Prepare The Lube

From Americans for Tax Reform
8-23-10


In just six months, on January 1, 2011, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect.

They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves.

On January 1, 2011, here's what happens... (read it to the end, so you see all three waves)...


First Wave

Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief

In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families. These will all expire on January 1, 2011.


Personal Income Tax Rates Will Rise

The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed).

The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent.

All the rates in between will also rise.

Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as highermarginal tax rates.


The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:

The 10%
bracket rises to an expanded 15%

The 25%
bracket rises to 28%

The 28%
bracket rises to 31%

The 33%
bracket rises to 36%

The 35%
bracket rises to 39.6%


Higher Taxes On Marriage And Family

The "marriage penalty" (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of income.

The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child.

The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level.

The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut.


The Return Of The Death Tax

This year only, there is no death tax. (It's a quirk!) For those dying on or after January 1, 2011, there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million. A person leaving behind two homes, a business, a retirement account, could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones. Think of the farmers who don't make much money, but their land, which they purchased years ago with after-tax dollars, is now worth a lot of money. Their children will have to sell the farm, which may be their livelihood, just to pay the estate tax if they don't have the cash sitting around to pay the tax.

Think about your own family's assets. Maybe your family owns real estate, or a business that doesn't make much money, but the building and equipment are worth $1 million. Upon their death, you can inherit the $1 million business tax free, but if they own a home, stock, cash worth $500K on top of the $1 million business, then you will owe the government $275,000 cash! That's 55% of the value of the assets over $1 million! Do you have that kind of cash sitting around waiting to pay the estate tax?


Higher Tax Rates On Savers And Investors

The capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in 2011.

The dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6 percent in 2011.

These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013.

The Second Wave
Obamacare

There are over twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare. Several will first go into effect on January 1, 2011. They include:

The "Medicine Cabinet Tax"

Thanks to Obamacare, Americans will no longer be able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin).

The "Special Needs Kids Tax"

This provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) of $2500 (Currently, there is no federal government limit). There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children.

There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States , and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education.

Tuitiion rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington , D.C. ( National Child Research Center ) can easily exceed $14,000 per year.

Under tax rules, FSA dollars can not be used to pay for this type of special needs education.

The HSA (Health Savings Account) Withdrawal Tax Hike.

This provision of Obamacare increases the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 0 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAsand other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.


The Third Wave

The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and Employer Tax Hikes

When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2011, they'll be in for a nasty surprise-the AMT won't be held harmless, and many tax relief provisions will have expired.

The major items include:

The AMT will ensnare over 28 million families, up from 4 million last year.

According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center , Congress' failure to index the AMT will lead to an explosion of AMT taxpaying families-rising from 4 million last year to 28.5 million. These families will have to calculate their tax burdens twice, and pay taxes at the higher level. The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers.

Small business 'expensing' will be slashed and 50% expensing will disappear.

Small businesses can normally 'expense' (deduct) rather than slowly-deduct or 'depreciate' equipment purchases up to $250,000.

The traditional $250,000 figure will be cut all the way down to $25,000!

Larger businesses can currently expense half of their purchases of equipment. In January of 2011, ALL of it will have to be "depreciated." (The depreciation period over which a business must write off a major expense is often THIRTY YEARS.)

Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses

There are literally scores of tax hikes on business that will take place. The biggest is the loss of the "research and experimentation tax credit," but there are many, many others. Combining high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost jobs.

Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced

Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses.

Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut.

Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed.

The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for hundreds of thousands of families.

Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed

Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA.

This contribution also counts toward an annual "required minimum distribution." This ability will no longer be there.

PDF Version Read more:


And Worse Yet?

Now, your insurance will be INCOME on your W2's!

One of the surprises we'll find come next year, is what follows - - a little "surprise" that 99% of us had no idea was included in the "new and improved" healthcare legislation . . . the dupes, er, dopes, who backed this administration will be astonished!

Starting in 2011, (next year folks), your W-2 tax form sent by your employer will be increased to show the value of whatever health insurance you are given by the company. It does not matter if that's a private concern or governmental body of some sort.

If you're retired? So what... your gross will go up by the amount of insurance you get.

You will be required to pay taxes on a large sum of money that you have never seen. Take your tax form you just finished and see what $15,000 or $20,000 additional gross does to your tax debt. That's what you'll pay next year.

For many, it also puts you into a new higher bracket so it's even worse.

