Barry, you’re my hero. Our fantastic president has done more good for America in three 1/2 years than Dubya (or should I say Dick Cheney pulling the strings) did in 8.
Obama did as much to inact this Flood insurance Flood bill as he did, when he single handedly killed Osama bin Laden with his pocket knife. Right Rosie and Planet?
Obviously, that’s ridiculous on many levels. Does it pain you that much that President Obama (Commie Muslim Radical-Christian Kenyan Anti-Colonialist Spineless Tyrant Terrorist) is The Commander in Chief when our SEALS took down Public Enemy #1?
Looks like all the ethics charges and being called up on the carpet like Rangel was has disappeared due to the Republicans not having the spine to stand up to her and being called racists. She is massively corrupt just like Rangel and a bunch of others and they are still there. Boehner has been a disappointment as a Speaker and has not drained the swamp any better than Pelosi.
Full List of Obamacare Tax Hikes
Obamacare contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses.
Arranged by their respective effective dates, below is the total list of all $500 billion-plus in tax hikes (over the next ten years) in Obamacare, where to find them in the bill, and how much your taxes are scheduled to go up as of today:
Taxes that took effect in 2010:
1. Excise Tax on Charitable Hospitals (Min$/immediate): $50,000 per hospital if they fail to meet new “community health assessment needs,” “financial assistance,” and “billing and collection” rules set by HHS. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,961-1,971
2. Codification of the “economic substance doctrine” (Tax hike of $4.5 billion). This provision allows the IRS to disallow completely-legal tax deductions and other legal tax-minimizing plans just because the IRS deems that the action lacks “substance” and is merely intended to reduce taxes owed. Bill: Reconciliation Act; Page: 108-113
3. “Black liquor” tax hike (Tax hike of $23.6 billion). This is a tax increase on a type of bio-fuel. Bill: Reconciliation Act; Page: 105
4. Tax on Innovator Drug Companies ($22.2 bil/Jan 2010): $2.3 billion annual tax on the industry imposed relative to share of sales made that year. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,971-1,980
5. Blue Cross/Blue Shield Tax Hike ($0.4 bil/Jan 2010): The special tax deduction in current law for Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies would only be allowed if 85 percent or more of premium revenues are spent on clinical services. Bill: PPACA; Page: 2,004
6. Tax on Indoor Tanning Services ($2.7 billion/July 1, 2010): New 10 percent excise tax on Americans using indoor tanning salons. Bill: PPACA; Page: 2,397-2,399
Taxes that took effect in 2011:
7. Medicine Cabinet Tax ($5 bil/Jan 2011): Americans no longer 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). Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,957-1,959
8. HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike ($1.4 bil/Jan 2011): Increases additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,959
Tax that took effect in 2012:
9. Employer Reporting of Insurance on W-2 (Min$/Jan 2012): Preamble to taxing health benefits on individual tax returns. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,957
Taxes that take effect in 2013:
10. Surtax on Investment Income ($123 billion/Jan. 2013): Creation of a new, 3.8 percent surtax on investment income earned in households making at least $250,000 ($200,000 single). This would result in the following top tax rates on investment income: Bill: Reconciliation Act; Page: 87-93
Capital Gains
Dividends
Other*
2012
15%
15%
35%
2013+
23.8%
43.4%
43.4%
*Other unearned income includes (for surtax purposes) gross income from interest, annuities, royalties, net rents, and passive income in partnerships and Subchapter-S corporations. It does not include municipal bond interest or life insurance proceeds, since those do not add to gross income. It does not include active trade or business income, fair market value sales of ownership in pass-through entities, or distributions from retirement plans. The 3.8% surtax does not apply to non-resident aliens.
11. Hike in Medicare Payroll Tax ($86.8 bil/Jan 2013): Current law and changes:
First $200,000 ($250,000 Married)
Employer/Employee
(Stays same)
All Remaining Wages
Employer/Employee
Current Law
1.45%/1.45%
2.9% self-employed
1.45%/1.45%
2.9% self-employed
12. Tax on Medical Device Manufacturers ($20 bil/Jan 2013): Medical device manufacturers employ 360,000 people in 6000 plants across the country. This law imposes a new 2.3% excise tax. Exempts items retailing for <$100. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,980-1,986
13. Raise "Haircut" for Medical Itemized Deduction from 7.5% to 10% of AGI ($15.2 bil/Jan 2013): Currently, those facing high medical expenses are allowed a deduction for medical expenses to the extent that those expenses exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI). The new provision imposes a threshold of 10 percent of AGI. Waived for 65+ taxpayers in 2013-2016 only. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,994-1,995
14. Flexible Spending Account Cap – aka “Special Needs Kids Tax” ($13 bil/Jan 2013): Imposes cap on FSAs of $2500 (now unlimited). Indexed to inflation after 2013. 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. Tuition 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 be used to pay for this type of special needs education. Bill: PPACA; Page: 2,388-2,389
15. Elimination of tax deduction for employer-provided retirement Rx drug coverage in coordination with Medicare Part D ($4.5 bil/Jan 2013) Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,994
16. $500,000 Annual Executive Compensation Limit for Health Insurance Executives ($0.6 bil/Jan 2013). Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,995-2,000
Taxes that take effect in 2014:
17. Individual Mandate Excise Tax (Jan 2014): Starting in 2014, anyone not buying “qualifying” health insurance must pay an income surtax according to the higher of the following (Percentage or $ amount whichever is higher)
Exemptions for religious objectors, undocumented immigrants, prisoners, those earning less than the poverty line, members of Indian tribes, and hardship cases (determined by HHS).Bill: PPACA; Page: 317-337
18. Employer Mandate Tax (Jan 2014): If an employer does not offer health coverage, and at least one employee qualifies for a health tax credit, the employer must pay an additional non-deductible tax of $2000 for all full-time employees. Applies to all employers with 50 or more employees. If any employee actually receives coverage through the exchange, the penalty on the employer for that employee rises to $3000. If the employer requires a waiting period to enroll in coverage of 30-60 days, there is a $400 tax per employee ($600 if the period is 60 days or longer).Bill: PPACA; Page: 345-346
Combined score of individual and employer mandate tax penalty: $65 billion/10 years
19. Tax on Health Insurers ($60.1 bil/Jan 2014): Annual tax on the industry imposed relative to health insurance premiums collected that year. Phases in gradually until 2018. Fully-imposed on firms with $50 million in profits. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,986-1,993
Taxes that take effect in 2018:
20. Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans ($32 bil/Jan 2018): Starting in 2018, new 40 percent excise tax on “Cadillac” health insurance plans ($10,200 single/$27,500 family). Higher threshold ($11,500 single/$29,450 family) for early retirees and high-risk professions. CPI +1 percentage point indexed. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,941-1,956
Planet, perhaps you didn’t bother to read Sarah’s summmary of all the new taxes heaped on the American People. Yes, it is taxes all the way even though you believe all the spin from the left it is a penalty. They are penalizing us 20 times with this bill. I know this article is about Flood, but it also has to be paid for with our tax money. Has there ever been a Progressive out there who was not in favor of higher taxes? This is an excellent way to keep the economy in chaos.
I refer you to Sarah’s dissertation above. She obviously did a lot of research on the law and all the taxes coming our way. I noticed that Planet has not refuted one of them. He still thinks we have a penalty, not a tax.
The law itself is the source of the information, Bill: PPACA is the law that was signed into law by President Obama. I have included the actual page number for reference.
Planet, I tell you this, If Obama came out tomorrow and gave this speach, (He really does give good speaches) I would support him.
I have decided today that we are going to scrap the ObamaTax law, start over with a bipartisan approach and come up with a law that guarantees everyone access to healthcare, but everyone take responsibility without a mandate. And BTW, We are going to give major tax incentives to small business owners who hire full time permanent employees that were previously on government assistance and are removed from the dole. Also we are going to give a tax reduction for all those that buy a house from someone who is in foreclosure. Also the government will modify any mortgage for any veteran who comes back from active duty. And also I have changed my mind again, We will take the advice of my own committee I formed, The Bowles Simpson committee and institute all of their advice, including the reduction of taxes for the higher earners who are the job creators, and broaden the tax base to include those 48% that pay no income tax at all. Revenue will sky rocket and these free loaders will pay their fair share. LOL…. If he were to give this speach, I would most certainly support him in the next election. All we get is lame class warfare, and blame it on Bush! Its getting really over used and old.
Yes flipside, my spelling is not a strong point of mine. Ridicule is what people do when they do not have a good argument. You are a good example of this!
Sarah, This President does not have a compromising bone in his body or it would have shown up by now. It is all about the Progressive Agenda which is class and race warfare and dividing the country. He doesn’t take the advice of any committee or anyone with common sense whether it be in his party or the Republicans. He has vowed to veto any bill sent to him to extend the Bush Tax Cuts for everyone. Harry Reid has blocked any meaningful legislation to improve the economy. Make no bones about it, this President is a disaster and needs to be sent packing in November so we can get meaningful reforms done.
Because even if he is reelected he won’t have to deal with it again. Everything really is about him. Read his speeches if you like to see “I” every three words.
What do you mean “Where did she get her information”? She listed the pages in the “PPACA” (Obamacare Bill). It is probably a good guess that she read and understands the bill. Unlike those who passed it without reading ,understanding,or having the ability to explain the contents of this bill even today. The very disturbing aspect of all of these taxes is in the EXEMPTIONS. Religious,Illegal Alien(undocumented Immigrants). These people can still use the emergency rooms,and qualify for free care without worrying about paying the bills. American Indians are seperate Nation’s within the USA.
Susie, Here is a source for reading the actual law and where you can find by page the Reconciliation Act, the other link did not show the page numbers which is where you can confirm the above information. Here is a better link.
Nope, you’re right. But, health insurance should just be afforded to us like all the other first-world nations. Tax us accordingly. We take better care of our roads in this country than we do our people. Take the “for-profit” motive out of healthcare. Stockholders shouldn’t be deciding on a person’s life.
Interesting choice of words Planet. Nope, you’re right? Health Insurance has broken all the other first world nations already. Have you taken a look at Europe lately? Greece, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Ireland, Great Britain are all in chaos or close to it. They think they can tax and spend their way to prosperity just like this President. Oops! What went wrong with this picture? Take better care of our roads than our people? Now I know why some of the others said “What Planet are you from”? My parting shot is that Bureaucrats shouldn’t be deciding on a person’s life. They do nothing well and will not act in our best interest, especially in Healthcare.
I’ve read the entire bill. I encourage others to as well. I know there are fines to healthcare providers, clincs, hospitals, etc. I don’t have any issues with that. I don’t have any issues if you want to call them taxes. What I do have issues with are pre-existing conditions, the fact my premiums have gone up about 8%-10% each year for the last 7 years (at least), the fact there are so many Americans without coverage, and the fact that we don’t have and still won’t have a public option. I do want single payer, have wanted it for at least 20 years now. I’m not hiding any of that. And, I’m also not hiding the fact that most of you out here will disagree. I know who the audience is out here. I’m sure I am a minority in the insurance and financial sector. But, I also know I am part of a larger like-minded majority outside of this sector. I invite the opportunity to chat with any of you. I don’t have to get excited and will do my best to refrain from calling you names like others seem to enjoy out here. At the end of the day, we may not agree and that’s all right.
Planet, really? You have read the entire 2,700 pages of this Progressive Dream. Legal scholars can’t get through it. My eyes glazed over after 100 pages of it. I guess you are so invested in it you were just overjoyed to see what was done to the American People by Pelosi, Reid & Obama. You are definitely right about one thing. You are in a minority and according to polls I have seen, most Americans want it repealed. They polled doctors and 83% are considering leaving their profession and 63% want it repealed. Do you think we may have some serious rationing of care if this happens? Make an appointment and they will see you in November.
