January 1, 2011: The largest tax hikes in the history of the United States.

This was sent to me in an email by a very good and best friend. I am posting it here for all to see and hope you will send it about to your friends, cross post this, however you want to get this out there. Many of us already know about many of these increases but having them all listed out right here might be an eye opener for many folks. Read these and weep. Now your health insurance will show up as income on your W-2, "This year only, there is no death tax. (It's a quirk!) For those dying on or after January 1, 2011, there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million." It just gets better and better. Remember Nancy Pelosi's words; "we have to pass this bill so you can see what's in it."


I actually struggled to read over one half, almost two thirds of this crappy bill and still cannot tell you all that is in it. The legalese drove me crazy. The most simple to understand items were made intentionally hard to understand, read and figure out. Even after passing this train wreck for America bill, the demosocialistacrats do not want us to know what is in it. Now you can read why. Remember, NOvember is right around the corner. I know I will not forget that last two years, will you?

UPDATE:
Here is a comment by Steven, who sent this in to me. I think he pretty well sums it up. After his comment you can read about another new tax sliding in after January 1, 2013. Thanks you Steven!

"The fed and obama have done everything wrong that could have been done. We have seen what taxation will look like in 2011. If I had money or if I was an investor I would be off-shoring every last nickel I had through investments in India and Brazil. I would then leave to tend to those investments. A 0% interest policy will also send investors elsewhere as there is no point to leave money where it can’t make any. I am convinced that yesterday’s Dow 30 close of 9985 was the result of corporations having read the schedule of 2011 taxes just as what was posted on this forum. The equities market voted with its pocketbook and headed for the door. A young and inexperienced boy king by the name of George III made the same mistake in 1765 by taxing the realm to repay the debt incurred by the French and Indian Wars and the British Empire was 50 years in picking up the pieces. About the only thing that can be done right now is to rescind ALL of obamacare and all of the tax hikes that went to prop up the too big to fail friends of the New York elite. Then set the passbook rate at 4.5%, 2 points above inflation, prime interest rates at 6.5% and then eliminate all the proposed taxes and restore the tax cuts, defund the EPA to reduce it to being what it was at first, a regulatory adjunct of Congress, reduce and remove all the employment rules and reporting, and then tell America that what has been done is only good for five years unless all the debt has been paid off and no one takes advantage of the market to the hurt of others. Then tell the creditors that we will be an additional five years before making any scheduled payments and if they don’t like it, tough. We are getting America back to work so they can keep their cheap Chinese imitations that have only poisoned, sickened or injured us. No, I am not running for Congress, I would probably be shot for what I have just said anyway."  Steven Davis.

New tax on selling YOUR home after January 1, 2013:

LAST but far from least – effective January 1, 2013 – sell a property – PAY A FEDERAL TAX of 3.8% on gross sales price. Doesn’t matter if you make a profit on sale – it is on GROSS not net. Worse part of this from my perspective is as a new tax it is an “opportunity” that the government can continue to exploit. No guarantee that the 3.8% won’t be increased in later years – remember social security was never suppose to exceed 1%. And of course there is the second shoe – since the Federal government is applying this tax, why not the State government too? As a potential source of large bucks – it may be too attractive for States to resist.

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Amtrak(Gov't)train wreck

The train wreck starts January 1, 2011. The largest tax increase in United States History.

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

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

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

First Wave:

Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief

In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families.

These will all expire on January 1, 2011.

Personal income tax rates will rise.

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

The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent.

All the rates in between will also rise.

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

The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:
• The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%
•
• The 25% bracket rises to 28%
•
• The 28% bracket rises to 31%
•
• The 33% bracket rises to 36%
•
• The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%

Higher taxes on marriage and family.

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

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

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

The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut.

The return of the Death Tax.

This year only, there is no death tax. (It's a quirk!) For those dying on or after January 1, 2011, there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million. A person leaving behind two homes, a business, a retirement account, could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones. Think of the farmers who don't make much money, but their land, which they purchased years ago with after-tax dollars, is now worth a lot of money. Their children will have to sell the farm, which may be their livelihood, just to pay the estate tax if they don't have the cash sitting around to pay the tax. Think about your own family's assets. Maybe your family owns real estate, or a business that doesn't make much money, but the building and equipment are worth $1 million. Upon their death, you can inherit the $1 million business tax free, but if they own a home, stock, cash worth $500K on top of the $1 million business, then you will owe the government $275,000 cash! That's 55% of the value of the assets over $1 million! Do you have that kind of cash sitting around waiting to pay the estate tax?

Higher tax rates on savers and investors.

