Obamacare In The Senate: Middle Class Taxes And Drug Reimportation
Robert Moffit /
Following passage of a one-thousand-page omnibus spending bill, the Senate reconvened to continue consideration of HR 3590, the Senate health bill.
Middle Class Taxes. Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) offered an amendment to recommit the Senate health bill back to the Senate Finance Committee with instructions to protect Americans who make less than $250,000 from tax hikes in the bill. In effect, the Crapo amendment would reinforce President Obama’s high-profile promise that Americans making less than $250,000 would not face tax increases.
In the Senate health bill, there are several provisions that would impose either a direct or indirect tax on people of all incomes, such as the tax on high-cost health insurance plans, the premium tax on insurance companies, the medical device tax and the pharmaceutical tax. Economists know, of course, that such taxes are passed-on to consumers. Nonetheless, the Crapo motion to recommit was defeated by a vote of 45-54.