First Agent, did you look at the methodology of the so-called 83% of doctors quitting their profession. You may want to take that Fox News number with a grain of salt. Maybe not even that much. Here is the methodology:
The survey was conducted by fax and online from April 18 to May 22, 2012. DPMAF obtained the office fax numbers of 36,000 doctors in active clinical practice, and 16, 227 faxes were successfully delivered. Doctors were asked to return their completed surveys by fax, or online at a web address included in the faxed copy. Browser rules prevented doctors from filing duplicate surveys, and respondents were asked to provide personal identification for verification. The response rate was 4.3% for a total of 699 completed surveys.
It’s not even scientific. Moreover, it’s actually a survey, not a study or a poll. Also, during the survey, the words “Obamacare” and “PPACA” weren’t even used. Who even knows who filled the survey out. It was sent to “clincial practices” and I’d like to see how the survey defined those. It’s a bogus number but a sexy one, and that’s why you see Drudge, Breitbart, and all the others running away with it. Complete BS. Thanks for citing it though, First Agent. Gives some insight as to where you get your information. C’mon, you’re better than that. The red flag should be 83%. Do you honestly think all but 17% of every doctor in the US is going to walk away from their oath? I personally have 3 friends in practice (2 surgeons, 1 gen practice) who are all in FAVOR of the PPACA. My mother-in-law is an RN tasked with running tests on heart patients, she’s in FAVOR of it. Everyone I have had personal conversations with that is in the profession likes it and thinks it’s going to get even better. Real world experience over this so called 83%.
Congratulations Planet. You have read the whole thing and if you can understand what it is saying with all that language that legal scholars can’t understand, I commend you. Many have commented that it is incomprehensible and I agree with them from what I read. By the way, I insure a number of doctors in my area who are certainly not on board and they are all contemplating closing their practice and doing other things. Luckily, they own properties they get income from. Other than the small percentage of doctors in the AMA, I think doctors overall have a big issue with this bill. They see this as working twice as hard for less money and having more bureaucratic red tape and not being able to provide the proper treatment to their patients. I think it is safe to say that doctors all across the country will vote against Obama at least 80-20. Their office workers will also vote against it since their jobs are on the line as well.
Let me get this straight . .We’re going to be “gifted” with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don’t,
Which, purportedly covers at least ten million more people, without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents,
written by a committee who’se chairman says he doesn’t understand it, passed by a Congress that didn’t read it (but exempted themselves from it)and signed by a Dumbo President who smokes,with funding administered by a treasury chief who did not pay his taxes, for which we’ll be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect,by a congress which has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen by an obese surgeon general and financed by a country that’s broke!!
Those who fall into the Medicare Part D “donut hole” will get $250 in help paying for their drugs.
Those on Medicare Advantage plans may see some changes as subsidies to insurers are reduced, and incentives are changed, over several years. The plan would be paid for in large part with an aggressive push to stop waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare.
CHRONICALLY ILL
People with pre-existing conditions should have a much easier time finding affordable insurance. Insurance companies won’t be able to deny coverage based on pre-existing health problems. Unemployment won’t mean becoming uninsured.
The end of benefit caps will ensure people with costly conditions like cancer will not exhaust their insurance benefits before they’re well.
HEALTHY YOUNG ADULTS
Right now they’re the group most likely to voluntarily go without insurance. They and everyone else will have to either buy it or pay a fine.
That fine will be $325 starting in 2015, rising to $695 the next year, or it will be a percent of income, 2 to 2.5 percent at the top level, after 2016.
The main features as the bill takes shape:
—HOW MANY COVERED: 31 million uninsured Americans.
—INSURANCE MANDATE: Like the bills approved last year by the House and Senate, the proposal would require almost everyone to be insured or pay a fine. There is an exemption for low-income people.
—INSURANCE MARKET REFORMS: Stops unpopular insurance industry practices such as denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions or charging women more. In response to recent insurance premium rate increases, including increases as high as 39 percent by Anthem Blue Cross in California, the legislation adopts an Obama proposal to give the federal government the authority to block rate hikes, roll back premium prices and force insurance companies to give rebates to consumers.
—MEDICAID: The legislation would expand the federal-state Medicaid insurance program for the poor to cover people with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, $29,327 a year for a family of four. The federal government would pick up more of the tab, paying 100 percent of the cost for newly eligible individuals through 2017. A special deal that would have given Nebraska 100 percent federal financing for newly eligible Medicaid recipients in perpetuity has been eliminated. A different, one-time deal negotiated by Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu for her state, Louisiana, worth as much as $300 million, remained.
—TAXES: The legislation would scale back a Senate-passed tax on high-cost insurance plans that was opposed by House Democrats and labor unions. The tax would be delayed from 2013 until 2018 and the thresholds at which it is imposed would be moved up from policies worth $8,500 for individuals and $23,000 for families, to $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. Those changes mean $120 billion in lost revenue over 10 years that would be replaced mostly by applying an increased Medicare payroll tax to investment income as well as wages for individuals making more than $200,000, or married couples above $250,000. The Senate bill had applied the tax only to wage income.
—PRESCRIPTION DRUGS: The proposal would close the “doughnut hole” coverage gap in the Medicare prescription drug benefit that kicks in once seniors have spent $2,830. The Senate bill would have provided a 50 percent discount on the cost of brand-name drugs in the doughnut hole but Obama would close the gap entirely by 2020. The added cost, which Democrats have not yet disclosed, would be paid for in part by an additional $10 billion in fees on the drug industry.
—EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITY: The legislation keeps the approach in the Senate bill, which doesn’t require businesses to offer coverage but charges fees to companies with more than 50 employees if the government subsidizes employees’ coverage. The proposal increases the fees to $2,000 per worker instead of $750, but grants companies an allowance that was not part of the original Senate plan. The proposal includes part-time workers in the calculations, counting two part-time workers as one full-time worker.
—SUBSIDIES: The proposal provides more generous subsidies for purchasing insurance than the Senate bill did. The aid is available for households making up to four times the federal poverty level ($88,200 for a family of four).
—HOW YOU CHOOSE YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE: Small businesses, the self-employed and the uninsured could pick a plan offered through new state-based purchasing pools called exchanges. People working for big companies would not see major changes.
—GOVERNMENT-RUN PLAN: The proposal does not include the government-run insurance plan sought by liberals and approved by the House. It takes the Senate approach, which gives Americans purchasing coverage through new insurance exchanges the option of signing up for national plans overseen by the federal office that manages the government health plan available to members of Congress. Those plans would be private, but one would have to be nonprofit.
—ABORTION: The proposal does not change the abortion provision in the Senate bill, which is opposed by anti-abortion groups that say it allows federal financing of abortion. The bill tries to maintain a strict separation between taxpayer dollars and private premiums that would pay for abortion coverage.
No health plan would be required to offer coverage for the procedure. In plans that do cover abortion, beneficiaries would have to pay for it separately, and that money would have to be kept in a separate account from taxpayer money. States could ban abortion coverage in plans offered through the exchange. Exceptions would be made for cases of rape, incest and danger to the life of the mother.
this is a very old article, you will notice it says proposal not law. It is also what they passed before they read it. Remember they had to pass it before anyone could know what is in it.
This by no means in nonpartisan. If you have read the bill it most certainly is not represented by the actual law. I have reviewed it and the reconciliation act as well. I would recommend doing so as well.
Liberals are like parrots, they have a small brain and can repeat anything that is presented enough to them by their master, MSNBC CNN Media Matters. In this case it it’s – Arkkk Its Bush’s Fault…. Polly want a hand out, Polly want a handout! Arrk…
Due to their small brain, They are incapable of facts, figures and logic based on reality. They are looking for something that does not exist. “Something for nothing” from their government and probably their friends and family too. Its always someone else’s responsibility. Never their own.
Planet, you did not read the bill, I did however review it the PPACA and the reconciliation bill which is a follow up to the law completely and gave you a good example of what is bad about the law above. We didnt need to create a 2700 page monster to get preexisting conditions or your loser 26 year old failure to launch kid coverage as well. We didnt need to raid Medicare to the tune of 500 billion over the next ten years either.
Sarah, I won’t stoop to calling names. I’ll leave that to, well, you. But, yes, I did read the bill and am actually working on reading it a second time. I’m sure you’re actually a decent person. I’m not selling you anything so you don’t have to buy anything. Just trying to have a conversation but evidently, you don’t want to have one. You just want to yell and scream a lot. That’s fine, have fun.
Wow, your rudeness is astounding but typical Republican Rudeness.
I know a lot of people are upset about mandatory coverage and penalty taxes. Yet, somehow it seems to me that those who are complaining are already insured — or at least able to access coverage. We need to place ourselves in a different pair of shoes before we declare that Obamacare represents some sort of liberal tyranny.
Imagine for a moment if every congressperson was forced to spend one night a month volunteering at their local clinics. Imagine if they had to listen to stories of trying to make ends meet while chronic conditions unravel financial and physical security. What if our lawmakers were forced to sit down and counsel their low-income constituents through the red tape and paperwork involved in applying to pharmaceutical assistance programs? What if our politicians were to spend a day adding name after name to waiting lists to see an overwhelmed provider at an under-funded facility that will receive zero compensation for seeing that patient when their name reaches the top of that list roughly six months from now? Oh but the grace of God Sarah, that could be you or I.
We all know that health care is a complex issue with no easy answer. Does the phrase “Physician do no harm” mean anything?
Jacq, have you ever heard the term “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”? It is not wise to tangle with Sarah. She has her facts straight no matter how uncomfortable it makes you. Allow me to contribute. You mention imagining every congressman having to volunteer, listen to stories about making ends meet etc etc. Congress made sure they were not subject to Obamacare and kept their gold plated coverage. Does that tell you anything about this bill and how bad it is? How about the thousands of Waivers that have been granted to large business and unions who wanted no part of it? Healthcare could have been corrected and made more accessible and affordable without this 2,700 page monster we got rammed down our throat. Thank your Progressive Congressmen who succeeded in riling up the whole nation. We don’t like government which does things without our consent.
But for the grace of God? How about but for the hard work I put into my education and career to make sure I could provide for my family? Safety nets, ok, helping people improve themselves to a point, ok, but I have a problem with permanantly subsidizing others lack of ambition.
Jacq, Is that French or something. Sure sounds like it! You might want to look at the medical care provided in France. Look at my Parrot analogy, Arrk…. Republicans are Rude…. Arrrrkkk…Liberal Tyranny…. Arrrkkkk… Physician do no harm….. Arrrkkk… Poor liberal Constituents….
All a fact-less and baseless emotional outburst of ridicule. Where are your facts and or figures? Liberals all live in a different world where logic and reason does not exist. Arguing with them is like beating your head against a wall. If you let them they will drive you crazy with their incapacity to live in the real world.
Sarah, if Jacq is French, perhaps he hasn’t heard that France just elected a Socialist President who is now taxing their rich to the tune of 75% of their income and their retirement age went back to age 50. It is obviously unsustainable and they will join Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Ireland and Great Britain in default. I wonder how much big French money has already been sent to Switzerland to numbered accounts. Switzerland will have to build some new vaults to hold all that money.
Here are the unemployment rates for every one of the 17 states that elected tea party supported candidates. 3x the reduction of the states that elected democrats as their Governors.
