“If You Think You Will Tax my Benefits and Give the Money to Ben Nelson in Nebraska, You’re Crazy”
Kathryn Nix /
As the White House prepares for a bipartisan summit on health care later this month, the rhetoric and reality of the President’s plans for health care reform continue to conflict. President Obama claims that he wants to bring congressional Republicans to the table to achieve health care reform. However, he has also expressed the desire to present a final piece of legislation prior to the summit, focusing on marrying the differing ideas of House and Senate Democrats rather than those of Democrats and Republicans. In any case, this is not off to a bipartisan start.
Though the White House perseveres in pushing the main elements of the massive Democratic health care bills, the unpopularity of these legislative proposals soars; it is a stark fact of life that is unacknowledged by the President. A classic example of a provision that is highly unpopular is the excise tax on “high value” health plans included in the Senate bill to raise revenue to cover the uninsured. The tax increase is a tax increase; it is not a much needed reform of the inequitable tax treatment of health insurance. Though support from Democrats in Congress and even labor leaders who helped cut the deal continues to dwindle, the White House continues to urge Congress to include the Senate excise tax in a final health bill. (more…)