Back in the late 1980’s I remember seeing that tax freedom day was May 15th. This was the date of the year that you had paid your FEDERAL tax. In other words, you have worked all year up to May 15th paying your federal tax. For the rest of the year you can work for yourself. OH! Forgot about State and local taxes! Counting State and local taxes, the freedom date was determined to be about one month later. In percentage terms, 44% of the average income was taxed. In the year 1900, this figure was less than 1 percent.
The Health Care system in the United States IS the last great economic engine our country has. We have led the world for over a century in innovation and technological breakthroughs. This system is calculated to be about 18% of the private sector economy of the United States. Combined with the actions of the Federal government concerning the automobile industry and the banking system, the percentage of the private sector of our economy that was taken over by the government within the two year period of 2009 and 2010 totaled more than 47%. Naturally, this takeover is not complete nor is it immediate. It will be decades before the full effect of this will be felt.
The takeover of the health care system of this country by the government is a severe restriction of economic freedom. Don’t think so?
My Mother-in-law is 86 years old. Over the past 5 years, she has had both hips replaced. Her mobility and life have taken a huge jump for the better. Do you really believe that the Health Care system that is going to go into effect over the next 5 years or so would actually spend that kind of money on a 86 year old woman? They will supply her with painkillers and dope her up. This is what we have to look forward to. And when we get there, it will be far too late to reverse.
I do not know what the tax freedom date is today. I can tell you this: If things remain as they are today, the Federal government takeover of so much of the private economy can only severely reduce economic choices that U.S. citizens enjoy today. Economic freedom is what made America great. This is why we revolted from England in the first place. Taxation without representation was THE major issue. The overriding of the U.S. public resistance to government takeover of the health care system is placing our republic in jeopardy in more than one way.
What can stop the Republicans from privatizing Social Security once they obtain a majority that Democrats enjoyed in February 2010? Better yet, just repeal it. How about repealing Medicare and Medicaid? Why do we need to listen to the American public anymore now that they don’t understand what is good for them? The passing of the health care bill over the wishes of the American people is responsible. We can expect far more extreme actions from our government against our wishes. This is NOT freedom.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/cbo-well-only-have-giant-deficits-if-congress-wants-giant-deficits/2011/05/19/AG3w7pfH_blog.html
ReplyDeletedata directly from the Congressional Budget Office sited on the blog.
The republicans (I am including Clinton in the economic arena) have been in power for over 30 years. Our national debt has increase from under 1 trillion to just over 14 trillion. Why would we possibly want to repeat history? And why would change not be welcomed?
Evidence suggesting there was not passage of the Affordable Health Care Act against the will of the people:
CNN poll 2010:Of ten polls conducted just prior to the passage of the bill, three found about equal opposition and support, five found a plurality expressing opposition, and two found a majority expressing opposition.[109] The differences could have been caused by context and phrasing of the questions; for example, support for mandates was 56 to 59% when subsidies were mentioned for those who could not afford insurance but 28% when penalties were mentioned.[109] Some ideas which showed majority support, such as purchasing drugs from Canada, limiting malpractice awards, and reducing the age to qualify for Medicare, were not enacted.[109]
Polls conducted for CNN probed the reasons for opposition to the bill and found that while many people opposed the bill for being too liberal, a number of people opposed the bill for not being liberal enough. In March 2010 a CNN poll of 1,030 adult Americans probed opinions about the bill and its relative liberalness. It found that 43% of respondents opposed the bill for being too liberal, and 39% supported the bill and 13% opposed it on the grounds that it was not liberal enough.[110][111] The identical question when asked in December 2010 found that 37% opposed the bill for being too liberal, 43% supporting the bill and 13% opposing it on the grounds of being not liberal enough.[112]
March of 2011:A poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation in March 2011 found that repeal was favored by 39% of the public and opposed by 51%.[125] Supporters of repeal were divided almost evenly over whether the law should be replaced with a Republican-sponsored alternative. Among opponents of repeal, three-fifths wanted the law expanded, while two-fifths wanted to keep it without change.[125]
This bill was not passed against the will of the american people. If anything it was a split. After passage and people found out what was actually in the law the numbers against repeal have gone up consistently. Moreover, there are a fair amount of people who wanted more (public option).