Kansas – 6.9% to 6.1% = a decline of 0.8 [percentage points (11.6 percent)]
Maine – 8.0% to 7.4% = a decline of 0.6 [percentage points (7.5 percent)]
Michigan – 10.9% to 8.5% = a decline of [2.4 percentage points (22 percent)]
New Mexico – 7.7% to 6.7% = a decline of [1.0 percentage points (13 percent)]
Oklahoma – 6.2% to 4.8% = a decline of [1.4 percentage points – (22.6 percent)]
Pennsylvania – 8.0% to 7.4% = a decline of [.6 percentage points (7.5 percent)]
Tennessee – 9.5% to 7.9% = a decline of [1.6 percentage points (16.8 percent)]
Wisconsin – 7.7% to 6.8% = a decline of [0.9 percentage points (11.9 percent)]
Wyoming – 6.3% to 5.2% = a decline of [1.1 percentage points (17.5 percent)]
Alabama – 9.3% to 7.4% = a decline of [1.9 percentage points (20.4 percent)]
Georgia – 10.1% to 8.9% = a decline of [1.2 percentage points (11.9 percent)]
South Carolina – 10.6% to 9.1% = a decline of [1.5 percentage points (14.2 percent)]
South Dakota – 5.0% to 4.3% = a decline of [0.7 percentage points (14 percent)]
Florida – 10.9% to 8.6% = a decline of [2.3 percentage points (21 percent)]
Nevada – 13.8% to 11.6% = a decline of [2.2 percentage points (15.9 percent)]
Iowa – 6.1% to 5.1% = a decline of [1.0 percentage points (16.4 percent)]
Ohio – 9.0% to 7.3% = a decline of [1.7 percentage points (18.9 percent)]
Good summary Sarah. The shellacking in Nov 10 did a lot of good when many governorships and state legislatures changed hands. Only the N/E blue states and the left coast seems to have the big problems due to their Progressive spendaholic ways. Several cities in California have either taken bankruptcy or are on the verge of it. Scranton,Pa had to lower the pay of city workers there to make payroll. All the cities and states that received a lot of stimulus money blew right through it and all thought they were on the permanent dole of the Federal Government. They didn’t make any changes to their budgets and no cuts and now they are in dire straits. Conservative leaders know what to do to get their house in order and they are having success. I would add that McDonald in Virginia took a budget deficit and turned it into a surplus and Virginia is definitely in play now for the Republicans.
I’m sorry, but Terry Brandstad is not a Tea Party candidate. He’s an old school Republican who held office here in Iowa back in the ’80’s and again now. But, nice try. How many of these other states you list are misrepresented?
I guess you are in complete denial Planet about what took place in Nov 10. It was about as complete a shellacking as has happened in 40 years in State Government as well as Congress. A complete rejection of the agenda would be how I would categorize it. The Blue Dog Democrats that were shown the door had a nice consolation though. Nancy threw them a great going away party and thanked them for going under the bus.
I am voting for President Obama no matter what. He should get 8 years in term becasue he is changing America. After 8 years of the Bush/Cheney disater, now you mad? You didn’t get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President. You didn’t get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy policy and push us to invade Iraq. You didn’t get mad when we spent billions on said war. You didn’t get mad when Bush borrowed more money from foreign sources than the previous 42 Presidents combined. You didn’t get mad when Bush rang up trillions in combined duget and current account deficits. You didn’t get mad when we gave people who had more money than they could spend tax breaks. You didn’t get mad with the worse 8 years of job creations in several decades. You didn’t get mad when over 200,00 US citizens lost their lives because they had no health insurance. Now that we have a President who feels the American people deserve the right to see a doctor if they are sick you get mad.
That happens to be one of the most illogical posts I have read. “I am going to vote for Obama no matter what”because he is changing America? Huh…. YES HE IS FOR THE WORST! Comon! That statement deserves no answer. Laughable!
Jacq, you are either a foreigner who doesn’t know proper English or a product of the SEIU public school system which doesn’t teach English or much of anything else. Your ranting makes no sense and your facts are wrong as well.
…Jacq,
A) How do you have any idea what was felt about the war or how can you even compare this to that?
B) This is not the same thing
C) 200,00 lives lost due to lack of heath care.
Where are your stats for this? At least Sarah provides her sources.
Yes, people do deserve to see a doctor; under this law it will be months and months before they get too. Besides, giving people fines who don’t have insurance is redundant. I would wager to say that these people cannot afford to buy it, so they don’t have it.
Don’t be fooled, Jacq. (though alot of people are) This is not for the American People at all. I just cannot respect a “president” who goes on talk show and TV. That is why around here he is called Celeberity Obama, Not president.
And how many times has your President been on Letterman, The View and Leno? Everytime he is in the area on his dozens of fundraisers, he manages to make time to get on these shows. It is nauseating to see Joy Behar with her hands all over him when he is on The View.
July 17, 2012 at 7:54 am
SusieQinthe Midwest says:
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No, Planet, I wouldnt. However, I never was a fan.
July 17, 2012 at 7:59 am
SusieQinthe Midwest says:
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And exactly, Agent. He was on the VIEW for Pete Sake… The Veiw! and then late night talk shows. Much different then the two examples you attemped to compare this too.
You’re right, Dr. Phil is nowhere near The View. Wait, where did Dr. Phil get his start? Oh yeah, Oprah…which…is…a…day time talk show. I’m drawing a connection to what was typed, “Celebrity Obama.” You couldn’t have been any more celebrity than Reagan. Be consistent. Besides, can you really blame any politician for trying to be popular? Isn’t that part of the strategy. To be more popular than the other candidate? What’s next, you’re going to rip on Obama for playing politics? What do you expect politicians to do?
July 17, 2012 at 9:51 am
Captain Planet says:
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What am I saying below? Dr. Phil is a day time talk show starting and discovered by the queen of day time talk shows. It’s completely the same thing. “You’ve read the books, seen the tapes, watched my TV show…”
July 24, 2012 at 12:10 pm
Agent says:
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Susie, People like Jacq and Planet are not from our planet. They are factless ranters of the Progressive agenda. Jacq rants that 200,000 people have died due to lack of Healthcare in this country. Hello! I think not. They should be looking at Great Britain giving legalized euthanasia to their senior citizens. The latest report is that they have put 130,000 on the Pathway to Death and do not treat them and just let them die. That is coming with Obamacare as well with the Committees aka Death Panels that will refuse to allow treatment to seniors because of severe rationing. They are good enough to cover End of Life counseling to the seniors. Isn’t that great?
Jacq, here is another good reason to elect your socialist President to another 4 years, just think what the Country will look like then.
President Obama dismantles Clintons Wellfare reform in direct conflict with Congresses directive order given.
President Obama just tore up a basic foundation of the welfare contract. In exchange for taxpayer-funded TANF payments, the law calls on able-bodied adults to work, look for work, take classes, or undergo drug and alcohol counseling. It’s the tough love that gives people motivation to help themselves.
All I hear is I hate obamacare: Health-Care Reform should be repealed! Which part? The one that ensures children aren’t denied care due to a pre-existing condition? The part that allows kids to be covered by their parents’ plan until they are 26? The part that stops insurance providers from dropping people when they get seriously sick? No, it really THE OBAMA PART. All of your ranting is not only bias but unbalance and patrician.
How about the parts above that I mentioned. the ones that create the largest tax increase in our nations history! The part that creates a single pay-or system of healthcare called the trigger when a carrier spends more than 15% of its revenues on other than healthcare related items such as commissions, general overhead, benefits, salaries, etc. Many carriers are already pulling out of the healthcare industry such as Principal financial, Cigna and many others.
It is always funny to look at the items you state as part of the bill you like. Children, Kids on parents policies (26 year old failures) Dropping coverages. ALL ABOUT FEELINGS, WELL HEALTHCARE COST MONEY AND THATS WHAT WE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT LATER!
Here is something I found funny today. The President said that Romney’s business dealings at Bain are fair game and he wouldnt apoligize for his blatant disregard for truth. But has anyone asked what business dealing the President has had that makes him qualified to lead us out of a recession? ……Chirp….Chirp…I hear Crickets!
He also said business hasn’t invented anything or done anything without government help. That is why we need to pay our fair share back to government. Gee, I thought Al Gore invented the internet, but Obama says it was the government. It is really amazing that this country advanced as far as it did without the intrusive government helping it along. For me, I just want the government to get out of the way and let free enterprise come up with the solutions.
Exactly. The other way obviously is not working. But we have to keep on a trying…. maybe next time it will work. He is always taking about the middle class… He has no idea what “middle class” means. At. All.
Susie, If anyone who is currently in the Middle Class thinks this man is looking out for them, they are sadly mistaken. Middle Class net worth has declined substantially in the last 3 1/2 years and many are now in the lower middle class and the lower middle class is now in the poverty class. If he is re-elected, it will be a disaster of biblical proportions when the economy completely tanks.
That was exactly my point. The middle class does not really even exsist any more.
July 16, 2012 at 5:26 pm
First Agent says:
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Sarah, when we have a President who has zero understanding of how this economy works and thinks government control is the answer to everything, we have Progressive Socialism in the worst form. He isn’t qualified to run a lemonade stand, let alone the most powerful economy the world has ever seen. I have seen that Obamacare has over 13,000 pages of regulations written to date and they are just getting warmed up unless it is shot down. We think we have a lot of bureaucrats now, just wait until they put all those Death Panels together to make life and death decisions for everyone.
Bad premise, why do you need to have business dealings? The government doesn’t and shouldn’t run like a business. It’s not one. It doesn’t seek a profit. It owns its currency. It can borrow from itself and in today’s market, at extremely low rates. Don’t have to be a business person at all to realize we need to cut spending in areas we can, raise taxes, and invest in areas we need to like infrastructure amd the youth (vocational schools for one, not everyone is meant for college). I think all sides can agree on those principles, we’re just having a hard time agreeing on the cuts, the taxes, and the investments. We used to be able to compromise but now, it’s just one party blocking the other and vice-versa.
Planet, Again I ask, what Planet are you from? Did you ever take an Economics course in school? Businesses don’t borrow from themselves and governments shouldn’t either. It is very poor economic practice. Governments should live within their means. You can’t tell me this government cannot operate on $2.4 Trillion each year. This government is spending $3.8 Trillion per year and borrowing $.40 of every dollar spent. Spending should be cut in just about every area of government and fraud and abuse aggressively pursued. When you say investing, that is a code word for more government spending. If we could have spent our way to prosperity, don’t you think it would have happened by now? By the way, billions are spent through the Transportation Dept each year on infrastructure and we certainly don’t need another “investment” like the bogus Stimulus where there was no shovel ready jobs after we spent a cool trillion. Compromise you say? The time for the reach across the aisle idiots is over. It is time to get down to brass tacks and do some serious budget cutting if we are to get our finances on the right track.
No code word. I’m pretty straight and forward. Yes, by invest, I mean, “put money into”. Stimulus did work just didn’t fix the problem because we tried to plug over a $2T hole with $800B. That’s like putting a cork in a 5 gallon bucket and expecting the water to stay in once you dump it over. And, I think we can all agree, the stimulus wasn’t allocated correctly. And, no, gov’t should not run like a business because it is NOT a business. Unless you want to go fascist and have corporations run this country.
Planet, do you mean put money into that we don’t have? What part of $1.4 Trillion deficits do you not understand? Pouring money down the rat hole with political payoffs is not the way to solve economic problems in this country. The only way to solve our fiscal problems is to be fiscally responsible. As Sarah pointed out, Conservative Governors instituted policies that would get their states back on track and turned deficits into surpluses. That message has been lost on our Federal Government and this President who still believes he can spend his way to prosperity and regulate, control and tax the citizens to death. This has not worked in the history of the world and you have swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Wake up and smell the coffee for once in your life.
Oh, I have. And I like my coffee black, like The President. OK, that was meant to be a joke but I really do take it without cream or sugar. First Agent, again, we don’t agree. Iowa was actually doing just fine if not better overall under Culver. He just made a bad name for himself by getting into an argument with a police officer, allegedly taking steroids, and a host of other personal issues. But, we were actually moving along very well. Brandstad is trying to put a hault to that but fortunately we have some good people below him that stymies his bad policy-making. Though, I do think he would have no problem releasing his tax returns and I’d be willing to bet all of his money is kept here at home rather than in some island haven…or several of them. Just saying.