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

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

These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013.

Second Wave:

Obamacare

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

The "Medicine Cabinet Tax"

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

The "Special Needs Kids Tax"

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

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

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 not be used to pay for this type of special needs education.


The HSA (Health Savings Account) Withdrawal Tax Hike.

This provision of Obamacare increases the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.

Third Wave:

The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and Employer Tax Hikes

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

The major items include:

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

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

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

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

This will be cut all the way down to $25,000. Larger businesses can currently expense half of their purchases of equipment.

In January of 2011, all of it will have to be "depreciated."

Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses.

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

of thousands of families.

Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced.


The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available.


Tax credits for education will be limited.


Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses.


Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut.


Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed.


The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for hundreds

Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed.

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

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

PDF Version Read more: ; http://www.atr.org/six-months-untilbr-largest-tax-hikes-a5171#%23ixzz0sY8waPq1

And worse yet?


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

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

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

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

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

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

This is how the government is going to buy insurance for the 15% that don't have insurance and it's only part of the tax increases.

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

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

- Joan Pryde is the senior tax editor for the Kiplinger letters.
- Go to Kiplingers and read about 13 tax changes that could affect you. Number 3 is what is above.

Hat tip to Steven Davis.

Through the backdoor: Obamacare and a National Energy tax. Say what?

Reconciliation, the nuclear option, whatever you want to call this asshat move by Obama and the Democrats, it shows how desperate they are to 'rahm' this horrible health care bill through. It makse no difference to these demosocialistacrats that so many Americans in poll after poll, do not want this health care bill. When Nancy Pelosi demands that her constituents vote for this bill even at the risk of ruining their political careers, damaging the party of social re-engineering for 2010 and possibly 2012 elections, something smells really foul

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Today in Washington, D.C. - Mar 2, 2010 - Dems Promote Obamacare; Backdoor National Energy

In the House, besides the below topic of Obamacare, currently 84 House Republicans the EPA’s Backdoor National Energy Tax and are on a resolution of disapproval that would prevent the EPA from implementing these job-killing regulations. You may recall that late last year, Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) head Lisa Jackson signed an “endangerment finding” stating that greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, “threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations.” These findings pave the way for EPA regulation of emissions even though the EPA has admitted that it has not evaluated possible job losses or shifts in employment that may occur due to its rules and regulation.

it is clear that the Obama Administration is moving ahead on another front using the EPA regulations to pressure Congress into passing cap-and-tax legislation—if the Democrat Congress does not force a job-killing cap-and-tax scheme on the American people, the EPA will. The EPA endangerment finding and resulting regulation is just another massive intrusion of government into the U.S. economy. This action will stifle economic growth and kill jobs, especially in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. The EPA regulation is simply a national energy tax that will raise costs for consumers and ship jobs overseas during a recession. If implemented, the new EPA permitting processes and rules will cost billions of dollars to implement and could potentially affect millions of small emitters such as hotels, hospitals, churches, farms, and various small businesses. The rules will inject uncertainty into the economy, delay or halt new construction, and deter investment.

Several States’ governors, attorneys general, environmental agencies, and agricultural agencies have weighed in to oppose the EPA finding, citing negative impacts for their State. In addition to House Republicans opposing efforts to implement the EPA’s job-killing regulations, they have offered a better plan to clean up the environment without a backdoor national energy tax. The American Energy Act is an all-of-the-above plan that would provide energy independence, more jobs here at home and a cleaner environment at the same time.

On the continuing saga of ramming through nationalized heath care (Obamacare), both CNN and New York Times identify that President Obama is preparing to give "a speech on Wednesday to outline ‘the way forward’ and to flesh out the substance of his proposed compromise based on the bills passed by the House and Senate . . . .” There’s been some speculation that Obama will put forward a new, smaller health care bill tomorrow, mostly based on a comment from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday.

But House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer clarified for The Hill today what Democrats are actually planning on doing: “Hoyer affirmed that Democratic leaders intend to press ahead with their plan for the House to take up the Senate bill and for both chambers to consider a package based on Obama’s proposal via budget reconciliation rules that would allow the smaller bill to pass the Senate on a simple majority vote.”

In other words, in order to provide political cover for House Democrats to vote for the 2,700 page $2.5 trillion monstrosity of a Senate health care bill, Democrats want to pass another bill and jam it through the Senate on a partisan basis. Why do House Democrats feel they need political cover? The Senate bill still features such gems as the Cornhusker Kickback, the Louisiana Purchase, a new tax on “Cadillac” health care plans, and other troublesome provisions. Continue reading

 Hat tip: arranewsservice

Health care plan is tanking Obama and Democrats. The heat is on them, big time.