This is how the government is going to buy insurance for the15% that don't have insurance and it's only part of the tax increases.

Not believing this??? Here is a research of the summaries.....

On page 25 of 29: TITLE IX REVENUE PROVISIONS- SUBTITLE A: REVENUE OFFSET PROVISIONS-(sec. 9001, as modified by sec. 10901) Sec.9002 "requires employers to include in the W-2 form of each employee the aggregate cost of applicable employer sponsored group health coverage that is excludable from the employees gross income."

___________


Joan Pryde is the senior tax editor for the Kiplinger letters.

Go to Kiplingers and read about 13 tax changes that could affect you. Number 3 is what is above.

Introducing the Private Option Health Care Act

Statement of Congressman Ron Paul

United States House of Representatives

Statement Introducing the Private Option Health Care Act

May 27, 2010

Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the Private Option Health Care Act. This bill places individuals back in control of health care by replacing the recently passed tax-spend-and-regulate health care law with reforms designed to restore a free market health care system.

The major problems with American health care are rooted in government policies that encourage excessive reliance on third-party payers. The excessive reliance on third-party payers removes incentives for individual patients to concern themselves with health care costs. Laws and policies promoting Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) resulted from a desperate attempt to control spiraling costs. However, instead of promoting an efficient health care system, HMOs further took control over health care away from patients and physicians. Furthermore, the third-party payer system creates a two-tier health care system where people whose employers can afford to offer "Cadillac" plans have access to top quality health care, while people unable to obtain health insurance from their employers face obstacles in obtaining quality health care.

The Private Option Health Care Act gives control of health care back into the hands of individuals through tax credits and tax deductions, improving Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Savings Accounts. Specifically, the bill:

A. Provides all Americans with a tax credit for 100% of health care expenses. The tax credit is fully refundable against both income and payroll taxes;
B. Allows individuals to roll over unused amounts in cafeteria plans and Flexible Savings Accounts (FSA);
C. Provides a tax credit for premiums for high-deductible insurance policies connected with a Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and allows seniors to use funds in HSAs to pay for medigap policies;
D. Repeals the 7.5% threshold for the deduction of medical expenses, thus making all medical expenses tax deductible.

This bill also creates a competitive market in heath insurance. It achieves this goal by exercising Congress's authority under the Commerce Clause to allow individuals to purchase health insurance across state lines. The near-monopoly position many health insurers have in many states and the high prices and inefficiencies that result, is a direct result of state laws limiting people's ability to buy health insurance that meets their needs, instead of a health insurance plan that meets what state legislators, special interests, and health insurance lobbyists think they should have. Ending this ban will create a truly competitive marketplace in health insurance and give insurance companies more incentive to offer quality insurance at affordable prices.

The Private Option Health Care Act also provides an effective means of ensuring that people harmed during medical treatment receive fair compensation while reducing the burden of costly malpractice litigation on the health care system. The bill achieves this goal by providing a tax credit for negative outcomes insurance purchased before medical treatment. The insurance will provide compensation for any negative outcomes of the medical treatment. Patients can receive this insurance without having to go through lengthy litigation and without having to give away a large portion of their awards to trial lawyers.

Finally, the Private Option Health Care Act also lowers the prices of prescription drugs by reducing barriers to the importation of Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved pharmaceuticals. Under my bill, anyone wishing to import a drug simply submits an application to the FDA, which then must approve the drug unless the FDA finds the drug is either not approved for use in the United States or is adulterated or misbranded. This process will make safe and available imported medicines affordable to millions of Americans. Letting the free market work is the best means of lowering the cost of prescription drugs.

Madam Speaker, the Private Option Health Care Act allows Congress to correct the mistake it made last month by replacing the new health care law with health care measures that give control to health care to individuals, instead of the federal government and politically-influential corporations. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Florida Healthcare Freedom Act Makes The Ballot!

Dear Thomas,

Congratulations!

On Thursday, April 22, the Florida House and Senate voted in the affirmative for Florida Health Care Freedom. HJR 37 proposes an amendment to the State Constitution prohibiting the government from interfering with an individual's personal health care decisions.

I heard from many different legislators who were constantly getting emails and phone calls from their constituents. Your perseverance and hard work has paid off. This proposed Constitutional amendment will be on the ballot in November.

Now that we have won in our fight to place this amendment on the ballot, there is one more thing we need to do. Please send an email and thank everyone who voted for Florida Health Care Freedom.