Planet, here I am talking about the future of the country and you are talking about Iowa politics and problems there. Iowa is just symptomatic at what is wrong with the country. One could argue that the blue states, mostly in the northern part of our country have it so screwed up, they can’t recover. Scranton, Pa had to lower their city employees to minimum wage or they can’t make payroll. What is wrong with that picture? Blow your stimulus money and don’t make the needed budget cuts for the next year and now you are in trouble again. I am sure you think they need another stimulus to help them out. Get it through your head, get the fiscal house in order, cancel the outrageous public sector union contracts and live within your means. This is not rocket science, but very good economic sense.
Actually, just commenting on the whole “conservative governors” comment you and Sarah made. Brandstad hasn’t really done a thing. He coulnd’t figure out a budget, couldn’t get education reform, he just has been a pretty lame governor. Things in Iowa have just been good so he’s a victim of circumstance. But, no, we won’t agree again. Union contracts are not the problem. Total austerity measures will be detrimental. Tax policy needs to be looked at. As President Reagan said, “you the millionaire should be paying more in taxes than the bus driver.” Then, we can look at cutting in other areas, like defense spending. I’m sick of buying fuel for sailboats. That one was actually billed to us by Black Water. That is a pure waste of tax payer’s money. Even you can agree with that point, right?
Planet, you are right about one thing. We won’t agree on your vision and our vision for the country. We have an out of control Federal Government which is spending us into poverty and many State and Local Governments doing the same thing. They all need to be weaned from the taxpayer “teat”. Defense spending needs to be looked at for unnecessary things without sacrificing the troops who do a wonderful job. I don’t want to see the Navy buying $26 per gallon fuel made from switch grass and wood chips either, especially when $3.00 per gallon gas is available. Time to cut the greenies off and the greenie in chief needs to back off. Austerity measures are now necessary at all levels of government and you mentioned Reagan. Gee, I wonder how he managed to increase the revenue to the government by cutting the marginal rates from 70% to 28%. I think it was called the Reagan revolution at the time and businesses started flourishing again and actually hiring and expanding. Your President has succeeded in running the country in the ground in 3 1/2 years and is calling for more anti business taxation. The way to increase revenue is by creating more taxpayers, not more leaches sucking the life blood out of the country. I am afraid Sarah and I are running circles around your Progressive logic.
Let’s get rid of the myth of Reagan and look at the reality of him:
1. Reagan was a serial tax raiser. As governor of California, Reagan “signed into law the largest tax increase in the history of any state up till then.” Meanwhile, state spending nearly doubled. As president, Reagan “raised taxes in seven of his eight years in office,” including four times in just two years. As former GOP Senator Alan Simpson, who called Reagan “a dear friend,” told NPR, “Ronald Reagan raised taxes 11 times in his administration — I was there.” “Reagan was never afraid to raise taxes,” said historian Douglas Brinkley, who edited Reagan’s memoir. Reagan the anti-tax zealot is “false mythology,” Brinkley said.
2. Reagan nearly tripled the federal budget deficit. During the Reagan years, the debt increased to nearly $3 trillion, “roughly three times as much as the first 80 years of the century had done altogether.” Reagan enacted a major tax cut his first year in office and government revenue dropped off precipitously. Despite the conservative myth that tax cuts somehow increase revenue, the government went deeper into debt and Reagan had to raise taxes just a year after he enacted his tax cut. Despite ten more tax hikes on everything from gasoline to corporate income, Reagan was never able to get the deficit under control.
3. Unemployment soared after Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts. Unemployment jumped to 10.8 percent after Reagan enacted his much-touted tax cut, and it took years for the rate to get back down to its previous level. Meanwhile, income inequality exploded. Despite the myth that Reagan presided over an era of unmatched economic boom for all Americans, Reagan disproportionately taxed the poor and middle class, but the economic growth of the 1980′s did little help them. “Since 1980, median household income has risen only 30 percent, adjusted for inflation, while average incomes at the top have tripled or quadrupled,” the New York Times’ David Leonhardt noted.
4. Reagan grew the size of the federal government tremendously. Reagan promised “to move boldly, decisively, and quickly to control the runaway growth of federal spending,” but federal spending “ballooned” under Reagan. He bailed out Social Security in 1983 after attempting to privatize it, and set up a progressive taxation system to keep it funded into the future. He promised to cut government agencies like the Department of Energy and Education but ended up adding one of the largest — the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, which today has a budget of nearly $90 billion and close to 300,000 employees. He also hiked defense spending by over $100 billion a year to a level not seen since the height of the Vietnam war.
5. Reagan did little to fight a woman’s right to choose. As governor of California in 1967, Reagan signed a bill to liberalize the state’s abortion laws that “resulted in more than a million abortions.” When Reagan ran for president, he advocated a constitutional amendment that would have prohibited all abortions except when necessary to save the life of the mother, but once in office, he “never seriously pursued” curbing choice.
6. Reagan was a “bellicose peacenik.” He wrote in his memoirs that “[m]y dream…became a world free of nuclear weapons.” “This vision stemmed from the president’s belief that the biblical account of Armageddon prophesied nuclear war — and that apocalypse could be averted if everyone, especially the Soviets, eliminated nuclear weapons,” the Washington Monthly noted. And Reagan’s military buildup was meant to crush the Soviet Union, but “also to put the United States in a stronger position from which to establish effective arms control” for the the entire world — a vision acted out by Regean’s vice president, George H.W. Bush, when he became president.
7. Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants. Reagan signed into law a bill that made any immigrant who had entered the country before 1982 eligible for amnesty. The bill was sold as a crackdown, but its tough sanctions on employers who hired undocumented immigrants were removed before final passage. The bill helped 3 million people and millions more family members gain American residency. It has since become a source of major embarrassment for conservatives.
8. Reagan illegally funneled weapons to Iran. Reagan and other senior U.S. officials secretly sold arms to officials in Iran, which was subject to a an arms embargo at the time, in exchange for American hostages. Some funds from the illegal arms sales also went to fund anti-Communist rebels in Nicaragua — something Congress had already prohibited the administration from doing. When the deals went public, the Iran-Contra Affair, as it came to be know, was an enormous political scandal that forced several senior administration officials to resign.
9. Reagan vetoed a comprehensive anti-Apartheid act. which placed sanctions on South Africa and cut off all American trade with the country. Reagan’s veto was overridden by the Republican-controlled Senate. Reagan responded by saying “I deeply regret that Congress has seen fit to override my veto,” saying that the law “will not solve the serious problems that plague that country.”
10. Reagan helped create the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. Reagan fought a proxy war with the Soviet Union by training, arming, equipping, and funding Islamist mujahidin fighters in Afghanistan. Reagan funneled billions of dollars, along with top-secret intelligence and sophisticated weaponry to these fighters through the Pakistani intelligence service. The Talbian and Osama Bin Laden — a prominent mujahidin commander — emerged from these mujahidin groups Reagan helped create, and U.S. policy towards Pakistan remains strained because of the intelligence services’ close relations to these fighters. In fact, Reagan’s decision to continue the proxy war after the Soviets were willing to retreat played a direct role in Bin Laden’s ascendancy.
Do you want to know why we are where we are today? Because of Reaganomics. Trickle-down simply hasn’t worked the way it was supposed to in philosophy. It never has, since the days when it was actually called the horse and sparrow. That doesn’t mean destroy Capitalism. I like Capitalism. But, something has to give from the top. A measly 4% will do for now and not for me, but for the country.
Reagan wouldn’t even be nominated in today’s Republican Party. Our President is a centrist, I wish he would be a little more liberal on some issues. He continues to bow down to the right. 167 Republican amendments to the PPACA, which was a Republican design to begin with (Heritage Foundation, Bob Dole in response to Hilary Care). Go ahead and disagree with the facts, FA. But, show me in your response where my figures are wrong rather than simply just disagreeing. Then we can have a conversation.
Planet, I will not even respond to your denigration of the greatest President this country has had in the past 100 years. He runs circles around any you could put up against him. I lived through his Presidency and saw what he did to recover from the largesse ineptitude and stagflation of Jimmy Carter. It was a lot of work and he had to deal with a Democratic Congress, but he got it done and the country recovered. By the way, I had a good laugh when you pronounced your President a centrist. You are even further gone than I thought previously if you believe that nonsense and your Mediamatters talking points cut no ice with me.
First Agent, just what I thought, can’t dispute the figures and facts I listed. So, you don’t want to have a conversation, that’s okay. I lived through Reagan, too. We are all actually still living with him, at least policies posthumously. And, I used to drink the Kool Aid and think he was great. Then, I started reading who he actually was. Boy, was I wrong. Now I know he is the root of our current issues in this country and some beyond. Certainly not some saint like some on the right want to make him out to be. Definitely not the greatest in the last 100 years. Probably the worst because it’s his policies that have us in these messes. Oh, and show me 1 policy inacted by Obama where he has gone way to the left. But first, if you want to have the conversation, please dispute where I am wrong on my above points with Reagan.
This act is bankrupting us near the coast. My flood insurance rate will go from $379 a year to $15,000 a year. As a result my whole community is going to walk away from our homes and go into foreclosure. It would have been better to privatize insurance. Thank you Mr. president for hurting the poor working class and making me lose my American Dream. Oh and I never flooded and my area never flooded in 112 years but because of your new maps that there may be a possibility in a 100 years of .2% I have to pay $15000 a year. The average flood claim is $30,000 so why pay you for flood when if I saved premiums for 2 years I’d have the money myself. Oh wait because Biggert Waters Act made it mandatory if you have a mortgage and you changed my flood maps from a no flood zone to a flood zone. When I am homeless, I am going to put my tent on the White House lawn with my 3 children.
The effect of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Act is incredible for “flood zone” people. We live there now – many, many have lived there for many years – planning to retire. The change in premium will not allow me to stay in my home and cripple the chances to think about selling.
There are major disasters in all corners of our wonderful country – too often overwhelming the local community.
I am scared – sad – and feel that perhaps we need to direct our anger to the congress that passed this bill and failed to protect us. I live in a modest small 2-BR home and face a $20,000 increase in my insurance bill. HELP
It’s not perfect, but it’s good for five years. That’s progress.
Next time just make the rates actuarial sound and stop subsidizing the premiums with tax payer money.
Barry, you’re my hero. Our fantastic president has done more good for America in three 1/2 years than Dubya (or should I say Dick Cheney pulling the strings) did in 8.
Troll.
Amen!
Amen to Rosie’s comments, that is. Not to the whole “troll” thing above.
Obama did as much to inact this Flood insurance Flood bill as he did, when he single handedly killed Osama bin Laden with his pocket knife. Right Rosie and Planet?
Obviously, that’s ridiculous on many levels. Does it pain you that much that President Obama (Commie Muslim Radical-Christian Kenyan Anti-Colonialist Spineless Tyrant Terrorist) is The Commander in Chief when our SEALS took down Public Enemy #1?
Hear, hear, Rosie!!
Poor Rosie, Her Obamacare doctor was unavailable again to provide her with a scrip for her meds.
I guess Kool aid was no substitute for Rosie’s regular meds…
Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2012. Sounds as if it were from a Saturday Night skit. :o)
I’m surprised Maxine Waters was able to actually write a bill in between calling everyone racists.
Looks like all the ethics charges and being called up on the carpet like Rangel was has disappeared due to the Republicans not having the spine to stand up to her and being called racists. She is massively corrupt just like Rangel and a bunch of others and they are still there. Boehner has been a disappointment as a Speaker and has not drained the swamp any better than Pelosi.
