CBO: Obamacare Raises Taxes on Middle Class
- 600,000 Americans – Who Live In Families That Earn Less Than The Federal Poverty Level Of $24,600 Per Year – Will Be Subjected To The Individual Mandate Tax In Obamacare. (“Payments Of Penalties For Being Uninsured Under The Affordable Care Act,” Congressional Budget Office, 9/12)
- 1.2 Million Americans – Who Live In Families That Earn Between $24,600 And $49,200 Per Year – Will Be Subjected To The Individual Mandate Tax In Obamacare. (“Payments Of Penalties For Being Uninsured Under The Affordable Care Act,” Congressional Budget Office, 9/12)
- 1.2 Million Americans – Who Live In Families That Earn Between $49,200 And $73,800 Per Year – Will Be Subjected To The Individual Mandate Tax In Obamacare. (“Payments Of Penalties For Being Uninsured Under The Affordable Care Act,” Congressional Budget Office, 9/12)
- 1.1 Million Americans – Who Live In Families That Earn Between $73,800 And $98,400 Per Year – Will Be Subjected To The Individual Mandate Tax In Obamacare. (“Payments Of Penalties For Being Uninsured Under The Affordable Care Act,” Congressional Budget Office, 9/12)
- 600,000 Americans – Who Live In Families That Earn Between $98,400 And $123,000 Per Year – Will Be Subjected To The Individual Mandate Tax In Obamacare. (“Payments Of Penalties For Being Uninsured Under The Affordable Care Act,” Congressional Budget Office, 9/12)
- During Debates Over Obamacare, The Obama White House Emphasized That President Obama’s Middle-Class Tax Pledge “Didn’t Come With Caveats.” REPORTER: “The President’s opposition to tax increases for the middle income. Does that apply to the health care bill, and specifically to this idea about taxing health insurance premiums?” ROBERT GIBBS: “Taxing?” REPORTER: “Health insurance premiums.” GIBBS: “Well, I mean it’s — the statement didn’t come with caveats.” (Press Briefing By Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, Washington, D.C., 4/15/09)
Good News! Obamacare to Slam the Economy with $1 Trillion in New Taxes
Call it a penalty, call it a tax. Call it a “penalty tax” as the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has.
Call it what you will, we’ll just call it ‘devastating’.
Beltway Confidential reports:
President Obama’s health care law raises taxes by $1 trillion, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office.
The individual mandate — which the CBO calls a “penalty tax,” in apparent deference to Chief Justice John Roberts — will produce $55 billion in “penalty payments by uninsured individuals,” the CBO told House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in a Tuesday letter. Of course, the framers of the law didn’t design the mandate as a tax, and so it produces less revenue than any other provision in the bill.
The “additional hospital insurance tax” is the largest tax increase in Obamacare, projected to bring in $318 billion in new revenues. According to the 2010 report from the Journal of Accountancy, this tax hits “high-income tax payers” — individuals making over $125,000 a year or households making over $250,000 a year.
It may hit so-called high-income tax payers, but it will most certainly have an effect on lower-income families as well.
This from the Tax Policy Blog:
Though Obama vowed not to raise taxes on low-to-middle income Americans, various provisions will most certainly fall on lower income groups. For example, new annual taxes on health insurance providers, drug manufacturers, and the medical device industry will be passed on to all consumers in the form of higher prices and premiums. More direct are new taxes on high-cost “Cadillac” health plans, the tax on tanning services that is already in effect, and the individual mandate tax/penalty.
Regarding the tax/penalty for not purchasing health insurance, my analysis indicates that many low and middle-income households will experience tax increases of substantial magnitude. For example, starting in 2016, an uninsured family of four with income of $50,000 will owe $2,085—or 4.17 percent of income. As shown in the table above, the individual mandate represents a $55 billion tax increase over 10 years, and this is before it is fully phased in.
With high- and low-income earners alike having to worry about massive tax increases, the Obamatax should do wonders for the economy, particularly in the areas of spending and consumer confidence.
Here is a video reminder of Obama saying, “You don’t raise taxes in a recession”.