The following is a list of emails for the Florida House members who voted yes. The list has been compiled with semicolons after each address so that you will be able to send these all out at the same time if you copy and paste.


sandy.adams@myfloridahouse.gov;

janet.adkins@myfloridahouse.gov;

kevin.ambler@myfloridahouse.gov;

tom.anderson@myfloridahouse.gov;

gary.aubuchon@myfloridahouse.gov;

leonard.bembry@myfloridahouse.gov;

ellyn.bogdanoff@myfloridahouse.gov;

esteban.bovo@myfloridahouse.gov;

debbie.boyd@myfloridahouse.gov;

rachel.burgin@myfloridahouse.gov;

dean.cannon@myfloridahouse.gov;

jennifer.carroll@myfloridahouse.gov;

marti.coley@myfloridahouse.gov;

l.cretul@myfloridahouse.gov;

steve.crisafulli@myfloridahouse.gov;

carl.domino@myfloridahouse.gov;

chris.dorworth@myfloridahouse.gov;

brad.drake@myfloridahouse.gov;

eric.eisnaugle@myfloridahouse.gov;

greg.evers@myfloridahouse.gov;

anitere.flores@myfloridahouse.gov;

clay.ford@myfloridahouse.gov;

erik.fresen@myfloridahouse.gov;

james.frishe@myfloridahouse.gov;

matt.gaetz@myfloridahouse.gov;

bill.galvano@myfloridahouse.gov;

rich.glorioso@myfloridahouse.gov;

eddy.gonzalez@myfloridahouse.gov;

tom.grady@myfloridahouse.gov;

denise.grimsley@myfloridahouse.gov;

adam.hasner@myfloridahouse.gov;

alan.hays@myfloridahouse.gov;

doug.holder@myfloridahouse.gov;

ed.homan@myfloridahouse.gov;

ed.hooper@myfloridahouse.gov;

mike.horner@myfloridahouse.gov;

matt.hudson@myfloridahouse.gov;

dorothy.hukill@myfloridahouse.gov;

kurt.kelly@myfloridahouse.gov;

paige.kreegel@myfloridahouse.gov;

john.legg@myfloridahouse.gov;

marcelo.llorente@myfloridahouse.gov;

carlos.lopez-cantera@myfloridahouse.gov;

debbie.mayfield@myfloridahouse.gov;

charles.mcburney@myfloridahouse.gov;

seth.mckeel@myfloridahouse.gov;

dave.murzin@myfloridahouse.gov;

peter.nehr@myfloridahouse.gov;

bryan.nelson@myfloridahouse.gov;

marlene.otoole@myfloridahouse.gov;

jimmy.patronis@myfloridahouse.gov;

pat.patterson@myfloridahouse.gov;

scott.plakon@myfloridahouse.gov;

jc.planas@myfloridahouse.gov;

ralph.poppell@myfloridahouse.gov;

steve.precourt@myfloridahouse.gov;

bill.proctor@myfloridahouse.gov;

lake.ray@myfloridahouse.gov;

ron.reagan@myfloridahouse.gov;

david.rivera@myfloridahouse.gov;

julio.robaina@myfloridahouse.gov;

ken.roberson@myfloridahouse.gov;

robert.schenck@myfloridahouse.gov;

william.snyder@myfloridahouse.gov;

kelli.stargel@myfloridahouse.gov;

nick.thompson@myfloridahouse.gov;

john.tobia@myfloridahouse.gov;

baxter.troutman@myfloridahouse.gov;

charles.vanzant@myfloridahouse.gov;

will.weatherford@myfloridahouse.gov;

mike.weinstein@myfloridahouse.gov;

trudi.williams@myfloridahouse.gov;

john.wood@myfloridahouse.gov;

ritch.workman@myfloridahouse.gov;

juan.zapata@myfloridahouse.gov;






Here is a separate list of the Florida Senators who voted yes. SJR 72 was the Senate version.