The Democrats making a mess out of health
care. Obama is tanking fast, and so is the
approval rating of Congress.

The 'Blow' Monkey


The Monkey Trap


From the Belmont Club
Richard Fernandez


With President’s Obama’s approval ratings down to 44% and his approval index at its lowest points ever, the administration may have difficulty getting the 60 votes needed to obtain health care “reform”, even after a proposal to appeal to voters aged 55 to 64 was included. Megan McArdle writes that Joe Lieberman’s opposition even to the current compromise will make “progressives … livid”. While the numbers may be against the Democrats now, they will move heaven and earth to get the votes and will stop at nothing to get them.




It’s highly unlikely that Democrats will keep exactly 58 seats plus Bernie Sanders. At that point, one way or another, Joe Lieberman becomes largely superfluous. And the Democrats are going to have their knives out.



But the answer to her self-posed question is elsewhere on the Atlantic article. Maybe it’s not Lieberman who’s cutting his own throat but the Democrats themselves. The harder they try with health care “reform” the lower they fall in the polls. Why? maybe because many voters have concluded that health care not about health so much as about money. The trust is gone; the words remain the same by the melody is broken; the administration has lost that lovin’ feelin’. McArdle notes that the louder they sing, the more the audience stops its ears.

Read the rest here:
Belmont Club
 
 
http://pajamasmedia.com/richardfernandez/2009/12/14/the-monkey-trap-2/#more-7100
 

Senate votes to gut Home health care. How are your parents aging?

Senate Votes for Cuts in Medicare Home  Health Payments - NYTimes.com

I am so relieved that my Mom is no
longer around to witness this travesity.
She would not have lived as long a life
as she did without the Home Health Care
she received from Medicare.


Senate Clears Way for Home Health Care Cuts Sign in to Recommend


Published: December 5, 2009

WASHINGTON — Snowflakes swirled around the Capitol on Saturday, whipped by wintry winds, but on the Senate floor inside, a heated debate raged as Democrats and Republicans traded jabs over legislation to achieve President Obama’s goal of near-universal health insurance coverage.

Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press

By a vote of 53 to 41, the Senate on Saturday rejected a Republican effort to block cutbacks in payments to home health agencies that provide nursing care and therapy to homebound Medicare beneficiaries.

Republicans voted against the cuts, saying they would hurt some of the nation’s most vulnerable citizens. Most Democrats supported the cutbacks, saying they would eliminate waste and inefficiency in home care.

The Democrats’ health care bill would reduce projected Medicare spending on home care by $43 billion, or 13 percent, over the next 10 years. The savings would help offset the cost of subsidizing coverage for the uninsured.

Mr. Obama planned to visit Capitol Hill on Sunday to attend a meeting of the Senate Democratic caucus. The caucus is split over several major provisions of the bill, including one that would create a government health plan to compete with private insurers.

A handful of Democrats and Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine, met Saturday to explore ideas for a possible compromise on the public plan.

In the past, weekend sessions of Congress have dealt with momentous issues like impeachment or fiscal emergencies. But the Saturday session — the sixth day of Senate debate on the giant health care bill — felt, in some ways, like an ordinary workday, as senators debated the health care bill in public and tried to thrash out differences in private.

The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, said the Senate had to meet Saturday so it could finish work on the bill before the end of the year.

“Fourteen thousand people lose their health insurance every day in America,” Mr. Reid said. “The American people don’t get weekends off from this injustice. Bankruptcy does not keep bankers’ hours. The bills don’t go away just because it’s Sunday or Saturday. The pain is still there. And so our work continues this weekend.”

Senator Bob Casey, Democrat of Pennsylvania, said: “We gather on a Saturday, which is rare. But it is entirely appropriate and, I think, essential that we spend the time on a weekend to debate this bill and get it passed.”

The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said his party would not bow to pressure from Mr. Reid.

“The majority leader believes that somehow if we stay in on weekends, Republicans are going to blink,” Mr. McConnell said. “I can assure him we are not going to blink. The longer we discuss this with the American people, the more unpopular it becomes.”

Indeed, Republicans appeared to relish the debate.
“A fight not joined is a fight not enjoyed,” said Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona.
Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, said, “I would not want to be any other place than on the floor today talking about the most important piece of legislation we probably will deal with in our tenure here.”

Much of the debate Saturday focused on what Mr. McCain had said as the Republican presidential candidate in 2008. Democrats said it was odd to see Mr. McCain styling himself as a defender of Medicare because, in the past, he had favored deep cuts.

