Polls point out that Americans have a pretty basic problem with Obamacare. If it’s supposed to cut overall health spending (as he promises), then why is it going to cost a trillion dollars? Why indeed should it cost anything at all?
Well, if you’re Obama, you hasten to say two things: first, the new spending is deficit-neutral. And second, the new spending will buy health insurance for those who lack it today.
“Deficit-neutral” means higher taxes. That’s obvious to anyone who stops and thinks about it. And most ordinary people are starting to see that “the rich” are getting taxed too much now and will find ways to avoid paying even higher taxes. That means “deficit neutral” spending will be directly paid for by the non-rich, either with higher income taxes, or a new national sales tax.
The other problem is with the arithmetic. Obama promises a trillion dollars in new health spending over the next decade. In today’s dollars, and at today’s cost levels, we spend $2.5 trillion a year on health care. That’s $25 trillion over ten years. One trillion is 4% of that. But 15% or so of the people are said to lack health insurance…
February 25, 2010 – 2:16 am
Bruce Bartlett is the author of The New American Economy. Bartlett himself submitted to an interview about his book, the transcript of which follows below.
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
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Posted in Chequer-Board, Features
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Also tagged Book Review, Books, Bruce Bartlett, economy, Federal Deficit, Keynesianism, National Debt, Supply-Side Economics, The New American Economy, VAT
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February 24, 2010 – 4:58 pm
A lot of people seem to think that prospects have improved for the White House’s vision of health care reform. Those people must not be reading the same things I am reading.
For one thing, Talking Points Memo–not exactly a right-wing rag–is telling us that according to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, health care reform will not happen unless the House passes the Senate’s health care bill first. That led to the following exchange between Brian Beutler, the author of the Talking Points Memo piece, and Conrad:
I pointed out that House leadership, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has repeatedly insisted they won’t take a flier on a reconciliation package–that they will only pass the Senate bill after the smaller side-car reconciliation bill has been all wrapped up.
“Fine, then it’s dead,” Conrad said.
Conrad added that he wouldn’t personally make any promises or symbolic gestures to House members to assure them that the Senate can or will take any action in a reconciliation bill to address House concerns.
“I don’t sign any blank check,” Conrad said.
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
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Posted in Chequer-Board
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Also tagged Barack Obama, Democrats, health care, Health Care Policy, Health Care Reform, Jay Cost, New York, Obama Administration, Politics, Reconciliation, Republicans
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February 23, 2010 – 7:26 pm
I am pleased and thrilled to note that paying taxes is voluntary, here in the United States. After all, the Senate Majority Leader says so.
Of course, I dare anyone to test Harry Reid’s contention that there is nothing compulsory about paying taxes. My delight notwithstanding, for whatever reason, I don’t imagine that I will have many takers–and the lack of takers will likely have nothing whatsoever to do with the “phraseology” of my post.
February 11, 2010 – 4:09 pm
It’s time for your weekly dose of markets and politics with Coffee and Markets, featuring The New Ledger’s Francis Cianfrocca, a podcast brought to you by the fine folks at Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com and LibertyPundits.com, your new home for Conservative podcasts. In this week’s edition, we hash out what’s happening in Greece and the global markets, President Obama’s broken promises on taxes, and what lies ahead for the big entitlement bomb.
By Francis Cianfrocca
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Posted in Features, Podcasts, Politics
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Also tagged Barack Obama, Coffee and Markets, Entitlements, Greece, health care, marketplace, Paul Ryan, Podcast, Podcasts, roadmap, Wall Street
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February 2, 2010 – 6:47 pm
How about one that gives people less of an incentive to make charitable contributions, merely because those people are in a higher income bracket?
January 21, 2010 – 10:36 pm
Okay, here’s the deal: I am not going to offer any commentary whatsoever.
November 28, 2009 – 2:40 pm
Democrats seem to think that there is no problem we cannot adequately tax our way out of. They are entitled to their beliefs, but after a while, the constant repetition of “tax you, tax me, tax that fellow behind the tree” gets comical, and eventually, tiresome.
November 24, 2009 – 1:07 am
I recognize that some contentions in the world are controversial, but some contentions should be accepted without much resistance, if any.
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
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Posted in Blogs, Chequer-Board
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Also tagged Barack Obama, Congress, Democrats, Economic Ignorance, economy, free trade, High Taxes, Obama Administration, protectionism, tax policy, Trade Agreements
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