alexander.jd.web@flsenate.gov;

altman.thad.web@flsenate.gov;

atwater.jeff.web@flsenate.gov;

baker.carey.web@flsenate.gov;

bennett.mike.web@flsenate.gov;

constantine.lee.web@flsenate.gov;

crist.victor.web@flsenate.gov;

dean.charles.web@flsenate.gov;

detert.nancy.web@flsenate.gov;

portilla.alex.web@flsenate.gov;

dockery.paula.web@flsenate.gov;

fasano.mike.web@flsenate.gov;

gaetz.don.web@flsenate.gov;

garcia.rudy.web@flsenate.gov;

gardiner.andy.web@flsenate.gov;

haridopolos.mike.web@flsenate.gov;

jones.dennis.web@flsenate.gov;

lynn.evelyn.web@flsenate.gov;

negron.joe.web@flsenate.gov;

oelrich.steve.web@flsenate.gov;

peaden.durell.web@flsenate.gov;

richter.garrett.web@flsenate.gov;

storms.ronda.web@flsenate.gov;

thrasher.john.web@flsenate.gov;

villalobos.alex.web@flsenate.gov;

wise.stephen.web@flsenate.gov;



Once again Congratulations! Thank you for everything that you do.

In Liberty,

Mark Cross
State Coordinator
Florida Campaign for Liberty
407-908-2749

Florida Healthcare Freedom Bill Needs Your Help

Dear Liberty Lovers,

The Florida Healthcare Freedom Act (HJR 37) needs our help to get passed out of committees and onto the House floor for a vote. Immediate action is needed!

TODAY is the last chance for the Healthcare Freedom Act to be approved by the Rules and Calendar Council for the floor. We need to act now!

"The federal mandate violates individuals' and states' rights. If you believe in medical freedom; if you believe in individual rights, if you believe that you alone should have the right to decide what health care plan is best for you and your family -- if you believe in these fundamental values that our founding fathers believed in then you need to support this legislation," said Senator Carey Baker

There is a week left in session, HJR 37 - The Healthcare Freedom Act - needs to be approved by the Rules and Calendar Council so it may go to the floor for a vote. There is one more Rules and Calendar Council meeting TODAY, Monday, April 19th, 6:15pm.

Please call the following Representatives on this committee and within the leadership and urge them to approve the bill. You may call them at the following numbers.

Let them know as a Floridian, you deserve the right to choose your own health care.

These Representatives are Florida's last chance for Health Care Freedom.

Cannon, Dean (R) 850-488-2742 407-623-5740 Incoming Speaker

Galvano, Bill (R) 850-488-4086 941-708-4968 Chair

Bogdanoff, Ellyn Setnor (R)850-488-0635 954-762-3757 Vice Chair

Hasner, Adam (R)850-488-1993 561-279-1616

Reagan, Ron (R)850-921-7747 941-727-6447

Adams, Sandra (R)Already Co-Sponsor

To read about this bill please visit: Florida Healthcare Freedom Bill

To Become a citizen sponsor of this bill, along with other Freedom bills, please visit: FLFreedom.org

Florida Healthcare Bill Hits Roadblock

HJR 37 has hit a roadblock in the House Rules and Calendar Council. We need your help now. Please call the following Representatives on this committee and urge them to approve the bill. Let them know as a Floridian, you deserve the right to choose your own health care.

You may telephone them at the following numbers. If you click on the name you will be taken to their legislative page where you can send an email.

At the bottom under Quick Links are several news articles posted today for a little more background information. The bottom line is that we must apply more pressure to the legislature if we want Health Care Freedom in Florida.

Please make a special point to contact Dean Cannon - the incoming Speaker, Adam Hasner - Majority Leader, and Bill Galvano - the Committee Chair. After these 3 call everyone who is not a co-sponsor.

These Representatives could very well be Florida's last chance for Health Care Freedom.

Please contact:

Please contact:

Cannon, Dean (R) Galvano, Bill (R) 850-488-2742   407-623-5740  Incoming Speaker 850-488-4086   941-708-4968  Chair Bogdanoff, Ellyn Setnor (R) 850-488-0635   954-762-3757  Vice Chair Waldman, James W. (D) 850-488-3164   954-956-5600  Ranking Democrat Adams, Sandra (R) Already Co-Sponsor  Aubuchon, Gary (R) Already Co-Sponsor Fetterman, Adam M. (D) 850-488-8749   772-873-6500 Gonzalez, Eduardo (R) 850-488-1683   305-364-3066 Hasner, Adam (R) 850-488-1993   561-279-1616 Jenne, Evan (D) 850-488-0245   954-321-2760 Llorente, Marcelo (R) 850-488-5047   305-273-3200 Lopez-Cantera, Carlos (R) 850-488-4202   305-442-6877 Reagan, Ron (R) 850-921-7747   941-727-6447 Rehwinkel Vasilinda, Michelle (D) 850-488-0965 Rivera, David (R) 850-488-7897  305-227-7630 Saunders, Ron (D) 850-488-9965  305-853-1947 Thurston, Perry E. (D) 850-488-1084  954-762-3746 Troutman, Baxter G. (R) Already Co-Sponsor Weatherford, Will W. (R) Already Co-Sponsor

Thanks, Mark Cross State Coordinator Florida Campaign for Liberty 407-908-2749

Doctor Tells Obama Supporters: Go Elsewhere For Health Care

MOUNT DORA — A doctor who considers the national health-care overhaul to be bad medicine for the country posted a sign on his office door telling patients who voted for President Barack Obama to seek care "elsewhere."