Mr. McCain denied that he had tried to cut Medicare benefits.
Democrats said Republicans were stalling. Republicans tried to put Democrats on the defensive.

“I don’t understand what it is that would cause my friends on the left, on the other side of the aisle, to throw seniors under the bus,” Mr. Corker said.

Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana and chairman of the Finance Committee, said, “Nobody here is trying to throw seniors under the bus.”

Mr. Baucus, a principal author of the health care bill, noted that his mother was receiving home health care and said he would not do anything to hurt beneficiaries.

“We are reducing overpayments,” Mr. Baucus said. “We are rooting out fraud. We are getting the waste out. The savings go back in Medicare and extend the solvency of the trust fund.”

But Senator Mike Johanns, Republican of Nebraska, said, “The cuts will hurt real people.”

And Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said: “The Medicare home health benefit is under attack. The impact of these cuts will ultimately fall on seniors. Home health agencies will simply not be able to afford to serve seniors living in smaller communities off rural roads.”

Four Democratic senators joined 37 Republicans in voting to block the home health cuts. The four were Evan Bayh of Indiana, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Jim Webb of Virginia.


New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/health/policy/06health.html?_r=2

Report states the Health care bill from the House will reduce senior care. That is just for starters.

Nonpartisan agency says House bill would reduce senior care - washingtonpost.com
By Lori Montgomery Washington Post

"The report offers the clearest and most authoritative assessment to date of the effect that Democratic health reform proposals would have on Medicare and Medicaid, the nation's largest public health programs. It analyzes the House bill, but the Senate is also expected to rely on hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicare cuts to finance the package that Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) hopes to take to the floor this week. Like the House, the Senate is expected to propose adding millions of people to Medicaid."

So how many years will our children and their

grandchildren have to 'bend over' to keep

paying for this trainwreck of a bill? The taxes

of the welfare states in Europe keep climbing

higher and higher. But wait, Obama promised

us "hope and change."

Just ignore that $787,000,000,000

cost, folks Move along, move along

there is nothing to see here.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/14/AR2009111402597.html?hpid=topnews

Most polls show government health care losing ground. Here is a timely opinion why.

Arthur C. Brooks: Why Government Health Care Keeps Falling in the Polls - WSJ.com
Tip of the mug to Dymphna at G of V.

Arthur C. Brooks is a most interesting
fellow. I borrowed this from Dympha
@ Gates of Vienna:

He took over the leadership of the American Enterprise Institute last year. There were many people under consideration for the job. The fact that he was chosen above all the others speaks to his extraordinary ability both to to lead and to listen.


He’s also an accomplished musician, having been part of more than a thousand performances as a French horn player.

I have also enclosed below the link to
Dymphma's fine article and commentary
of Mr. Brook's opinion. If you have not
checked out Gates of Vienna, please do
so. You will not be disappointed!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704335904574495131591949574.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2009/11/why-america-will-never-like-obamacare.html#readfurther

Let your Voice be Heard! from Congressman Mike Pence

This is very cool. Please pass this
along and help us stand up and be
heard against this nightmare called
the Pelosi health care plan.
1.2 TRILLION in cost, has been found
within this health care bill. The text of
the video follows below the video feed.
Hat tip: Gateway Pundit. 





“As President Ronald Reagan said: ‘Since the American founding, we have been a people with a government, not the other way around.’”


“Now comes the Pelosi plan for a government takeover of health care. It is a freight train of runaway spending, bloated bureaucracy, mandates and higher taxes.

“If the liberals in Washington have their way, they will forever change the relationship between the government and ‘we the people.’

“If the Pelosi plan for a government takeover of health care passes, we will each become dependent on the political class in Washington for the provision of services of the most urgent and personal nature.

“Illness, our own, or more importantly the illness of a parent, or a spouse, or a child, has the capacity to suspend our priorities.

“What was important before the crisis grows dim in the harsh light of disease affecting a loved one.

“The Pelosi health care plan targets us when we are most vulnerable.

“The Pelosi health care plan makes us dependent on the state at the most urgent moment in the life of our family.

“Their hope: that little by little, we’ll yield our freedoms and our resources to the ever-growing appetite of the federal government.

“After years of runaway federal spending, borrowing, bailouts and takeovers, it’s easy to give way to despair; but I assure you: there is a remnant that still cherishes freedom, personal responsibility and limited government all across this land.

“I have seen it in the faces of ordinary Americans who have traveled to rallies, town halls and tea parties. I have read it in my mail. I have heard it from friends and neighbors who have lost their jobs but not lost their faith in America.

