LifeSite story.