OBAMACARE TAX OR PENALTY – YOU DECIDE
Full List of Obamacare Tax Hikes
Obamacare contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses.
Arranged by their respective effective dates, below is the total list of all $500 billion-plus in tax hikes (over the next ten years) in Obamacare, where to find them in the bill, and how much your taxes are scheduled to go up as of today:
Taxes that took effect in 2010:
1. Excise Tax on Charitable Hospitals (Min$/immediate): $50,000 per hospital if they fail to meet new “community health assessment needs,” “financial assistance,” and “billing and collection” rules set by HHS. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,961-1,971
2. Codification of the “economic substance doctrine” (Tax hike of $4.5 billion). This provision allows the IRS to disallow completely-legal tax deductions and other legal tax-minimizing plans just because the IRS deems that the action lacks “substance” and is merely intended to reduce taxes owed. Bill: Reconciliation Act; Page: 108-113
3. “Black liquor” tax hike (Tax hike of $23.6 billion). This is a tax increase on a type of bio-fuel. Bill: Reconciliation Act; Page: 105
4. Tax on Innovator Drug Companies ($22.2 bil/Jan 2010): $2.3 billion annual tax on the industry imposed relative to share of sales made that year. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,971-1,980
5. Blue Cross/Blue Shield Tax Hike ($0.4 bil/Jan 2010): The special tax deduction in current law for Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies would only be allowed if 85 percent or more of premium revenues are spent on clinical services. Bill: PPACA; Page: 2,004
6. Tax on Indoor Tanning Services ($2.7 billion/July 1, 2010): New 10 percent excise tax on Americans using indoor tanning salons. Bill: PPACA; Page: 2,397-2,399
Taxes that took effect in 2011:
7. Medicine Cabinet Tax ($5 bil/Jan 2011): Americans no longer 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). Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,957-1,959
8. HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike ($1.4 bil/Jan 2011): Increases additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,959
Tax that took effect in 2012:
9. Employer Reporting of Insurance on W-2 (Min$/Jan 2012): Preamble to taxing health benefits on individual tax returns. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,957
Taxes that take effect in 2013:
10. Surtax on Investment Income ($123 billion/Jan. 2013): Creation of a new, 3.8 percent surtax on investment income earned in households making at least $250,000 ($200,000 single). This would result in the following top tax rates on investment income: Bill: Reconciliation Act; Page: 87-93
Capital Gains
Dividends
Other*
2012
15%
15%
35%
2013+
23.8%
43.4%
43.4%
*Other unearned income includes (for surtax purposes) gross income from interest, annuities, royalties, net rents, and passive income in partnerships and Subchapter-S corporations. It does not include municipal bond interest or life insurance proceeds, since those do not add to gross income. It does not include active trade or business income, fair market value sales of ownership in pass-through entities, or distributions from retirement plans. The 3.8% surtax does not apply to non-resident aliens.
11. Hike in Medicare Payroll Tax ($86.8 bil/Jan 2013): Current law and changes:
First $200,000 ($250,000 Married)
Employer/Employee
(Stays same)
All Remaining Wages
Employer/Employee
Current Law
1.45%/1.45%
2.9% self-employed
1.45%/1.45%
2.9% self-employed
Obamacare Tax Hike
1.45%/1.45%
2.9% self-employed
1.45%/2.35%
3.8% self-employed
Bill: PPACA, Reconciliation Act; Page: 2000-2003; 87-93
12. Tax on Medical Device Manufacturers ($20 bil/Jan 2013): Medical device manufacturers employ 360,000 people in 6000 plants across the country. This law imposes a new 2.3% excise tax. Exempts items retailing for <$100. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,980-1,986
13. Raise "Haircut" for Medical Itemized Deduction from 7.5% to 10% of AGI ($15.2 bil/Jan 2013): Currently, those facing high medical expenses are allowed a deduction for medical expenses to the extent that those expenses exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI). The new provision imposes a threshold of 10 percent of AGI. Waived for 65+ taxpayers in 2013-2016 only. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,994-1,995
14. Flexible Spending Account Cap – aka “Special Needs Kids Tax” ($13 bil/Jan 2013): Imposes cap on FSAs of $2500 (now unlimited). Indexed to inflation after 2013. 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. Tuition 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 be used to pay for this type of special needs education. Bill: PPACA; Page: 2,388-2,389
15. Elimination of tax deduction for employer-provided retirement Rx drug coverage in coordination with Medicare Part D ($4.5 bil/Jan 2013) Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,994
16. $500,000 Annual Executive Compensation Limit for Health Insurance Executives ($0.6 bil/Jan 2013). Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,995-2,000
Taxes that take effect in 2014:
17. Individual Mandate Excise Tax (Jan 2014): Starting in 2014, anyone not buying “qualifying” health insurance must pay an income surtax according to the higher of the following (Percentage or $ amount whichever is higher)
1 Adult
2 Adults
3+ Adults
2014
1% AGI/$95
1% AGI/$190
1% AGI/$285
2015
2% AGI/$325
2% AGI/$650
2% AGI/$975
2016 +
2.5% AGI/$695
2.5% AGI/$1390
2.5% AGI/$2085
Exemptions for religious objectors, undocumented immigrants, prisoners, those earning less than the poverty line, members of Indian tribes, and hardship cases (determined by HHS).Bill: PPACA; Page: 317-337
18. Employer Mandate Tax (Jan 2014): If an employer does not offer health coverage, and at least one employee qualifies for a health tax credit, the employer must pay an additional non-deductible tax of $2000 for all full-time employees. Applies to all employers with 50 or more employees. If any employee actually receives coverage through the exchange, the penalty on the employer for that employee rises to $3000. If the employer requires a waiting period to enroll in coverage of 30-60 days, there is a $400 tax per employee ($600 if the period is 60 days or longer).Bill: PPACA; Page: 345-346
Combined score of individual and employer mandate tax penalty: $65 billion/10 years
19. Tax on Health Insurers ($60.1 bil/Jan 2014): Annual tax on the industry imposed relative to health insurance premiums collected that year. Phases in gradually until 2018. Fully-imposed on firms with $50 million in profits. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,986-1,993
Taxes that take effect in 2018:
20. Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans ($32 bil/Jan 2018): Starting in 2018, new 40 percent excise tax on “Cadillac” health insurance plans ($10,200 single/$27,500 family). Higher threshold ($11,500 single/$29,450 family) for early retirees and high-risk professions. CPI +1 percentage point indexed. Bill: PPACA; Page: 1,941-1,956
Perhaps the President can pay for the Flood Bill extension with all these taxes collected on Obamacare.
Doesn’t really matter if it’s a tax or a penalty. Call it what you want, it’s a step in the right direction.
Planet, perhaps you didn’t bother to read Sarah’s summmary of all the new taxes heaped on the American People. Yes, it is taxes all the way even though you believe all the spin from the left it is a penalty. They are penalizing us 20 times with this bill. I know this article is about Flood, but it also has to be paid for with our tax money. Has there ever been a Progressive out there who was not in favor of higher taxes? This is an excellent way to keep the economy in chaos.
What is your source on this? I’m not challenging you, just want to know so I can show others….
I refer you to Sarah’s dissertation above. She obviously did a lot of research on the law and all the taxes coming our way. I noticed that Planet has not refuted one of them. He still thinks we have a penalty, not a tax.
The law itself is the source of the information, Bill: PPACA is the law that was signed into law by President Obama. I have included the actual page number for reference.
This has exactly *what* to do with the NFIP?
Nothin, Jon, other than the fact The President signed it. Anything Obama does gets immediate ridicule by those on The Right. It’s comical, actually.
Planet, I tell you this, If Obama came out tomorrow and gave this speach, (He really does give good speaches) I would support him.
I have decided today that we are going to scrap the ObamaTax law, start over with a bipartisan approach and come up with a law that guarantees everyone access to healthcare, but everyone take responsibility without a mandate. And BTW, We are going to give major tax incentives to small business owners who hire full time permanent employees that were previously on government assistance and are removed from the dole. Also we are going to give a tax reduction for all those that buy a house from someone who is in foreclosure. Also the government will modify any mortgage for any veteran who comes back from active duty. And also I have changed my mind again, We will take the advice of my own committee I formed, The Bowles Simpson committee and institute all of their advice, including the reduction of taxes for the higher earners who are the job creators, and broaden the tax base to include those 48% that pay no income tax at all. Revenue will sky rocket and these free loaders will pay their fair share. LOL…. If he were to give this speach, I would most certainly support him in the next election. All we get is lame class warfare, and blame it on Bush! Its getting really over used and old.
Actually he gives good speeches. Learn to spell.
Yes flipside, my spelling is not a strong point of mine. Ridicule is what people do when they do not have a good argument. You are a good example of this!
Sarah,
Where did you get your information?
law itself – http://www.healthcare.gov/law/full/index.html
There is a complete PDF available on this site.
Sarah, This President does not have a compromising bone in his body or it would have shown up by now. It is all about the Progressive Agenda which is class and race warfare and dividing the country. He doesn’t take the advice of any committee or anyone with common sense whether it be in his party or the Republicans. He has vowed to veto any bill sent to him to extend the Bush Tax Cuts for everyone. Harry Reid has blocked any meaningful legislation to improve the economy. Make no bones about it, this President is a disaster and needs to be sent packing in November so we can get meaningful reforms done.
What planet did YOU drop down from? There is a reason you shouldnt use your real name.
Excellent! But why expire during the middle of hurricane season in 2017? Couldnt it have been in January?
Because even if he is reelected he won’t have to deal with it again. Everything really is about him. Read his speeches if you like to see “I” every three words.
What do you mean “Where did she get her information”? She listed the pages in the “PPACA” (Obamacare Bill). It is probably a good guess that she read and understands the bill. Unlike those who passed it without reading ,understanding,or having the ability to explain the contents of this bill even today. The very disturbing aspect of all of these taxes is in the EXEMPTIONS. Religious,Illegal Alien(undocumented Immigrants). These people can still use the emergency rooms,and qualify for free care without worrying about paying the bills. American Indians are seperate Nation’s within the USA.
http://www.healthcare.gov/law/full/index.html
Actual copy of the law passed. You can review a PDF of the entire law.
Thank you,Sarah!
Harry, I just wanted the link. :)
Susie, Here is a source for reading the actual law and where you can find by page the Reconciliation Act, the other link did not show the page numbers which is where you can confirm the above information. Here is a better link.
http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/on-call/2010/03/18/house-health-reform-act-is-out-at-a-lean-153-pages-read-it-yourself-here/
Thank you!
no governmental entity at any level should be in the business of selling insurance. period.
let the free market handle insurance.
Nope, you’re right. But, health insurance should just be afforded to us like all the other first-world nations. Tax us accordingly. We take better care of our roads in this country than we do our people. Take the “for-profit” motive out of healthcare. Stockholders shouldn’t be deciding on a person’s life.
Interesting choice of words Planet. Nope, you’re right? Health Insurance has broken all the other first world nations already. Have you taken a look at Europe lately? Greece, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Ireland, Great Britain are all in chaos or close to it. They think they can tax and spend their way to prosperity just like this President. Oops! What went wrong with this picture? Take better care of our roads than our people? Now I know why some of the others said “What Planet are you from”? My parting shot is that Bureaucrats shouldn’t be deciding on a person’s life. They do nothing well and will not act in our best interest, especially in Healthcare.