“The time has come for those who still cherish our ideals—the ideals of our founding: life, liberty and the pursuit of the American dream—to arise.

“Wherever you are, whoever you are, let your voice be heard.

“Republicans in Congress who are standing in the gap, cannot do this alone.

“I often tell my colleagues that a minority in Congress plus the American people equals a majority.

“‘We the people’ have the power to stop out-of-control spending at the federal level.

“‘We the people’ have to power to stop the Pelosi health care plan, in its effort to take over one-sixth of the American economy.

“And ‘we the people’ have the ability to protect the finest health care system this world has ever known and demand real health care reform that will reduce the cost of health care without growing government.

“I appeal to you not as Republicans or Democrats, liberals or conservatives, but as Americans.

“You cherish freedom, you fear the crushing weight of big government and debt that Congress and this Administration are leaving to our posterity, and you still believe that the strength of this nation is in the character and courage and ingenuity of the American people, and not the politicians and the bureaucrats.

“This is your moment, now is your time, let your voice be heard.”

Here is a link to an article on the 1.2 trillion
dollar cost of this wreck of a health care bill.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091102/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul

Maybe Joe has done something most other politicians have not; Read the damn health care bill!!

Joe Lieberman: I'll filibuster Harry Reid's plan - Manu Raju - POLITICO.com


I like Joe Lieberman but I am not
crazy about his politics. We all know
it is impossible to please everyone but
bravo to him for taking a stand that
few have the balls to take, just yet.
Reid, Pelosi, Obama do not have our
best interests at heart. They only
want our cash to fuel their socialistic
agenda.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/28788.html

Congress keeps their golden calf heath insurance while we get band aids and superglue.

Jillian Bandes : Congress Keeps Gold-Plated Health Care... For Themselves - Townhall.com


If you think Congress and others in the swamp
are going to 'lower'themselves to Obamacare,
think again. They have lied about this to the
American people that this will not be the case.
So maybe England is better...? Read on, please!

Our Constitution is on Life Support: Patriot Post

I am a long time reader of the Patriot Post.
Mark Alexander nails the Democrats to
the wall on their usurption and subversion
of the Constitution. Link to Patriot Post
at the end of the article.

Alexander's Essay – October 15, 2009

Our Constitution is on Life Support

"Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." --Benjamin Franklin

That wise old sage, Ben Franklin, was prescient back in 1748, when he issued his simple Rx for success. Unfortunately, the wealth and wisdom of generations of Americans have been progressively supplanted by our central government's exercise of unconstitutional authority.

In regard to wealth, I refer most directly to our government's colossal spending and debt accumulation, and unlawful taxation.

As to wisdom, well, there's not much of that emerging from government-run school systems.

Having already depleted the wealth and wisdom of our great nation, the Obama juggernaut is determined to do likewise to health, that third prong of Franklin's trident. If successful, then we may rightly fear it as a deathblow to the greatest experiment in human history.

Where is Doctor Franklin when we really need him?

Simpletons across the United States and, indeed, the world, are beguiled by the Democrat health scare cacophony. While so much has been said, so too has so little. And, as we approach the seemingly inevitable passage of some such diabolical legislation, almost to a citizen everyone is screaming, "Stop the world, I want to get off!" Indeed, only elitist Democrats are charging full-steam ahead, constituents be damned.

Intentionally lost in all this noise is the Leftist tactic of drowning its opposition in waves of excessive and ever-changing health care minutia. With the devil being so well hidden in the details, this ensures that we remain distracted while Rule of Law is further usurped by the rule of man.

As Patriots, we are summoned to slice through this diversionary blather. And, to obtain proper analysis of this overarching objective, we must seek guidance from our founding documents, the Constitution of the United States of America and its superordinate document, the Declaration of Independence.

In a search of the Constitution, we find that the words "health," "medicine" or "medical" are mentioned -- drum roll please -- not even once: not within the original text, nor within 220 years of amendments. (A search of the Articles of Confederation yields similar results.)

To some, this exclusion indicates that the Founding Fathers were unconcerned about the health of their countrymen. But, supporters of this argument expose their condescension, and it is here mentioned to disabuse them of their disdain. For our Founding Fathers sacrificed so greatly for the birth of our nation -- in both blood and treasure -- that to posit such indifference does a great and grotesque disservice to their honor and their memory.

To others, this exclusion indicates that health care was mercifully omitted since medical care of the 1700s was so "primitive" that the cure often caused more harm than the ailment. They further argue that, given the foresight of modern medicine, our Founders would have surely incorporated universal health care within the Constitution. But, supporters of this argument expose their arrogance, and it is here mentioned to disabuse them of their haughtiness. For the medicine of our Founding Fathers was actually advanced in its day, just as the U.S. medicine of today is advanced, and just as tomorrow it will be thought primitive. This, of course, assumes that we successfully restore Rule of Law.