Report: Obamacare is a "Big Tax, Particularly on the Poor"
Just another sobering reminder that the President’s healthcare plan is a burden on people at every income level. While the administration would like to play semantics on calling it a penalty, the rest of the nation, in light of the recent Supreme Court decision, recognizes the massive tax implications of Obamacare – and now we’re learning that the effects will be economically devastating on one class in particular that the President claims to be a champion for … the poor.
The Daily Caller reports:
The penalty imposed by the Affordable Care Act on citizens who elect not to purchase health insurance will be at least $1,000 for most people, and more than $12,000 for high-income earners, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.
“We can see that this is a big tax, particularly on the poor,” writes the Tax Foundation’s William McBride. “Higher income families generally pay a higher amount, but actually a smaller percent of their income, making this a regressive tax.”
For example, the penalty for a family of four earning $20,000 will be $2,085, more than 10 percent of its income, according to the Tax Foundation — whereas a family of four making $100,000 will only have two percent of its income taken away by the government.
A regressive tax for a regressive regime. Why the War on the Poor, Mr. President?
The report then goes on to say that implementation of the individual mandate would have a negative impact on the economy, with people trying to shield their income from the new tax by “working less”.
An unemployment rate at 8.2%, an underemployment rate at nearly 15%, and the implementation of the President’s healthcare plan is going to cause people to ‘work less’ to avoid paying more.
Aren’t people already working less because of the President’s economic policies?
Obama. Isn’t. Working.
Democrats Willing to Play Chicken With the American Economy
Democrats have laid down the gauntlet, claiming they are willing to drive the American economy off the “fiscal cliff” if Republicans don’t agree to their demands to raise taxes on individuals and businesses making over $250,000 annually.
Democrats are making increasingly explicit threats about their willingness to let nearly $600 billion worth of tax hikes and spending cuts take effect in January unless Republicans drop their opposition to higher taxes for the nation’s wealthiest households.
Emboldened by signs that GOP resistance to new taxes may be weakening, senior Democrats say they are prepared to weather a fiscal event that could plunge the nation back into recession if the new year arrives without an acceptable compromise.
In a speech Monday, Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the Senate’s No. 4 Democrat and the leader of the caucus’s campaign arm, plans to make the clearest case yet for going over what some have called the “fiscal cliff.”
In other words, they are threatening to allow the economy to plunge into another recession if they can’t demand small businesses and job creators pay for their reckless entitlement spending during the Obama years.
Four straight years with a trillion dollar deficit, with Obama and the Democrats adding nearly $6 trillion to the national debt in the last three years, and now they are threatening to drive you over a cliff if they can’t collect more in taxes.
This from the PJ Tatler:
This is big, and it is outrageous: The fundamental difference between the two major parties is exposed for all to see. The Democrats want to punish job creators with higher taxes and are willing to hold middle class tax rates hostage to get what they want. The Democrats are lurching hard left on a pretty fundamental thing in an election year: the state of the economy. This is Jim Jones, drink-the-Koolaid stuff the Democrats are doing. They are threatening to hurt millions of Americans if the GOP doesn’t agree to raise taxes, taxes which may help bring the weak economy down if they are enacted. But if the GOP agrees to raise them it disappoints and dispirits its own base, and will share the blame for the consequences.
Bear in mind, this threat comes on the heels of one of the biggest tax hikes in American history – the Obamacare Tax.
With businesses having to deal with the cost of the Obama Tax, and now having to worry about the Bush Tax cuts expiring, a double dip recession seems likely, while unemployment will most certainly remain stagnant or grow even higher.
Obama of course, was the man who said, “you don’t raise taxes on anyone during a recession”.
Now they’re going to demand taxes be raised and intentionally attempt to wreck the economy?
Politics. Politics first, at the expense of sound fiscal policy.
Are you ready for the plunge?
Video: Obamacare or Obamatax?
“I absolutely reject” the notion that the individual mandate is a tax.
“… for us to say that you’ve got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase.”
“That’s not a tax increase…”
“… you can’t just make up that language and decide that that’s called a tax increase.”
And now, the latest from Mister Smith Media…
Mental Recession 