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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Sept. 21, 2009
/ 3 Tishrei 5770
Obama's Health Tax on the Middle Class
By
Dick Morris & Eileen Mc Gann
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The elderly were the first group to turn against Obama's health care proposals, alienated by the huge $500 billion cut in Medicare in his plan. Now the young and the uninsured may be the next demographic group to jump ship, concerned about the huge premiums they will be required to pay for health insurance.
The requirement that everybody buy health insurance will impose a massive tax on all who now are uninsured. The Congressional Budget Office projects that the middle income uninsured will have to pay an average of more than 15 percent of their income in premiums, deductibles and co-payments under the plan.
For the poor, there will still be Medicaid. But for those individuals earning more, the required premium payments will be worse than any tax increase. For example, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that when the program is fully implemented by 2016 an individual earning $32,400 a year would have to pay $4,100 of his income in premiums before getting any subsidy. The CBO projects that, with deductibles and co-payments, he'd have to shell out $5,600 annually or 17.3 percent of his income. A family of four making $80,000 a year would have to pay about $10,500 in premiums alone. With deductibles and co-payments, it could rise to $15,000, or just under 20 percent.
And if they don't buy health insurance, they will face federal fines that begin to approach these same premium levels. They won't be able to buy what they truly need catastrophic insurance at a lower premium because that won't satisfy the mandate in the program.
The young and uninsured are going to catch onto what this bill is all about. In two sentences: It is designed to make healthy people who don't have health insurance and may neither need nor want it to buy it nevertheless in order to use their premiums to subsidize those who need it. And it cuts Medicare to help subsidize their premiums.
Obama has pledged only to increase taxes on the rich. But his program, essentially, taxes the core of the middle class (those making between $30,000 and $80,000 a year). It will require them to buy not the policy they need or want, but to overpay in order to pick up the slack for others who need the extra coverage.
Just as cap-and-trade is a carbon tax in disguise, so health care reform is a health care tax dressed up as a program to cover the uninsured.
But it is now clear that, with the Sen. Max Baucus Bill, the debate moves over to Obama's left flank, as the required payments on the uninsured rise. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a certified liberal, put it nicely: "It's very clear that the driving issue of this debate is affordability, particularly for middle-class folks. And the Democratic caucus is very much committed to getting this issue right."
If the Democrats raise the subsidies to the uninsured to lower these premium payments, they will end up in a box of their own making. No matter how they get the money, they offend supporters that they need to pass the bill:
a) If they get the money from more Medicare cuts, they alienate the elderly still further;
b) If they get it from raising the deficit, they lose moderates;
c) If they increase taxes to do it, they lose blue dogs;
d) And if they don't increase the subsidies, they lose the uninsured themselves.
Having the uninsured themselves the stated object of Obama's compassion turn against the program would be the unkindest and most lethal cut of all.
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