Dear Congress: ARE YOU CRAZY?????

The following chain-email seems to be doing the rounds quite a bit today. And I think it sums the situation up perfectly:

A message to the Administration:

The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775 - you’ve had 234 years to get it right; it’s broke.

Social Security was established in 1935 - you’ve had 74 years to get it right; it’s broke.

Fannie Mae was established in 1938 - you’ve had 71 years to get it right; it’s broke.

The “War on Poverty” started in 1964 - you’ve had 45 years to get it right. $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to “the poor”; it hasn’t worked and our entire country is broke.

Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965 - you’ve had 44 years to get it right; they’re both broke.

Freddie Mac was established in 1970 - you’ve had 39 years to get it right; it’s broke.

Trillions of dollars were spent in the massive political payoffs called TARP, the “Stimulus,” the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009…. none show any signs of working, although ACORN appears to have found a new source: the American taxpayer.

And finally, to set a new record: “Cash for Clunkers” was established in 2009 and went broke in 2009! It took cars (that were the best some people could afford) and replaced them with high-priced and less-affordable cars, mostly Japanese. A good percentage of the profits went out of the country. And the American taxpayers take the hit for Congress’s generosity in burning three billion more of our dollars on failed experiments.

So, with a perfect 100% failure rate and a record that proves that “services” you shove down our throats are failing faster and deeper, you want Americans to believe you can be trusted with a government-run health care system-  20% of our entire economy???

With all due respect,  Are you crazy? Or do you think the American people are?

(H/T Think Free)

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A Taxing Taste Of Things To Come

A taste of things to come if the Administration's plans to radically hike taxes is implemented comes from the high-taxing United Kingdom, where a financial services consulting firm in London has just released a survey with the stunning finding that one-fifth of entrepreneurs are thinking of escaping the county because of punitive taxes — particularly the new top tax rate of 50 percent. Tax-news.com reported:

The results of a new survey suggest that one-fifth of UK-based entrepreneurs earning more than GBP150,000 are planning to flee Britain in search of countries with more favorable tax rates. The poll of more than 300 entrepreneurs by business advisors Tenon also found that many more may follow in an attempt to escape the 50% rate of income tax, due to be introduced from next April on annual incomes above GBP150,000, with nearly half of the respondents (48%) still deciding what action to take. …Tenon points out that in the last month, high profile names such as the actor Sir Michael Caine and the artist Tracey Emin have threatened to change their tax residency to countries with more favorable tax rates. Popular locations for redomiciling include Monte Carlo, Guernsey, Liechtenstein, and the Cayman Islands. Andy Raynor, Chief Executive of Tenon Group, noted that entrepreneurs are showing their disapproval of the tax measures by “letting their feet do the talking.”

(H/T Cato@Liberty)

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Florida Set for Automatic Job Loss

How would you like to experience a 1094% tax increase? It doesn’t sound too appealing, does it? Yet that is exactly what businesses across the state of Florida must confront. Starting next year, the minimum level of payments for unemployment insurance will jump from $8.40 per employee to $100.30 per employee.  

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Congressman Latta Requests Hearing on Impacts of Cap and Trade

 A letter went out today from Congressman Bob Lattea (R-Ohio) on behalf of 31 other Midwestern Colleagues requesting a joint hearing with the House Committee on Agriculture, House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and House Committee on Small Businesses to examine the effects of climate change regulations on manufacturing, agriculture, and small businesses in the Midwest. The letter is available in PDF format here.

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Brian Rooney Signs Taxpayer Protection Pledge in Congressional Race

Recently, Brian Rooney became the second candidate in Michigan’s 7^th Congressional District to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Tim Walberg, Rooney’s opponent in the GOP primary and former Representative of MI-07, signed back in August.

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Senate Health Bill Raises Taxes
On Special Needs Kids and Their Families

• There are 18 separate tax hikes in the Reid-Obama healthcare bill.  One of them caps the amount that can be deferred in Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) at $2500 per year (a similar provision was included in the Pelosi-Obama health bill and written about by Congressman Cathy McMorris-Rogers, R-Was., for National Review Online).  There is currently no limit to how much can be saved, though all monies must be used by the end of the year.  Employers may put a cap in place for their employees, but this would put a cap in federal tax law for the first time.  According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), 30 million American families use an FSA. 

• For most people, the $2500 cap won’t be noticed.  FSAs tend to be used for things like small deductibles, co-payments, eyeglasses, over-the-counter medicines, and laser eye surgery.  The amount deferred in the typical FSA is probably much less than $2500 today 

• 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.  According to IRS Publication 502, Medical Expenses:
  

  You can include in medical expenses fees you pay on a doctor's recommendation for a child's tutoring by a teacher who is specially trained and qualified to work with children who have learning disabilities caused by mental or physical impairments, including nervous system disorders.
  