Alas, we discern seemingly little counsel from the Constitution.

And, as we turn to the Declaration, a search for the words "health," "medicine" or "medical" once more yields exactly zero results. Furthermore, the itemized grievances therein make nary a hint concerning health, even considering the "primitive" conditions discussed above.

Alack, we also discern seemingly little counsel from the Declaration.

However, neither do the Constitution nor the Declaration counsel us with direct verbiage concerning agriculture, textiles, construction and the whole raft of goods and services upon which those everyday necessities of food, clothing and shelter are stationed.

But, the Declaration does aver that all men are created equal, not of outcome but of opportunity; that they are endowed with the right to Life, not a guaranteed good life, not a guaranteed healthy life, but life with all of its miraculous potential; that they are endowed with a right to Liberty, the fusion of freedom and personal responsibility; and that they are endowed with a right to the pursuit of Happiness, the eclectic amalgamation of hopes and dreams and desires and necessities as defined by each individual -- not by faceless, nameless bureaucrats.

Furthermore, the Constitution's Preamble declares that its purpose is to establish Justice, the even-handed application of law to all citizens; to insure domestic Tranquility, the exclusion of class warfare; to promote (not provide) the general Welfare; and to secure the blessings of Liberty, there again, the fusion of freedom with personal responsibility.

So, our founding documents do guide us to proper health care legislation: for it is that which encompasses equality and liberty for consumers and providers alike; that which promotes life above death panels; that which encourages the medical hopes and dreams as defined by each individual; that which constrains, not magnifies, class warfare; and that which secures "the blessings of Liberty, to ourselves and our Posterity."

Anything more than this is an affront to constitutional order and Rule of Law. As Thomas Jefferson so keenly observed: "Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread." And, it takes little thought, or even imagination, to extend his estimation to the current health care debate.

The bottom line is that Article 1, Section 8 of our Constitution, which addresses powers of the legislature, never endowed Congress with authority to regulate or collect taxes for banking, mortgage or automaker bailouts. Neither does it present authority for them to subsidize production or service sectors such as health care. Indeed, James Madison wrote, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents..."

Sadly, not one Democrat bill addresses "health care" so much as it seeks omnipotent centralized government power and control, the currency of the Left. However, the proposals certainly betray the Left's condescension and contempt for Rule of Law, along with their frontal assault upon our Essential Liberty.

Patriot Readers, the U.S. Constitution is on life support. To prevent it from flat-lining, we must exude high dudgeon, we must slice through the Left's onslaught of minutia, and we must surgically endeavor with our every thought and deed to restore a healthy Rule of Law.


Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!



Mark Alexander

Publisher, PatriotPost.US, with J. Adams Clymer

http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2009/10/15/our-constitution-is-on-life-support/


Alexander's Essay – October 15, 2009




Our Constitution is on Life Support

"Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." --Benjamin Franklin

That wise old sage, Ben Franklin, was prescient back in 1748, when he issued his simple Rx for success. Unfortunately, the wealth and wisdom of generations of Americans have been progressively supplanted by our central government's exercise of unconstitutional authority.



In regard to wealth, I refer most directly to our government's colossal spending and debt accumulation, and unlawful taxation.



As to wisdom, well, there's not much of that emerging from government-run school systems.



Having already depleted the wealth and wisdom of our great nation, the Obama juggernaut is determined to do likewise to health, that third prong of Franklin's trident. If successful, then we may rightly fear it as a deathblow to the greatest experiment in human history.



Where is Doctor Franklin when we really need him?



Simpletons across the United States and, indeed, the world, are beguiled by the Democrat health scare cacophony. While so much has been said, so too has so little. And, as we approach the seemingly inevitable passage of some such diabolical legislation, almost to a citizen everyone is screaming, "Stop the world, I want to get off!" Indeed, only elitist Democrats are charging full-steam ahead, constituents be damned.



Intentionally lost in all this noise is the Leftist tactic of drowning its opposition in waves of excessive and ever-changing health care minutia. With the devil being so well hidden in the details, this ensures that we remain distracted while Rule of Law is further usurped by the rule of man.



As Patriots, we are summoned to slice through this diversionary blather. And, to obtain proper analysis of this overarching objective, we must seek guidance from our founding documents, the Constitution of the United States of America and its superordinate document, the Declaration of Independence.