Interesting survey for anyone who wants to both take it and review results:
http://healthreform.kff.org/quizzes/health-reform-quiz.aspx
I’ve read the entire bill. I encourage others to as well. I know there are fines to healthcare providers, clincs, hospitals, etc. I don’t have any issues with that. I don’t have any issues if you want to call them taxes. What I do have issues with are pre-existing conditions, the fact my premiums have gone up about 8%-10% each year for the last 7 years (at least), the fact there are so many Americans without coverage, and the fact that we don’t have and still won’t have a public option. I do want single payer, have wanted it for at least 20 years now. I’m not hiding any of that. And, I’m also not hiding the fact that most of you out here will disagree. I know who the audience is out here. I’m sure I am a minority in the insurance and financial sector. But, I also know I am part of a larger like-minded majority outside of this sector. I invite the opportunity to chat with any of you. I don’t have to get excited and will do my best to refrain from calling you names like others seem to enjoy out here. At the end of the day, we may not agree and that’s all right.
Planet, really? You have read the entire 2,700 pages of this Progressive Dream. Legal scholars can’t get through it. My eyes glazed over after 100 pages of it. I guess you are so invested in it you were just overjoyed to see what was done to the American People by Pelosi, Reid & Obama. You are definitely right about one thing. You are in a minority and according to polls I have seen, most Americans want it repealed. They polled doctors and 83% are considering leaving their profession and 63% want it repealed. Do you think we may have some serious rationing of care if this happens? Make an appointment and they will see you in November.
First Agent, did you look at the methodology of the so-called 83% of doctors quitting their profession. You may want to take that Fox News number with a grain of salt. Maybe not even that much. Here is the methodology:
The survey was conducted by fax and online from April 18 to May 22, 2012. DPMAF obtained the office fax numbers of 36,000 doctors in active clinical practice, and 16, 227 faxes were successfully delivered. Doctors were asked to return their completed surveys by fax, or online at a web address included in the faxed copy. Browser rules prevented doctors from filing duplicate surveys, and respondents were asked to provide personal identification for verification. The response rate was 4.3% for a total of 699 completed surveys.
It’s not even scientific. Moreover, it’s actually a survey, not a study or a poll. Also, during the survey, the words “Obamacare” and “PPACA” weren’t even used. Who even knows who filled the survey out. It was sent to “clincial practices” and I’d like to see how the survey defined those. It’s a bogus number but a sexy one, and that’s why you see Drudge, Breitbart, and all the others running away with it. Complete BS. Thanks for citing it though, First Agent. Gives some insight as to where you get your information. C’mon, you’re better than that. The red flag should be 83%. Do you honestly think all but 17% of every doctor in the US is going to walk away from their oath? I personally have 3 friends in practice (2 surgeons, 1 gen practice) who are all in FAVOR of the PPACA. My mother-in-law is an RN tasked with running tests on heart patients, she’s in FAVOR of it. Everyone I have had personal conversations with that is in the profession likes it and thinks it’s going to get even better. Real world experience over this so called 83%.
And yes, I read it. Not all in one sitting, but I read it.
Congratulations Planet. You have read the whole thing and if you can understand what it is saying with all that language that legal scholars can’t understand, I commend you. Many have commented that it is incomprehensible and I agree with them from what I read. By the way, I insure a number of doctors in my area who are certainly not on board and they are all contemplating closing their practice and doing other things. Luckily, they own properties they get income from. Other than the small percentage of doctors in the AMA, I think doctors overall have a big issue with this bill. They see this as working twice as hard for less money and having more bureaucratic red tape and not being able to provide the proper treatment to their patients. I think it is safe to say that doctors all across the country will vote against Obama at least 80-20. Their office workers will also vote against it since their jobs are on the line as well.
Let me get this straight . .We’re going to be “gifted” with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don’t,
Which, purportedly covers at least ten million more people, without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents,
written by a committee who’se chairman says he doesn’t understand it, passed by a Congress that didn’t read it (but exempted themselves from it)and signed by a Dumbo President who smokes,with funding administered by a treasury chief who did not pay his taxes, for which we’ll be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect,by a congress which has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen by an obese surgeon general and financed by a country that’s broke!!
What the hell could possibly go wrong?’
Here’s whats important about OBAMACARE. As far as taxes … this is the best non-partisan article I’ve read and I venture to say it rings of more truth than over simplifying taxes vs penalty …
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/07/10/everything-obama-has-done-and-wants-to-do-on-taxes-in-one-post/
Benefits of The Affordable Care Act!
SENIORS
Those who fall into the Medicare Part D “donut hole” will get $250 in help paying for their drugs.
Those on Medicare Advantage plans may see some changes as subsidies to insurers are reduced, and incentives are changed, over several years. The plan would be paid for in large part with an aggressive push to stop waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare.
CHRONICALLY ILL
People with pre-existing conditions should have a much easier time finding affordable insurance. Insurance companies won’t be able to deny coverage based on pre-existing health problems. Unemployment won’t mean becoming uninsured.
The end of benefit caps will ensure people with costly conditions like cancer will not exhaust their insurance benefits before they’re well.
HEALTHY YOUNG ADULTS
Right now they’re the group most likely to voluntarily go without insurance. They and everyone else will have to either buy it or pay a fine.
That fine will be $325 starting in 2015, rising to $695 the next year, or it will be a percent of income, 2 to 2.5 percent at the top level, after 2016.
The main features as the bill takes shape:
—HOW MANY COVERED: 31 million uninsured Americans.
—INSURANCE MANDATE: Like the bills approved last year by the House and Senate, the proposal would require almost everyone to be insured or pay a fine. There is an exemption for low-income people.
—INSURANCE MARKET REFORMS: Stops unpopular insurance industry practices such as denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions or charging women more. In response to recent insurance premium rate increases, including increases as high as 39 percent by Anthem Blue Cross in California, the legislation adopts an Obama proposal to give the federal government the authority to block rate hikes, roll back premium prices and force insurance companies to give rebates to consumers.
—MEDICAID: The legislation would expand the federal-state Medicaid insurance program for the poor to cover people with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, $29,327 a year for a family of four. The federal government would pick up more of the tab, paying 100 percent of the cost for newly eligible individuals through 2017. A special deal that would have given Nebraska 100 percent federal financing for newly eligible Medicaid recipients in perpetuity has been eliminated. A different, one-time deal negotiated by Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu for her state, Louisiana, worth as much as $300 million, remained.
—TAXES: The legislation would scale back a Senate-passed tax on high-cost insurance plans that was opposed by House Democrats and labor unions. The tax would be delayed from 2013 until 2018 and the thresholds at which it is imposed would be moved up from policies worth $8,500 for individuals and $23,000 for families, to $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. Those changes mean $120 billion in lost revenue over 10 years that would be replaced mostly by applying an increased Medicare payroll tax to investment income as well as wages for individuals making more than $200,000, or married couples above $250,000. The Senate bill had applied the tax only to wage income.
—PRESCRIPTION DRUGS: The proposal would close the “doughnut hole” coverage gap in the Medicare prescription drug benefit that kicks in once seniors have spent $2,830. The Senate bill would have provided a 50 percent discount on the cost of brand-name drugs in the doughnut hole but Obama would close the gap entirely by 2020. The added cost, which Democrats have not yet disclosed, would be paid for in part by an additional $10 billion in fees on the drug industry.
—EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITY: The legislation keeps the approach in the Senate bill, which doesn’t require businesses to offer coverage but charges fees to companies with more than 50 employees if the government subsidizes employees’ coverage. The proposal increases the fees to $2,000 per worker instead of $750, but grants companies an allowance that was not part of the original Senate plan. The proposal includes part-time workers in the calculations, counting two part-time workers as one full-time worker.
—SUBSIDIES: The proposal provides more generous subsidies for purchasing insurance than the Senate bill did. The aid is available for households making up to four times the federal poverty level ($88,200 for a family of four).
—HOW YOU CHOOSE YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE: Small businesses, the self-employed and the uninsured could pick a plan offered through new state-based purchasing pools called exchanges. People working for big companies would not see major changes.
—GOVERNMENT-RUN PLAN: The proposal does not include the government-run insurance plan sought by liberals and approved by the House. It takes the Senate approach, which gives Americans purchasing coverage through new insurance exchanges the option of signing up for national plans overseen by the federal office that manages the government health plan available to members of Congress. Those plans would be private, but one would have to be nonprofit.
—ABORTION: The proposal does not change the abortion provision in the Senate bill, which is opposed by anti-abortion groups that say it allows federal financing of abortion. The bill tries to maintain a strict separation between taxpayer dollars and private premiums that would pay for abortion coverage.
No health plan would be required to offer coverage for the procedure. In plans that do cover abortion, beneficiaries would have to pay for it separately, and that money would have to be kept in a separate account from taxpayer money. States could ban abortion coverage in plans offered through the exchange. Exceptions would be made for cases of rape, incest and danger to the life of the mother.
this is a very old article, you will notice it says proposal not law. It is also what they passed before they read it. Remember they had to pass it before anyone could know what is in it.
This by no means in nonpartisan. If you have read the bill it most certainly is not represented by the actual law. I have reviewed it and the reconciliation act as well. I would recommend doing so as well.
Liberals are like parrots, they have a small brain and can repeat anything that is presented enough to them by their master, MSNBC CNN Media Matters. In this case it it’s – Arkkk Its Bush’s Fault…. Polly want a hand out, Polly want a handout! Arrk…
Due to their small brain, They are incapable of facts, figures and logic based on reality. They are looking for something that does not exist. “Something for nothing” from their government and probably their friends and family too. Its always someone else’s responsibility. Never their own.
Planet, you did not read the bill, I did however review it the PPACA and the reconciliation bill which is a follow up to the law completely and gave you a good example of what is bad about the law above. We didnt need to create a 2700 page monster to get preexisting conditions or your loser 26 year old failure to launch kid coverage as well. We didnt need to raid Medicare to the tune of 500 billion over the next ten years either.
Sorry but I am not buying your crap.
Sarah, I won’t stoop to calling names. I’ll leave that to, well, you. But, yes, I did read the bill and am actually working on reading it a second time. I’m sure you’re actually a decent person. I’m not selling you anything so you don’t have to buy anything. Just trying to have a conversation but evidently, you don’t want to have one. You just want to yell and scream a lot. That’s fine, have fun.
Wow, your rudeness is astounding but typical Republican Rudeness.
I know a lot of people are upset about mandatory coverage and penalty taxes. Yet, somehow it seems to me that those who are complaining are already insured — or at least able to access coverage. We need to place ourselves in a different pair of shoes before we declare that Obamacare represents some sort of liberal tyranny.
Imagine for a moment if every congressperson was forced to spend one night a month volunteering at their local clinics. Imagine if they had to listen to stories of trying to make ends meet while chronic conditions unravel financial and physical security. What if our lawmakers were forced to sit down and counsel their low-income constituents through the red tape and paperwork involved in applying to pharmaceutical assistance programs? What if our politicians were to spend a day adding name after name to waiting lists to see an overwhelmed provider at an under-funded facility that will receive zero compensation for seeing that patient when their name reaches the top of that list roughly six months from now? Oh but the grace of God Sarah, that could be you or I.
We all know that health care is a complex issue with no easy answer. Does the phrase “Physician do no harm” mean anything?
Jacq, have you ever heard the term “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”? It is not wise to tangle with Sarah. She has her facts straight no matter how uncomfortable it makes you. Allow me to contribute. You mention imagining every congressman having to volunteer, listen to stories about making ends meet etc etc. Congress made sure they were not subject to Obamacare and kept their gold plated coverage. Does that tell you anything about this bill and how bad it is? How about the thousands of Waivers that have been granted to large business and unions who wanted no part of it? Healthcare could have been corrected and made more accessible and affordable without this 2,700 page monster we got rammed down our throat. Thank your Progressive Congressmen who succeeded in riling up the whole nation. We don’t like government which does things without our consent.
But for the grace of God? How about but for the hard work I put into my education and career to make sure I could provide for my family? Safety nets, ok, helping people improve themselves to a point, ok, but I have a problem with permanantly subsidizing others lack of ambition.
