Day: July 20, 2009

How About A Millionaires Tax?

As the health care debate heats up and the war of words begins in earnest, much has been said about the cost of the proposed health care plan.  Repubs keep harping on the cost and citing a CBO report that substantiates their figures….but there is a small problem brewing according to the Huffington Post:

The Congressional Budget Office has not released scores on the House health care reform proposal, despite reports that it had estimated the plan would cost taxpayers upwards of $1.5 trillion.

The report caused a stir on the Hill and stoked fears of a setback.

“THERE. IS. NO. SCORE,” e-mailed one frustrated committee aide.

UPDATE: In a statement unusual in its harsh wording, all three committees are pushing back against the story.

The Press Offices of the House Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce and Education and Labor Committees released the following statement today in response to an inaccurate report published in CongressDaily asserting that the House Tri-Committee health care reform legislation has been scored by the Congressional Budget Office:
“This report is premature and entirely fabricated. In fact, none of the reporters working on this piece contacted our press offices to fact check their story. The three House committees are still working to develop legislation and have not yet received a score from CBO on the discussion draft. As the three chairmen have made clear, our health care reform legislation will be paid for and we’re still considering revenue options.”

This is the second time that a non existent CBO report has been used to attack a proposal.  There is a possibility that there will be a report issued in the near future but as far as I can tell that day has not arrived yet.

Sorry..I digress……a millionaires tax?  This would be a surtax on people making more than $350,000 as a way to help pay for health care.  But a piece written in Bloomberg made me think of something:

While how to pay for health care is the biggest challenge, the idea of imposing a so-called millionaire’s tax to help fund the expansion is drawing fire from Republicans and Democrats. Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska has expressed skepticism, as have House Democrats in the Blue Dog Coalition, who describe themselves as fiscally conservative.

The surtax is “not my first choice,” said one Blue Dog Democrat, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota. “I’ve got some concerns.”

Sounds good right?  Think about one more thing…..about 72% of the American people want substantial health reform, at is one….now of the guys spouting crap about health care and shows such concern for the millionaire tax….but ask yourself, how many of those in Washington dealing with this issue are millionaires?  My guess would be just about all of them.

Here is another thought for you to consider–the most popular cost for health care being tossed around is $1.2 trillion—damn!–that is a lot, huh?  But there is more the possible amount to be raised by the surtax is $500 billion and in 2011 the Bush tax cuts will ecpire and that would bring in about $700 billion….you do not have to be a math whiz to figure that 500 plus 700 would equal $1.2 trillion….oops….does that mean that it would be almost budget neutral?  If so, why is everyone opposed?

Just what is the hub-bub, eh?

Republican Health Care

Or Watch What You Eat.

A Daily Agitation

Before I begin I want to inform those that are not political junkies such as myself…..Sotomayor will be confirmed…the CIA has been carrying out covert ops since its inception…..now you can give your mind a break from the cable catnip that is playing daily.

The health care issue is being hotly debated…both sides are trying desperately to be heard.  The Repubs have offered up their special plan for health care it is called ” The People’s Choice Act”,  in case you would like to check it out.

I read it and since I have plenty of time to comtemplate the stuff that was put into it…I would like to talk about the part that got my attention over most of the other stuff.  It is the part on food stamps and nutrition.  Paragraph 1 in this section reads:

(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall, based on scientific, peer-reviewed recommendations provided by a Commission that includes public health, medical, and nutrition experts and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, develop lists of foods that do not meet science-based standards for proper nutrition and that may not be purchased under the food stamp program. Such list shall be updated on an annual basis to ensure the most current science-based recommendations are applied to the food stamp program.

Okay with that posted it sounds like the “Food police” will be looking into your eating habits.  According to this, unhealthy foods could be bought with food stamps…that will mean that since the healthy foods are more expensive that the poor’s food dollar will not go as far in feeding their family.  I have written posts stating that healthy foods should be made more attractive to the poor by making them less expensive than the unhealthy varieties.  But just making it illegal to buy certain foods will not make them healthier.  Just like making drugs illegal did not make their use go away.

One of my more avid readers, Sue, had a good point….let the ones making these outrageous acts, have to live on the same amount that the people getting food stamps would have to do…..then these millionaires might learn some humility, by learning that they are morons for even attempt such crap.

More Cowards Come Out Of The Woodwork

A Daily Agitation

A few days ago I posted on an article that I had read about some Captain that was wussing out of his deployment saying that Obama was not legally the prez…..a moron?  You bet your butt he is…..but he is not alone as was reported by USA Today on line:

There are some more twists and turns this morning in the ongoing saga of an Army reservist who has challenged his ordered deployment to Afghanistan by arguing that President Obama is not a legal citizen of the United States and is therefore ineligible to be president and commander-in-chief.

A retired two-star general and an active reserve Air Force lieutenant general have now joined the case, the Ledger-Enquirer newspaper of Columbus, Ga., which originally broke the story.

Cook’s lawyer, in revising the original filing, now argues that the issue is not moot and adds that retired Maj. Gen. Carol Dean Childers and active U.S. Air Force reservist Lt. Col. David Earl Graeff have joined the suit “because it is a matter of unparalleled public interest and importance and because it is clearly a matter arising from issues of a recurring nature that will escape review unless the Court exercises its discretionary jurisdiction.”

This is just silly sh*t brought up by morons……that was harsh to call them morons….okay….f*cking COWARDS…do you like that title better?

Hey dipsticks…he was born in Hawaii unless you do not consider the island of yuppies and rich a/holes a state…then maybe.