"I'm not turning anybody away — that would be unethical," Dr. Jack Cassell, 56, a Mount Dora urologist and a registered Republican opposed to the health plan, told the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday. "But if they read the sign and turn the other way, so be it."

The sign reads: "If you voted for Obama … seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years."

Estella Chatman, 67, of Eustis, whose daughter snapped a photo of the typewritten sign, sent the picture to U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, the Orlando Democrat who riled Republicans last year when he characterized the GOP's idea of health care as, "If you get sick, America … Die quickly."

Chatman said she heard about the sign from a friend referred to Cassell after his physician recently died. She said her friend did not want to speak to a reporter but was dismayed by Cassell's sign.

"He's going to find another doctor," she said.

Cassell may be walking a thin line between his right to free speech and his professional obligation, said William Allen, professor of bioethics, law and medical professionalism at the University of Florida's College of Medicine.

Allen said doctors cannot refuse patients on the basis of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or disability, but political preference is not one of the legally protected categories specified in civil-rights law. By insisting he does not quiz his patients about their politics and has not turned away patients based on their vote, the doctor is "trying to hold onto the nub of his ethical obligation," Allen said.

"But this is pushing the limit," he said.

Cassell, who has practiced medicine in GOP-dominated Lake County since 1988, said he doesn't quiz his patients about their politics, but he also won't hide his disdain for the bill Obama signed and the lawmakers who passed it.

In his waiting room, Cassell also has provided his patients with photocopies of a health-care timeline produced by Republican leaders that outlines "major provisions" in the health-care package. The doctor put a sign above the stack of copies that reads: "This is what the morons in Washington have done to your health care. Take one, read it and vote out anyone who voted for it."

Cassell, whose lawyer wife, Leslie Campione, has declared herself a Republican candidate for Lake County commissioner, said three patients have complained, but most have been "overwhelmingly supportive" of his position.

"They know it's not good for them," he said.

Cassell, who previously served as chief of surgery at Florida Hospital Waterman in Tavares, said a patient's politics would not affect his care for them, although he said he would prefer not to treat people who support the president.

"I can at least make a point," he said.

The notice on Cassell's office door could cause some patients to question his judgment or fret about the care they might receive if they don't share his political views, Allen said. He said doctors are wise to avoid public expressions that can affect the physician-patient relationship.

Erin VanSickle, spokeswoman for the Florida Medical Association, would not comment specifically.

But she noted in an e-mail to the Sentinel that "physicians are extended the same rights to free speech as every other citizen in the United States."

The outspoken Grayson described Cassell's sign as "ridiculous."

"I'm disgusted," he said. "Maybe he thinks the Hippocratic Oath says, ‘Do no good.' If this is the face of the right wing in America, it's the face of cruelty. … Why don't they change the name of the Republican Party to the Sore Loser Party?"

Obama Breaks Another Campaign Promise

 Source

(CNSNews.com) – As many as a dozen taxes in the new health care law violate President Barack Obama’s campaign pledge not to raise taxes on families earning less than $250,000 and on individuals earning less than $200,000.

At least seven of these taxes directly affect health consumers regardless of income, such as the individual mandate to buy insurance, the employer mandate, the tanning tax, and limits and penalties on health savings accounts. In addition, Republicans argue that the tax impact of the law should include indirect taxes, such as the annual taxes on the health care sector that will be passed on to consumers.

On many occasions during the 2008 presidential campaign, candidate Barack Obama pledged that, if elected, he would ensure that Americans earning less than $250,000 a year would not see a federal tax increase of any kind.

“I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increases,” the Illinois senator told a crowd in Dover, N.H. on Sept. 12, 2008. “Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.”

As president, Obama repeated the pledge during his Feb. 24, 2009 address to a joint session of Congress.

“If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not a single dime,” the president said.