In a search of the Constitution, we find that the words "health," "medicine" or "medical" are mentioned -- drum roll please -- not even once: not within the original text, nor within 220 years of amendments. (A search of the Articles of Confederation yields similar results.)



To some, this exclusion indicates that the Founding Fathers were unconcerned about the health of their countrymen. But, supporters of this argument expose their condescension, and it is here mentioned to disabuse them of their disdain. For our Founding Fathers sacrificed so greatly for the birth of our nation -- in both blood and treasure -- that to posit such indifference does a great and grotesque disservice to their honor and their memory.



To others, this exclusion indicates that health care was mercifully omitted since medical care of the 1700s was so "primitive" that the cure often caused more harm than the ailment. They further argue that, given the foresight of modern medicine, our Founders would have surely incorporated universal health care within the Constitution. But, supporters of this argument expose their arrogance, and it is here mentioned to disabuse them of their haughtiness. For the medicine of our Founding Fathers was actually advanced in its day, just as the U.S. medicine of today is advanced, and just as tomorrow it will be thought primitive. This, of course, assumes that we successfully restore Rule of Law.



Alas, we discern seemingly little counsel from the Constitution.



And, as we turn to the Declaration, a search for the words "health," "medicine" or "medical" once more yields exactly zero results. Furthermore, the itemized grievances therein make nary a hint concerning health, even considering the "primitive" conditions discussed above.



Alack, we also discern seemingly little counsel from the Declaration.



However, neither do the Constitution nor the Declaration counsel us with direct verbiage concerning agriculture, textiles, construction and the whole raft of goods and services upon which those everyday necessities of food, clothing and shelter are stationed.



But, the Declaration does aver that all men are created equal, not of outcome but of opportunity; that they are endowed with the right to Life, not a guaranteed good life, not a guaranteed healthy life, but life with all of its miraculous potential; that they are endowed with a right to Liberty, the fusion of freedom and personal responsibility; and that they are endowed with a right to the pursuit of Happiness, the eclectic amalgamation of hopes and dreams and desires and necessities as defined by each individual -- not by faceless, nameless bureaucrats.



Furthermore, the Constitution's Preamble declares that its purpose is to establish Justice, the even-handed application of law to all citizens; to insure domestic Tranquility, the exclusion of class warfare; to promote (not provide) the general Welfare; and to secure the blessings of Liberty, there again, the fusion of freedom with personal responsibility.



So, our founding documents do guide us to proper health care legislation: for it is that which encompasses equality and liberty for consumers and providers alike; that which promotes life above death panels; that which encourages the medical hopes and dreams as defined by each individual; that which constrains, not magnifies, class warfare; and that which secures "the blessings of Liberty, to ourselves and our Posterity."



Anything more than this is an affront to constitutional order and Rule of Law. As Thomas Jefferson so keenly observed: "Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread." And, it takes little thought, or even imagination, to extend his estimation to the current health care debate.



The bottom line is that Article 1, Section 8 of our Constitution, which addresses powers of the legislature, never endowed Congress with authority to regulate or collect taxes for banking, mortgage or automaker bailouts. Neither does it present authority for them to subsidize production or service sectors such as health care. Indeed, James Madison wrote, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents..."



Sadly, not one Democrat bill addresses "health care" so much as it seeks omnipotent centralized government power and control, the currency of the Left. However, the proposals certainly betray the Left's condescension and contempt for Rule of Law, along with their frontal assault upon our Essential Liberty.



Patriot Readers, the U.S. Constitution is on life support. To prevent it from flat-lining, we must exude high dudgeon, we must slice through the Left's onslaught of minutia, and we must surgically endeavor with our every thought and deed to restore a healthy Rule of Law.



Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!



Mark Alexander

Publisher, PatriotPost.US, with J. Adams Clymer


Alexander's Essay – October 15, 2009




Our Constitution is on Life Support

"Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." --Benjamin Franklin

That wise old sage, Ben Franklin, was prescient back in 1748, when he issued his simple Rx for success. Unfortunately, the wealth and wisdom of generations of Americans have been progressively supplanted by our central government's exercise of unconstitutional authority.



In regard to wealth, I refer most directly to our government's colossal spending and debt accumulation, and unlawful taxation.



As to wisdom, well, there's not much of that emerging from government-run school systems.



Having already depleted the wealth and wisdom of our great nation, the Obama juggernaut is determined to do likewise to health, that third prong of Franklin's trident. If successful, then we may rightly fear it as a deathblow to the greatest experiment in human history.



Where is Doctor Franklin when we really need him?