Jacq, Is that French or something. Sure sounds like it! You might want to look at the medical care provided in France. Look at my Parrot analogy, Arrk…. Republicans are Rude…. Arrrrkkk…Liberal Tyranny…. Arrrkkkk… Physician do no harm….. Arrrkkk… Poor liberal Constituents….
All a fact-less and baseless emotional outburst of ridicule. Where are your facts and or figures? Liberals all live in a different world where logic and reason does not exist. Arguing with them is like beating your head against a wall. If you let them they will drive you crazy with their incapacity to live in the real world.
Sarah, if Jacq is French, perhaps he hasn’t heard that France just elected a Socialist President who is now taxing their rich to the tune of 75% of their income and their retirement age went back to age 50. It is obviously unsustainable and they will join Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Ireland and Great Britain in default. I wonder how much big French money has already been sent to Switzerland to numbered accounts. Switzerland will have to build some new vaults to hold all that money.
Here are the unemployment rates for every one of the 17 states that elected tea party supported candidates. 3x the reduction of the states that elected democrats as their Governors.
Kansas – 6.9% to 6.1% = a decline of 0.8 [percentage points (11.6 percent)]
Maine – 8.0% to 7.4% = a decline of 0.6 [percentage points (7.5 percent)]
Michigan – 10.9% to 8.5% = a decline of [2.4 percentage points (22 percent)]
New Mexico – 7.7% to 6.7% = a decline of [1.0 percentage points (13 percent)]
Oklahoma – 6.2% to 4.8% = a decline of [1.4 percentage points – (22.6 percent)]
Pennsylvania – 8.0% to 7.4% = a decline of [.6 percentage points (7.5 percent)]
Tennessee – 9.5% to 7.9% = a decline of [1.6 percentage points (16.8 percent)]
Wisconsin – 7.7% to 6.8% = a decline of [0.9 percentage points (11.9 percent)]
Wyoming – 6.3% to 5.2% = a decline of [1.1 percentage points (17.5 percent)]
Alabama – 9.3% to 7.4% = a decline of [1.9 percentage points (20.4 percent)]
Georgia – 10.1% to 8.9% = a decline of [1.2 percentage points (11.9 percent)]
South Carolina – 10.6% to 9.1% = a decline of [1.5 percentage points (14.2 percent)]
South Dakota – 5.0% to 4.3% = a decline of [0.7 percentage points (14 percent)]
Florida – 10.9% to 8.6% = a decline of [2.3 percentage points (21 percent)]
Nevada – 13.8% to 11.6% = a decline of [2.2 percentage points (15.9 percent)]
Iowa – 6.1% to 5.1% = a decline of [1.0 percentage points (16.4 percent)]
Ohio – 9.0% to 7.3% = a decline of [1.7 percentage points (18.9 percent)]
Good summary Sarah. The shellacking in Nov 10 did a lot of good when many governorships and state legislatures changed hands. Only the N/E blue states and the left coast seems to have the big problems due to their Progressive spendaholic ways. Several cities in California have either taken bankruptcy or are on the verge of it. Scranton,Pa had to lower the pay of city workers there to make payroll. All the cities and states that received a lot of stimulus money blew right through it and all thought they were on the permanent dole of the Federal Government. They didn’t make any changes to their budgets and no cuts and now they are in dire straits. Conservative leaders know what to do to get their house in order and they are having success. I would add that McDonald in Virginia took a budget deficit and turned it into a surplus and Virginia is definitely in play now for the Republicans.
I’m sorry, but Terry Brandstad is not a Tea Party candidate. He’s an old school Republican who held office here in Iowa back in the ’80’s and again now. But, nice try. How many of these other states you list are misrepresented?
I guess you are in complete denial Planet about what took place in Nov 10. It was about as complete a shellacking as has happened in 40 years in State Government as well as Congress. A complete rejection of the agenda would be how I would categorize it. The Blue Dog Democrats that were shown the door had a nice consolation though. Nancy threw them a great going away party and thanked them for going under the bus.
I am voting for President Obama no matter what. He should get 8 years in term becasue he is changing America. After 8 years of the Bush/Cheney disater, now you mad? You didn’t get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President. You didn’t get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy policy and push us to invade Iraq. You didn’t get mad when we spent billions on said war. You didn’t get mad when Bush borrowed more money from foreign sources than the previous 42 Presidents combined. You didn’t get mad when Bush rang up trillions in combined duget and current account deficits. You didn’t get mad when we gave people who had more money than they could spend tax breaks. You didn’t get mad with the worse 8 years of job creations in several decades. You didn’t get mad when over 200,00 US citizens lost their lives because they had no health insurance. Now that we have a President who feels the American people deserve the right to see a doctor if they are sick you get mad.
That happens to be one of the most illogical posts I have read. “I am going to vote for Obama no matter what”because he is changing America? Huh…. YES HE IS FOR THE WORST! Comon! That statement deserves no answer. Laughable!
Jacq, you are either a foreigner who doesn’t know proper English or a product of the SEIU public school system which doesn’t teach English or much of anything else. Your ranting makes no sense and your facts are wrong as well.
…Jacq,
A) How do you have any idea what was felt about the war or how can you even compare this to that?
B) This is not the same thing
C) 200,00 lives lost due to lack of heath care.
Where are your stats for this? At least Sarah provides her sources.
Yes, people do deserve to see a doctor; under this law it will be months and months before they get too. Besides, giving people fines who don’t have insurance is redundant. I would wager to say that these people cannot afford to buy it, so they don’t have it.
Don’t be fooled, Jacq. (though alot of people are) This is not for the American People at all. I just cannot respect a “president” who goes on talk show and TV. That is why around here he is called Celeberity Obama, Not president.
Uh, George Bush and his wife were on Dr. Phil in 2004. Ronald Reagan was a Hollywood actor.
I guess you wouldn’t be able to vote for Sarah Palin anymore, either. She had her own reality TV show. Oh, and she’s been on SNL.
And how many times has your President been on Letterman, The View and Leno? Everytime he is in the area on his dozens of fundraisers, he manages to make time to get on these shows. It is nauseating to see Joy Behar with her hands all over him when he is on The View.
No, Planet, I wouldnt. However, I never was a fan.
And exactly, Agent. He was on the VIEW for Pete Sake… The Veiw! and then late night talk shows. Much different then the two examples you attemped to compare this too.
You’re right, Dr. Phil is nowhere near The View. Wait, where did Dr. Phil get his start? Oh yeah, Oprah…which…is…a…day time talk show. I’m drawing a connection to what was typed, “Celebrity Obama.” You couldn’t have been any more celebrity than Reagan. Be consistent. Besides, can you really blame any politician for trying to be popular? Isn’t that part of the strategy. To be more popular than the other candidate? What’s next, you’re going to rip on Obama for playing politics? What do you expect politicians to do?
What am I saying below? Dr. Phil is a day time talk show starting and discovered by the queen of day time talk shows. It’s completely the same thing. “You’ve read the books, seen the tapes, watched my TV show…”
Susie, People like Jacq and Planet are not from our planet. They are factless ranters of the Progressive agenda. Jacq rants that 200,000 people have died due to lack of Healthcare in this country. Hello! I think not. They should be looking at Great Britain giving legalized euthanasia to their senior citizens. The latest report is that they have put 130,000 on the Pathway to Death and do not treat them and just let them die. That is coming with Obamacare as well with the Committees aka Death Panels that will refuse to allow treatment to seniors because of severe rationing. They are good enough to cover End of Life counseling to the seniors. Isn’t that great?
Jacq, here is another good reason to elect your socialist President to another 4 years, just think what the Country will look like then.
President Obama dismantles Clintons Wellfare reform in direct conflict with Congresses directive order given.
President Obama just tore up a basic foundation of the welfare contract. In exchange for taxpayer-funded TANF payments, the law calls on able-bodied adults to work, look for work, take classes, or undergo drug and alcohol counseling. It’s the tough love that gives people motivation to help themselves.
All I hear is I hate obamacare: Health-Care Reform should be repealed! Which part? The one that ensures children aren’t denied care due to a pre-existing condition? The part that allows kids to be covered by their parents’ plan until they are 26? The part that stops insurance providers from dropping people when they get seriously sick? No, it really THE OBAMA PART. All of your ranting is not only bias but unbalance and patrician.
How about the parts above that I mentioned. the ones that create the largest tax increase in our nations history! The part that creates a single pay-or system of healthcare called the trigger when a carrier spends more than 15% of its revenues on other than healthcare related items such as commissions, general overhead, benefits, salaries, etc. Many carriers are already pulling out of the healthcare industry such as Principal financial, Cigna and many others.
It is always funny to look at the items you state as part of the bill you like. Children, Kids on parents policies (26 year old failures) Dropping coverages. ALL ABOUT FEELINGS, WELL HEALTHCARE COST MONEY AND THATS WHAT WE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT LATER!
Here is something I found funny today. The President said that Romney’s business dealings at Bain are fair game and he wouldnt apoligize for his blatant disregard for truth. But has anyone asked what business dealing the President has had that makes him qualified to lead us out of a recession? ……Chirp….Chirp…I hear Crickets!
He also said business hasn’t invented anything or done anything without government help. That is why we need to pay our fair share back to government. Gee, I thought Al Gore invented the internet, but Obama says it was the government. It is really amazing that this country advanced as far as it did without the intrusive government helping it along. For me, I just want the government to get out of the way and let free enterprise come up with the solutions.
Exactly. The other way obviously is not working. But we have to keep on a trying…. maybe next time it will work. He is always taking about the middle class… He has no idea what “middle class” means. At. All.
Susie, If anyone who is currently in the Middle Class thinks this man is looking out for them, they are sadly mistaken. Middle Class net worth has declined substantially in the last 3 1/2 years and many are now in the lower middle class and the lower middle class is now in the poverty class. If he is re-elected, it will be a disaster of biblical proportions when the economy completely tanks.
That was exactly my point. The middle class does not really even exsist any more.
Sarah, when we have a President who has zero understanding of how this economy works and thinks government control is the answer to everything, we have Progressive Socialism in the worst form. He isn’t qualified to run a lemonade stand, let alone the most powerful economy the world has ever seen. I have seen that Obamacare has over 13,000 pages of regulations written to date and they are just getting warmed up unless it is shot down. We think we have a lot of bureaucrats now, just wait until they put all those Death Panels together to make life and death decisions for everyone.
Bad premise, why do you need to have business dealings? The government doesn’t and shouldn’t run like a business. It’s not one. It doesn’t seek a profit. It owns its currency. It can borrow from itself and in today’s market, at extremely low rates. Don’t have to be a business person at all to realize we need to cut spending in areas we can, raise taxes, and invest in areas we need to like infrastructure amd the youth (vocational schools for one, not everyone is meant for college). I think all sides can agree on those principles, we’re just having a hard time agreeing on the cuts, the taxes, and the investments. We used to be able to compromise but now, it’s just one party blocking the other and vice-versa.
Planet, Again I ask, what Planet are you from? Did you ever take an Economics course in school? Businesses don’t borrow from themselves and governments shouldn’t either. It is very poor economic practice. Governments should live within their means. You can’t tell me this government cannot operate on $2.4 Trillion each year. This government is spending $3.8 Trillion per year and borrowing $.40 of every dollar spent. Spending should be cut in just about every area of government and fraud and abuse aggressively pursued. When you say investing, that is a code word for more government spending. If we could have spent our way to prosperity, don’t you think it would have happened by now? By the way, billions are spent through the Transportation Dept each year on infrastructure and we certainly don’t need another “investment” like the bogus Stimulus where there was no shovel ready jobs after we spent a cool trillion. Compromise you say? The time for the reach across the aisle idiots is over. It is time to get down to brass tacks and do some serious budget cutting if we are to get our finances on the right track.
