Sunday, March 15, 2009

Obama Administration Is Open to Taxing Health Benefits

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is signaling to Congress that the president could support taxing some employee health benefits, as several influential lawmakers and many economists favor, to help pay for overhauling the health care system.

The proposal is politically problematic for President Obama, however, since it is similar to one he denounced in the presidential campaign as “the largest middle-class tax increase in history.” Most Americans with insurance get it from their employers, and taxing workers for the benefit is opposed by union leaders and some businesses.

In television advertisements last fall, Mr. Obama criticized his Republican rival for the presidency, Senator John McCain of Arizona, for proposing to tax all employer-provided health benefits. The benefits have long been tax-free, regardless of how generous they are or how much an employee earns. The advertisements did not point out that Mr. McCain, in exchange, wanted to give all families a tax credit to subsidize the purchase of coverage.

NYT

What a fucking hypocrite. Fuck you, Obama. Keep this shit up and you can kiss 2012 goodbye.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now, that would be disappointing, particularly in view of the earlier McCain health reform plan.

If we got trillions to bailout the white collar criminals on Wall Street and banks, there's got to be a way of funding the health reform - which is a heck of a lot more important - some other way.

Stunatra said...

@politicus, I totally agree. If the politicians actually cared about the American people they wouldn't have bailed out the banks or any of the crooks on wall street.