The bulk of the $500 billion in tax increases in the new health care law targets households earning $250,000 and individuals earning $200,000 -- for example, the increase in the Medicare payroll tax. But many of the taxes hit the general public at large.

The individual mandate, for example, will require all legal U.S. residents to purchase a government-approved health insurance plan beginning in 2014. Once the reconciliation bill is voted on in the Senate to amend the law signed by Obama this week, the individual mandate will require a single person to pay 2.5 percent of their income or $695 if they do not purchase health insurance.

Generally, a single person making $30,000 or more will have to pay a 2.5 percent penalty if they do not carry health insurance. A person making less than $30,000 will have to pay $695. This penalty/tax is found in Section 1501 of the bill for “requirement to maintain minimum essential coverage.

The government will also mandate that employers provide health insurance for their employees. This mandate would include small businesses with revenues below $250,000 per year. If the employer does not provide health insurance, the business will have to pay a tax of $750 for each full-time employee. For the employer who requires a waiting period of 30-to-60 days, there is a $400 tax per employee and $600 per employee if the business takes longer than 60 days to comply. This is found in Section 1513 of the bill for “shared responsibility for employers.”

“Small businesses are particularly hard hit,” said Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.), a doctor and member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which writes tax laws. “They may end up with revenue below $250,000 and will have less take-home pay.”

Under the new law, Americans would not be able to use pre-tax dollars from health savings accounts (HSA), flexible spending accounts (FSA), or health reimbursements accounts (HRA) to buy over-the-counter non-prescription medicines. This measure takes effect in 2011 and is supposed to bring in $5 billion dollars. This is found in Section 9003 of the law, under “Distributions for medicine qualified only if for prescribed drug or insulin.”

“Many of us expected the president would violate his pledge,” Boustany told CNSNews.com. “HSAs and FSAs are a prime example. There are other adjustments we will find as we dig into this law. The more the American people see, the more they will find how the amount of tax increases affects them personally.”

Further, the law increases the tax from 10 percent to 20 percent for non-medical early withdrawals from a health savings account for those under the age of 65. This measure takes effect in 2011 and is estimated to increase revenues by $1.3 billion. This is under Section 9004, “Increase in additional tax on distributions from HSAs and Archer MSAs not used for qualified medical expenses.”

Beginning in 2011, the government will impose a cap of $2,500 on FSAs, which are now unlimited, as a means of raising $14 billion in revenue. This is under Section 9005, “Limitation on health flexible spending arrangements under cafeteria plans.”

Those seeking a tan without catching natural rays will find a new 10-percent excise tax on using indoor tanning salons. The tax, estimated to raise $2.7 billion, will take effect in July. This is under Section 10907, “Excise tax on indoor tanning services in lieu of elective cosmetic medical procedures.”

Now, medical expenses that exceed 7.5 percent of a person’s adjusted gross income can be deducted for tax purposes. But the new law raises that deduction threshold to 10 percent of adjusted gross income, meaning fewer tax deductions for someone with high medical costs. This provision starts in 2013 and is supposed to raise $15.2 billion in revenue. This is under Section 9013, “Modification of itemized deduction for medical expenses.”

The law also imposes a 40-percent tax on high-cost insurance plans reaching $10,200, but exempts union members unless the cost of their plan reaches $27,500. This is called the “Cadillac tax.” This tax is actually on the insurer. This goes into effect in 2018 and is estimated to raise $32 billion in revenue.

There is also a tax on insured and self-insured health plans for a patient-centered outcomes research trust fund. Boustany called this a slush fund for the Department of Health and Human Services to dole out grants.

The government estimates it will bring in $107 billion in revenue from new taxes on insurance companies, drug manufacturers and medical device manufacturers. These are three separate indirect taxes that will be passed on to consumers, Republicans contend.

“The annual tax on drug manufacturers and device makers will all be passed along to the consumer,” Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) told CNSNews.com. “The high-cost plan will encourage some employees to join a union to get a 40-percent discount.”

But Americans for Tax Reform, a libertarian taxpayer-advocacy group, does not believe it is necessary to consider indirect taxes.

“Frankly, you can say any tax is going to affect consumers. We didn’t need to really stretch to include too many other things,” ATR tax policy analyst Ryan Ellis told CNSNews.com. “We have seven that were pretty clear violations of President Obama’s pledge not to raise taxes on these people. The one you always hear people bring up is the Cadillac excise tax. That’s not a tax on people, that's a tax on the insurance company. We’ve never asserted that that is a tax [on consumers] because frankly it isn’t. We don’t need to make that argument because there are seven that clearly are.”