No code word. I’m pretty straight and forward. Yes, by invest, I mean, “put money into”. Stimulus did work just didn’t fix the problem because we tried to plug over a $2T hole with $800B. That’s like putting a cork in a 5 gallon bucket and expecting the water to stay in once you dump it over. And, I think we can all agree, the stimulus wasn’t allocated correctly. And, no, gov’t should not run like a business because it is NOT a business. Unless you want to go fascist and have corporations run this country.
Planet, do you mean put money into that we don’t have? What part of $1.4 Trillion deficits do you not understand? Pouring money down the rat hole with political payoffs is not the way to solve economic problems in this country. The only way to solve our fiscal problems is to be fiscally responsible. As Sarah pointed out, Conservative Governors instituted policies that would get their states back on track and turned deficits into surpluses. That message has been lost on our Federal Government and this President who still believes he can spend his way to prosperity and regulate, control and tax the citizens to death. This has not worked in the history of the world and you have swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Wake up and smell the coffee for once in your life.
Oh, I have. And I like my coffee black, like The President. OK, that was meant to be a joke but I really do take it without cream or sugar. First Agent, again, we don’t agree. Iowa was actually doing just fine if not better overall under Culver. He just made a bad name for himself by getting into an argument with a police officer, allegedly taking steroids, and a host of other personal issues. But, we were actually moving along very well. Brandstad is trying to put a hault to that but fortunately we have some good people below him that stymies his bad policy-making. Though, I do think he would have no problem releasing his tax returns and I’d be willing to bet all of his money is kept here at home rather than in some island haven…or several of them. Just saying.
Planet, here I am talking about the future of the country and you are talking about Iowa politics and problems there. Iowa is just symptomatic at what is wrong with the country. One could argue that the blue states, mostly in the northern part of our country have it so screwed up, they can’t recover. Scranton, Pa had to lower their city employees to minimum wage or they can’t make payroll. What is wrong with that picture? Blow your stimulus money and don’t make the needed budget cuts for the next year and now you are in trouble again. I am sure you think they need another stimulus to help them out. Get it through your head, get the fiscal house in order, cancel the outrageous public sector union contracts and live within your means. This is not rocket science, but very good economic sense.
Actually, just commenting on the whole “conservative governors” comment you and Sarah made. Brandstad hasn’t really done a thing. He coulnd’t figure out a budget, couldn’t get education reform, he just has been a pretty lame governor. Things in Iowa have just been good so he’s a victim of circumstance. But, no, we won’t agree again. Union contracts are not the problem. Total austerity measures will be detrimental. Tax policy needs to be looked at. As President Reagan said, “you the millionaire should be paying more in taxes than the bus driver.” Then, we can look at cutting in other areas, like defense spending. I’m sick of buying fuel for sailboats. That one was actually billed to us by Black Water. That is a pure waste of tax payer’s money. Even you can agree with that point, right?
Planet, you are right about one thing. We won’t agree on your vision and our vision for the country. We have an out of control Federal Government which is spending us into poverty and many State and Local Governments doing the same thing. They all need to be weaned from the taxpayer “teat”. Defense spending needs to be looked at for unnecessary things without sacrificing the troops who do a wonderful job. I don’t want to see the Navy buying $26 per gallon fuel made from switch grass and wood chips either, especially when $3.00 per gallon gas is available. Time to cut the greenies off and the greenie in chief needs to back off. Austerity measures are now necessary at all levels of government and you mentioned Reagan. Gee, I wonder how he managed to increase the revenue to the government by cutting the marginal rates from 70% to 28%. I think it was called the Reagan revolution at the time and businesses started flourishing again and actually hiring and expanding. Your President has succeeded in running the country in the ground in 3 1/2 years and is calling for more anti business taxation. The way to increase revenue is by creating more taxpayers, not more leaches sucking the life blood out of the country. I am afraid Sarah and I are running circles around your Progressive logic.
Let’s get rid of the myth of Reagan and look at the reality of him:
1. Reagan was a serial tax raiser. As governor of California, Reagan “signed into law the largest tax increase in the history of any state up till then.” Meanwhile, state spending nearly doubled. As president, Reagan “raised taxes in seven of his eight years in office,” including four times in just two years. As former GOP Senator Alan Simpson, who called Reagan “a dear friend,” told NPR, “Ronald Reagan raised taxes 11 times in his administration — I was there.” “Reagan was never afraid to raise taxes,” said historian Douglas Brinkley, who edited Reagan’s memoir. Reagan the anti-tax zealot is “false mythology,” Brinkley said.
2. Reagan nearly tripled the federal budget deficit. During the Reagan years, the debt increased to nearly $3 trillion, “roughly three times as much as the first 80 years of the century had done altogether.” Reagan enacted a major tax cut his first year in office and government revenue dropped off precipitously. Despite the conservative myth that tax cuts somehow increase revenue, the government went deeper into debt and Reagan had to raise taxes just a year after he enacted his tax cut. Despite ten more tax hikes on everything from gasoline to corporate income, Reagan was never able to get the deficit under control.
3. Unemployment soared after Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts. Unemployment jumped to 10.8 percent after Reagan enacted his much-touted tax cut, and it took years for the rate to get back down to its previous level. Meanwhile, income inequality exploded. Despite the myth that Reagan presided over an era of unmatched economic boom for all Americans, Reagan disproportionately taxed the poor and middle class, but the economic growth of the 1980′s did little help them. “Since 1980, median household income has risen only 30 percent, adjusted for inflation, while average incomes at the top have tripled or quadrupled,” the New York Times’ David Leonhardt noted.
4. Reagan grew the size of the federal government tremendously. Reagan promised “to move boldly, decisively, and quickly to control the runaway growth of federal spending,” but federal spending “ballooned” under Reagan. He bailed out Social Security in 1983 after attempting to privatize it, and set up a progressive taxation system to keep it funded into the future. He promised to cut government agencies like the Department of Energy and Education but ended up adding one of the largest — the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, which today has a budget of nearly $90 billion and close to 300,000 employees. He also hiked defense spending by over $100 billion a year to a level not seen since the height of the Vietnam war.
5. Reagan did little to fight a woman’s right to choose. As governor of California in 1967, Reagan signed a bill to liberalize the state’s abortion laws that “resulted in more than a million abortions.” When Reagan ran for president, he advocated a constitutional amendment that would have prohibited all abortions except when necessary to save the life of the mother, but once in office, he “never seriously pursued” curbing choice.
6. Reagan was a “bellicose peacenik.” He wrote in his memoirs that “[m]y dream…became a world free of nuclear weapons.” “This vision stemmed from the president’s belief that the biblical account of Armageddon prophesied nuclear war — and that apocalypse could be averted if everyone, especially the Soviets, eliminated nuclear weapons,” the Washington Monthly noted. And Reagan’s military buildup was meant to crush the Soviet Union, but “also to put the United States in a stronger position from which to establish effective arms control” for the the entire world — a vision acted out by Regean’s vice president, George H.W. Bush, when he became president.
7. Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants. Reagan signed into law a bill that made any immigrant who had entered the country before 1982 eligible for amnesty. The bill was sold as a crackdown, but its tough sanctions on employers who hired undocumented immigrants were removed before final passage. The bill helped 3 million people and millions more family members gain American residency. It has since become a source of major embarrassment for conservatives.
8. Reagan illegally funneled weapons to Iran. Reagan and other senior U.S. officials secretly sold arms to officials in Iran, which was subject to a an arms embargo at the time, in exchange for American hostages. Some funds from the illegal arms sales also went to fund anti-Communist rebels in Nicaragua — something Congress had already prohibited the administration from doing. When the deals went public, the Iran-Contra Affair, as it came to be know, was an enormous political scandal that forced several senior administration officials to resign.
9. Reagan vetoed a comprehensive anti-Apartheid act. which placed sanctions on South Africa and cut off all American trade with the country. Reagan’s veto was overridden by the Republican-controlled Senate. Reagan responded by saying “I deeply regret that Congress has seen fit to override my veto,” saying that the law “will not solve the serious problems that plague that country.”
10. Reagan helped create the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. Reagan fought a proxy war with the Soviet Union by training, arming, equipping, and funding Islamist mujahidin fighters in Afghanistan. Reagan funneled billions of dollars, along with top-secret intelligence and sophisticated weaponry to these fighters through the Pakistani intelligence service. The Talbian and Osama Bin Laden — a prominent mujahidin commander — emerged from these mujahidin groups Reagan helped create, and U.S. policy towards Pakistan remains strained because of the intelligence services’ close relations to these fighters. In fact, Reagan’s decision to continue the proxy war after the Soviets were willing to retreat played a direct role in Bin Laden’s ascendancy.
Do you want to know why we are where we are today? Because of Reaganomics. Trickle-down simply hasn’t worked the way it was supposed to in philosophy. It never has, since the days when it was actually called the horse and sparrow. That doesn’t mean destroy Capitalism. I like Capitalism. But, something has to give from the top. A measly 4% will do for now and not for me, but for the country.
Reagan wouldn’t even be nominated in today’s Republican Party. Our President is a centrist, I wish he would be a little more liberal on some issues. He continues to bow down to the right. 167 Republican amendments to the PPACA, which was a Republican design to begin with (Heritage Foundation, Bob Dole in response to Hilary Care). Go ahead and disagree with the facts, FA. But, show me in your response where my figures are wrong rather than simply just disagreeing. Then we can have a conversation.
Planet, I will not even respond to your denigration of the greatest President this country has had in the past 100 years. He runs circles around any you could put up against him. I lived through his Presidency and saw what he did to recover from the largesse ineptitude and stagflation of Jimmy Carter. It was a lot of work and he had to deal with a Democratic Congress, but he got it done and the country recovered. By the way, I had a good laugh when you pronounced your President a centrist. You are even further gone than I thought previously if you believe that nonsense and your Mediamatters talking points cut no ice with me.
First Agent, just what I thought, can’t dispute the figures and facts I listed. So, you don’t want to have a conversation, that’s okay. I lived through Reagan, too. We are all actually still living with him, at least policies posthumously. And, I used to drink the Kool Aid and think he was great. Then, I started reading who he actually was. Boy, was I wrong. Now I know he is the root of our current issues in this country and some beyond. Certainly not some saint like some on the right want to make him out to be. Definitely not the greatest in the last 100 years. Probably the worst because it’s his policies that have us in these messes. Oh, and show me 1 policy inacted by Obama where he has gone way to the left. But first, if you want to have the conversation, please dispute where I am wrong on my above points with Reagan.
This act is bankrupting us near the coast. My flood insurance rate will go from $379 a year to $15,000 a year. As a result my whole community is going to walk away from our homes and go into foreclosure. It would have been better to privatize insurance. Thank you Mr. president for hurting the poor working class and making me lose my American Dream. Oh and I never flooded and my area never flooded in 112 years but because of your new maps that there may be a possibility in a 100 years of .2% I have to pay $15000 a year. The average flood claim is $30,000 so why pay you for flood when if I saved premiums for 2 years I’d have the money myself. Oh wait because Biggert Waters Act made it mandatory if you have a mortgage and you changed my flood maps from a no flood zone to a flood zone. When I am homeless, I am going to put my tent on the White House lawn with my 3 children.
The effect of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Act is incredible for “flood zone” people. We live there now – many, many have lived there for many years – planning to retire. The change in premium will not allow me to stay in my home and cripple the chances to think about selling.
There are major disasters in all corners of our wonderful country – too often overwhelming the local community.
I am scared – sad – and feel that perhaps we need to direct our anger to the congress that passed this bill and failed to protect us. I live in a modest small 2-BR home and face a $20,000 increase in my insurance bill. HELP