Simpletons across the United States and, indeed, the world, are beguiled by the Democrat health scare cacophony. While so much has been said, so too has so little. And, as we approach the seemingly inevitable passage of some such diabolical legislation, almost to a citizen everyone is screaming, "Stop the world, I want to get off!" Indeed, only elitist Democrats are charging full-steam ahead, constituents be damned.



Intentionally lost in all this noise is the Leftist tactic of drowning its opposition in waves of excessive and ever-changing health care minutia. With the devil being so well hidden in the details, this ensures that we remain distracted while Rule of Law is further usurped by the rule of man.



As Patriots, we are summoned to slice through this diversionary blather. And, to obtain proper analysis of this overarching objective, we must seek guidance from our founding documents, the Constitution of the United States of America and its superordinate document, the Declaration of Independence.



In a search of the Constitution, we find that the words "health," "medicine" or "medical" are mentioned -- drum roll please -- not even once: not within the original text, nor within 220 years of amendments. (A search of the Articles of Confederation yields similar results.)



To some, this exclusion indicates that the Founding Fathers were unconcerned about the health of their countrymen. But, supporters of this argument expose their condescension, and it is here mentioned to disabuse them of their disdain. For our Founding Fathers sacrificed so greatly for the birth of our nation -- in both blood and treasure -- that to posit such indifference does a great and grotesque disservice to their honor and their memory.



To others, this exclusion indicates that health care was mercifully omitted since medical care of the 1700s was so "primitive" that the cure often caused more harm than the ailment. They further argue that, given the foresight of modern medicine, our Founders would have surely incorporated universal health care within the Constitution. But, supporters of this argument expose their arrogance, and it is here mentioned to disabuse them of their haughtiness. For the medicine of our Founding Fathers was actually advanced in its day, just as the U.S. medicine of today is advanced, and just as tomorrow it will be thought primitive. This, of course, assumes that we successfully restore Rule of Law.



Alas, we discern seemingly little counsel from the Constitution.



And, as we turn to the Declaration, a search for the words "health," "medicine" or "medical" once more yields exactly zero results. Furthermore, the itemized grievances therein make nary a hint concerning health, even considering the "primitive" conditions discussed above.



Alack, we also discern seemingly little counsel from the Declaration.



However, neither do the Constitution nor the Declaration counsel us with direct verbiage concerning agriculture, textiles, construction and the whole raft of goods and services upon which those everyday necessities of food, clothing and shelter are stationed.



But, the Declaration does aver that all men are created equal, not of outcome but of opportunity; that they are endowed with the right to Life, not a guaranteed good life, not a guaranteed healthy life, but life with all of its miraculous potential; that they are endowed with a right to Liberty, the fusion of freedom and personal responsibility; and that they are endowed with a right to the pursuit of Happiness, the eclectic amalgamation of hopes and dreams and desires and necessities as defined by each individual -- not by faceless, nameless bureaucrats.



Furthermore, the Constitution's Preamble declares that its purpose is to establish Justice, the even-handed application of law to all citizens; to insure domestic Tranquility, the exclusion of class warfare; to promote (not provide) the general Welfare; and to secure the blessings of Liberty, there again, the fusion of freedom with personal responsibility.



So, our founding documents do guide us to proper health care legislation: for it is that which encompasses equality and liberty for consumers and providers alike; that which promotes life above death panels; that which encourages the medical hopes and dreams as defined by each individual; that which constrains, not magnifies, class warfare; and that which secures "the blessings of Liberty, to ourselves and our Posterity."



Anything more than this is an affront to constitutional order and Rule of Law. As Thomas Jefferson so keenly observed: "Were we directed from Washington when to sow, and when to reap, we should soon want bread." And, it takes little thought, or even imagination, to extend his estimation to the current health care debate.



The bottom line is that Article 1, Section 8 of our Constitution, which addresses powers of the legislature, never endowed Congress with authority to regulate or collect taxes for banking, mortgage or automaker bailouts. Neither does it present authority for them to subsidize production or service sectors such as health care. Indeed, James Madison wrote, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents..."



Sadly, not one Democrat bill addresses "health care" so much as it seeks omnipotent centralized government power and control, the currency of the Left. However, the proposals certainly betray the Left's condescension and contempt for Rule of Law, along with their frontal assault upon our Essential Liberty.



Patriot Readers, the U.S. Constitution is on life support. To prevent it from flat-lining, we must exude high dudgeon, we must slice through the Left's onslaught of minutia, and we must surgically endeavor with our every thought and deed to restore a healthy Rule of Law.

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!


Mark Alexander

Publisher, PatriotPost.US, with J. Adams Clymer

http://patriotpost.us/