Just before signing the bill into law, President Obama said, “And this represents the largest middle-class tax cut for health care in our history.”

A Democratic spokesman for the House Ways and Means Committee could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. But after Obama signed the bill on Tuesday, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin (D-Mich.) said in a statement that the law provides tax credits for four million small businesses.

“Today, in the greatest of American traditions – opportunity and community – we enacted a law that will improve the overall health of our citizens and the overall well-being of our nation,” Levin said in the March 23 statement. “This legislation was the product of generations of hard work, driven by the personal stories of so many who have suffered from a lack of health insurance and the devastation of rising health care costs.”

Ron Paul On Morning Joe 3/26/2010

Healthcare Bill To Receive New Vote Due To "procedural violations"

Republicans forced a new vote on fixes to historic US health care reform legislation by finding two procedural "violations," a spokesman for a top Democratic senator said on Thursday.

"After hours of trying to find a way to block this, they (Republicans) found two relatively minor provisions that are violations of Senate procedure which means we're going to have to send it back to the House," Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, told AFP.

Reid had been working to corral Senate votes for a package of "fixes" to the health care legislation, which President Barack Obama signed into law on Tuesday.

Manley said the violations related to provisions dealing with "higher education," but did not provide further details.

"I'm confident that the House will be able to deal with these and pass the legislation," he said.

A day after Obama signed the main health care reform legislation into law, the Senate began debate Wednesday on modifications sent by the House.

Often the Senate and the House pass bills containing different language and then hammer out a consensus bill that both houses then vote on again.

In this case no compromise bill was drawn up and the House agreed to use the Senate version for its historic vote last Sunday.

The fixes were to alter provisions in the original Senate version of health care reform that the House had agreed to pass in exchange for certain alterations.

The Senate took up the package of fixes Wednesday, with Republicans seeking to introduce dozens of amendments aimed in part at forcing the House to vote anew.

Democrats planned to approve the changes in the Senate under rules that prevent Republicans from using a filibuster to indefinitely delay and kill the measure.

The health care legislation Obama signed into law Tuesday is his administration's key priority and will extend coverage to some 32 million Americans who currently lack insurance.

The $940 billion overhaul means 95 percent of US citizens and legal residents under the age of 65 will have health insurance.

The 2,000-plus page bill mandates that all Americans buy insurance, or face fines -- a provision that has drawn lawsuits from several state attorney generals who claim it is unconstitutional.

Among other key reforms, the legislation also bans insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, from dropping clients who get sick or from setting lifetime caps.

Republicans presented a united front in opposition to the bill, which also drew anti-reform protesters to Washington.

But a USA Today/Gallup poll taken just as it was signed into law found that nearly half of Americans support the overhaul, with 49 percent of respondents saying the bill was a "good thing," while 40 percent considered it a "bad thing."

US Senate passes 'fixes' to landmark health law

The US Senate on Thursday passed a set of technical changes to President Barack Obama's historic health care overhaul, sending the package to the House of Representative for a likely final vote.

With US Vice President Joe Biden overseeing the proceedings, senators voted 56-43 to approve a set of fixes to the law, which Obama triumphantly signed on Tuesday after a year of bitter debate and legislative struggles.

Source

Ron Paul on CNN 3/19/10

This is one of Dr. Paul's best interviews I have seen in awhile.

Florida Healthcare Freedom Act (HJR37)

Florida Campaign for Liberty has been promoting the Florida Health Care Freedom Act (HJR37) sponsored by Sen. Carey Baker and Rep. Scott Plakon.  Even though our bill currently has 42 House sponsors we are not on the agenda for a committee hearing.  Committees will soon be meeting.  I would like to ask you to please phone or email the Chairman of the Health Care Regulation Policy Committee, Nicholas "Nick" Thompson, District 73, (Fort Myers) and ask that HJR37 be heard in committee.  We do not want to wait until March.  

     The Florida Health Care Freedom Act allows a vote on an amendment to the Florida Constitution that says any "law or rule shall not compel, directly or indirectly, any person, employer, or health care provider to participate in any health care system," and specifies people and employers can't be fined for not buying insurance. This bill does not ban federal programs such as Medicare and Medicaid in our state; it simply focuses on restricting the federal government from forcing Americans to participate in an insurance policy, public or private.