  You can include in medical expenses the cost (tuition, meals, and lodging) of attending a school that furnishes special education to help a child to overcome learning disabilities. A doctor must recommend that the child attend the school. Overcoming the learning disabilities must be a principal reason for attending the school, and any ordinary education received must be incidental to the special education provided. Special education include teaching Braille to a visually impaired person; teaching lip reading to a hearing-impaired person, or giving remedial language training to correct a condition caused by a birth defect.

PDF Version

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How Does the Reid-Obama Health Bill
Raise Taxes on Your Current Health Plan?

Many people have heard that the Reid-Obama government healthcare bill will raise taxes.  What you might not realize is that many of the tax hikes raise taxes on the health insurance you already have today—endangering the health security of you and your family.  Here’s how:


Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans (Page 1979/Sec. 9001/$149.1 bil): Starting in 2013, new 40 percent excise tax on “Cadillac” health insurance plans ($8500 single/$23,000 family).  Higher threshold ($9850 single/$26,000 family) for early retirees and high-risk professions.  CPI +1 percentage point indexed.  From 2013-2015, the 17 highest-cost states are 120% of this level. 

Employer Reporting of Health Insurance Costs on W-2 (Page 1996/Sec. 9002/Min$): Preamble to taxing health benefits on individual tax returns.

Medicine Cabinet Tax (Page 1997/Sec. 9003/$5 bil): No longer allowable to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin)

HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike (Page 1998/Sec. 9004/$1.3 bil): 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.

FSA Cap (“Special Needs Children Tax”) (Page 1999/Sec. 9005/$14.6 bil): Imposes cap on FSAs of $2500 (now unlimited).  Will most hurt families of special-needs children, who tend to use outsized FSA deferrals.

Tax on Innovator Medicine Companies (“Miracle Cures Tax”) (Page 2010/Sec. 9008/$22.2 bil): $2.3 billion annual tax on the industry imposed relative to share of sales made that year.

Tax on Medical Devices Like Prosthetic Limbs, Wheelchairs, and Pacemakers (Page 2020/Sec. 9009/$19.3 bil): $2 billion annual tax on the industry imposed relative to shares of sales made that year.  Exempts items retailing for <$100.

Tax on Health Insurance Premiums (Page 2026/Sec. 9010/$60.4 bil): $6.7 billion annual tax on the industry imposed relative to health insurance premiums collected that year.

Eliminate tax deduction for employer-provided retirement Rx drug coverage in coordination with Medicare Part D (“Retiree Rx Tax”) (Page 2034/Sec. 9012/$5.4 bil).  Will make employer-provided Rx coverage for retirees less available.

Raise “Haircut” for Medical Itemized Deduction from 7.5% to 10% of AGI (Page 2034/Sec. 9013/$15.2 bil): Waived for 65+ taxpayers in 2013-2016 only.  Will make it more difficult for working families to deduct medical expenses on their tax return.

Tax on Cosmetic Medical Procedures (“Botox Tax”) (Page 2045/Sec. 9017/$5.8 bil): New 5% excise tax on elective cosmetic surgery to be paid by the surgery patient

PDF Version

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ATR and CFA Endorse House GOP "Doc Fix" Alternative

CFA and ATR have sent a letter in support of the House GOP alternative to Rep. Dingell's "Doc Fix" shenanigans.  From our letter:

Unlike H.R. 3961, the so-called “Doc Fix” bill sponsored by Rep. John Dingell, (D-Mich.), the Republican alternative is shenanigan-free, and would provide for fair physician reimbursement while being fully paid-for by cutting wasteful spending.

Just like the Senate bill Sen. Reid tried and failed to pass through the Senate last month, Rep. Dingell’s bill is nothing but a poorly veiled attempt to sneak past taxpayers a massive healthcare-related cost. Honest accounting would have meant that this cost should have been part of the estimate for the already outrageously expensive government health bill passed by the House.

By contrast, the Republican alternative would ensure that physicians are appropriately compensated while including reforms that would fully offset the cost of the bill.

Taxpayers are already struggling to make ends meet, and should not be forced to shoulder yet another costly burden. Only a fully-offset “Doc Fix” bill can be considered responsible, and we consequently urge you to support the Republican motion to recommit and reject Rep. Dingell’s Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act.

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ATR Breakdown of Senate Health Bill

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Conrad Reynolds Signs the Taxpayer Protection Pledge in AR Senate Race

Conrad Reynolds, a candidate running in Arkansas for the United States Senate in the 2010 Special Election, recently signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.

For more on Conrad Reynolds, click below

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