D'Ohbama!: If you like your health plan, you can keep your health plan...

And yet we pay more money than ever before to various levels of government. Everything we do today is taxed. Look set your cable bill. We don't ever really think of those things because it is part of the cost of having a service...but it's there and it is a tax.

When I started driving (about 25 years ago), my annual car regains traction was $15 to $20. Today, it is $65.

My point being...today, income taxes are far from your total taxation, and it is rising at a rapid pace. As we continue this trend, there will be a breaking point.

 

Yes, the middle and lower class pay more BECAUSE the rich pay so much less than they did before the Reagan and Bush tax cuts. There is a direct relationship there.

 

Obama has proven himself to be a liar, over and over again. Only the blindly partisan are following him at this point.

Regarding Obamacare, the keeping your plan point was just a bald-faced lie. They knew that this wasn't true 3 years ago when they started saying it. The worst kind of lie. Pure deception and deceit. The other lie was regarding whether the individual mandate was a tax. Over and over Obama and his spokesmen said it was not. Then Obama sends his Solicitor General, Donald Verrilli, to argue in front of the Supreme Court that it most certainly is a tax. Again, another lie by Obama to pass an unpopular bill, only to play switcheroo with the American people when it's done. I'm sorry but if you still believe a word that comes out of this guy's mouth after all of this, then you aren't really paying attention.

 

I think I am not bothered by wingnuttia anymore because people are finally seeing through the rhetoric

 

Obama care is really starting to feel like socialism at its finest.

 

Facts don't matter in politics. Happens on both ends.

At the end of the day, emotions drive votes. The same manufactured emotions can be used for other things: drama, trolling, entertainment, angry mobs...

There's no accountability to fess up on it either. People get shot. Things tone down, until the next relapse hits.

Such is life in the new age media.

 

I get that but we are talking about the difference between $1-200/per month vs $1-2,000 per month for families.

I'm in favor of some kind of universal healthcare because healthcare is a basic need for every citizen.

 

What socialist country have you lived in?

 

You might want to go back to school because I honestly think you have no idea what socialism is. Majority of Americans have PRIVATELY run health care.

A single payer system would be socialism at its finest.

 

lol at the the rich paying less. Maybe less percentage wise but you are ridiculous. I had a sit down with my dad a week ago about this matter and the reality is absolutely not especially here in Houston. You get for $2m home a $50k annual tax bill plus your regular taxes + tax on stocks you sell + the tax of paying your CPA a few hundred a month to do your taxes + sales tax on everything you buy which rich people buy pricey stuff like $3000 suits and pay $250 in tax + 6.25% tax on a car purchase + gas guzzler tax and my dad laughed at the notion the rich pay less. He said he paid almost $20k in car sales taxes + $600k in property taxes between home and work + payroll taxes for all his workers + sales taxes everywhere + all the regular taxes on stocks and income he reported and he said it was close to 65% probably.

 

It isn't as much about the cost as it is the need. Out of the three (homeowners', automobile, and health insurance), only one is guaranteed to be used by every single American over the course of their life. I would argue it is the one that everyone should be required to carry, though I certainly prefer other options over forcing people to purchase private insurance.

 

I understand what you are saying, but its the way its being forced upon us by the government. Do we have a option to not participate?

 

does the county have an option not to treat you?

 

polling on the act has remained consistent over the first month. the employed, who are the most insured won't see many changes, only improvements like no coverage limits.

you opponents keep beating your drum, i'm sure you are on the correct side of the law

 

Yes you do. Just pay the fine and you are free not to participate.

 

I understand what you are saying but the cost factor cannot be ignored. Many folks are NOT finding their healthcare more affordable. It is a more significant expense than auto or homeowner's insurance. That is all I was saying.

I have a friend who went five or more years without health insurance... until he became eligible for Medicare. He paid for a few things out of pocket but he could afford it. He had become uninsurable due to some melanoma a few years ago.

 

I am curious though how much does the change in those taxes compare to the rate of inflation. Further if you are talking about things like cable bills there are taxes now on things that didn't exist before. 20 years ago your cable provider on provided television service but now they provide data and phone service to.

Regarding things like car registration those are done on a state by state so probably shouldn't be included in a discussion of national policy.

Federal income tax rates continue to remain low. If you look at this chart they aren't rising rapidly but at a relative historic low plateau.

For marginal rates.

 

Yes, anyone who paid attention to the law knew that some people would see higher rates in order for overall cost controls to be implemented and so that your friend and people like him would be insurable even after a diagnosis of melanoma.

I would support changes to the ACA to make things more affordable for people, to expand the range of plans meeting the minimum standards under the ACA, and other tweaks. However, no such changes are being proposed by the GOP, their "repeal, defund, kill the ACA" mantra just isn't going to work. We need to improve the ACA, not repeal it without a realistic replacement option.

 

The problem with the example that you raise is that your friend didn't have insurance before and obviously as long as he remained healthy his health care cost was going to be low. This would be like me saying my auto costs are low because I don't pay for car insurance and haven't had an accident.

 

Income taxes are a drop in the bucket. Medicare and SS taxes count too. Also, to ignore the effect of various state and local taxes and fees is silly. For working families, the total effect can be quite significant. It is the total effect (plus a sharp rise in costs) that has a greater percentage of college kids taking out student loans than ever before. That also is a bubble that will burst. When it does, hang onto your hat...it will be a bumpy ride.