     You may contact Representative Thompson at the following numbers.

Capitol Office---850-488-1541

District Office---239-533-2411

Click here to email

     You have all done a remarkable job of getting this legislation this far, but please take the time to contact Chairman Thompson and ask to schedule a hearing in his committee.  By acting now the Florida Health Care Freedom Act will become one of the first bills out of committee.  We can use this momentum to further our goals of sovereignty for Florida.

     Thank you for everything you do.

Ron Paul vs. Jew Anthony Weiner 1/20/2010

Anthony Weiner is a socialist hook nosed jew rat.

Dr. Starner Jones Message To Obama

Starner Jones, MD

I am a seventh generation Mississippian and wanted to come back here after going somewhere else for college and medical school.. My extracurricular interests are golf, hunting, fishing and college football.


Dear Sirs:

"During my last night's shift in the ER, I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient with an expensive shiny gold tooth, multiple elaborate expensive tattoos, a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and a new cellular telephone equipped with her favorite R&B tune for a ringtone.. Glancing over the chart, one could not help noticing her payer status: Medicaid. She smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and, somehow, still has money to buy beer.

And our Congress expects me to pay for this woman's health care? Our nation's health care crisis is not a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. It is a crisis of culture ˜ a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. A culture that thinks "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me". Life is really not that hard. Most of us reap what we sow. Don't you agree?

STARNER JONES, MD
Jackson , MS

Ron Paul C4L Address 12/22/2009

Tonight, a cloture vote on Senator Harry Reid's 2,000-plus page complete takeover of health care is expected in the Senate.

This vote is not on final passage of the bill, but on agreeing to start debate on the legislation.

Contact your senators and tell them to vote "No" on cloture! Health care reform is a too critical of an issue to waste time debating over thousands of pages of the same type of Washington interference that has wrecked our current system.

There will be more votes and more chances to stop Reid's bureaucratic nightmare from passing, but a rejection of cloture tonight would send a strong signal to President Obama and congressional leadership that we will continue to fight their efforts to address our country's problems with "more of the same."

We recently launched OperationHealthFreedom.com to bring a liberty-centered approach to the health care reform debate by supporting tax credits and deductions as proposed in Ron Paul's H.R. 1495, pushing Ron Paul's H.R. 2629 to prevent government from forcing us to buy health insurance and sending the IRS after us if we don't, and advocating allowing Americans to purchase health insurance across state lines, as provided for in Congressman John Shadegg's H.R. 3217.

Don't forget to contact your senators and urge them to vote "No" on Harry Reid's cloture motion!

Instead, tell them it's time to focus debate on real health care solutions as called for in C4L's Operation Health Freedom.

In Liberty,

John Tate

President

P.S. Visit OperationHealthFreedom.com to see Tom Woods, Judge Napolitano, Rand Paul, Peter Schiff, and Daniel Hannan discuss getting government out of our health care!

Senate Set To Start Socialized Healthcare Debate

Tonight, a cloture vote on Senator Harry Reid's 2,000-plus page complete takeover of health care is expected in the Senate.

This vote is not on final passage of the bill, but on agreeing to start debate on the legislation.

Contact your senators and tell them to vote "No" on cloture! Health care reform is a too critical of an issue to waste time debating over thousands of pages of the same type of Washington interference that has wrecked our current system.

There will be more votes and more chances to stop Reid's bureaucratic nightmare from passing, but a rejection of cloture tonight would send a strong signal to President Obama and congressional leadership that we will continue to fight their efforts to address our country's problems with "more of the same."

We recently launched OperationHealthFreedom.com to bring a liberty-centered approach to the health care reform debate by supporting tax credits and deductions as proposed in Ron Paul's H.R. 1495, pushing Ron Paul's H.R. 2629 to prevent government from forcing us to buy health insurance and sending the IRS after us if we don't, and advocating allowing Americans to purchase health insurance across state lines, as provided for in Congressman John Shadegg's H.R. 3217.

Don't forget to contact your senators and urge them to vote "No" on Harry Reid's cloture motion!

Instead, tell them it's time to focus debate on real health care solutions as called for in C4L's Operation Health Freedom.

In Liberty,

John Tate

President

P.S. Visit OperationHealthFreedom.com to see Tom Woods, Judge Napolitano, Rand Paul, Peter Schiff, and Daniel Hannan discuss getting government out of our health care!

Dr. Rand Paul On Healthcare