Republican Congress Getting Health Care and Tax Reform Done? Don't Hold Your Breath!

JimofPennsylvan

Platinum Member
Jun 6, 2007
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It is absolutely terrific that the "No Labels" non-partisan political movement is having a problem solving conference today how desperately does our country today need such a unbiased public advocacy group! This is no slam on Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, these guys are good citizens without a doubt, but boy are they on the wrong path when it comes to leading the country out of the big ditch it's in! The American people have been told that the Republican Party's plan is for the Congress to first enact legislation that does a repeal and replace of the Affordable Care Act. Then after this accomplishment which will dramatically cut and stabilize the Federal Government's yearly expenditures on the U.S. health care system, so the plan says, Congress will then go and enact legislation that both dramatically cuts America's corporate income taxes and America's individual income taxes and accomplish passage of this tax cut legislation through the budgetary reconciliation process which only requires a majority of Senators to vote for a bill to pass it as opposed to the normal legislation enacting process which requires a super-majority of Senators (sixty) to vote for a bill to pass it.



What a pipe dream this plan is, I am inclined to say the odds of this plan succeeding are nil but even saying this remark is being optimistic! A prudent person could write at least a ten page report why the Republican's ACA replacement bill will never become law but some of the points that should jump out at a reasonable person include the following. The Republicans want to give tax credits as opposed to the ACA's voucher like subsidy to Americans that absolutely cannot afford to buy health insurance without the federal government's help this idea will never work these American families cannot afford to front this insurance premium expense they simply do not have the available cash, studies tell us a lot of Americans live pay check to pay check. Secondly, the Republican plan provides no mandate on insurance companies that they have to have a good minimum annual claim limit for enrollees like at least $150,000.00 on the insurance plans they sell to the American people without such good minimums Americans that get common illnesses like cancer or needing heart surgery the Republican insurance ain't paying for a treatment that cures them and the American people are going to be up in arms about this reality! Thirdly, the vast majority of the Republican caucus or the numbers the Republican Party needs to pass such legislation don't support a single replacement bill so how the hell is the Republican leadership going to pass the bill so that it gets to the President's desk for a signature? I think a sensible American will conclude what former Speaker John Boehner has said on this whole issue which is that Congress will be unable to pass a replacement bill the only thing they will be able to achieve is passing an improvement bill for the ACA!



As for the tax cut portion of the Republican plan are you Republican folks incapable of thinking long-term don't you realize that you are setting the country up for sky high tax rates on upper income Americans long-term with the use of the reconciliation process to pass tax reform legislation. If you open up the door that Washington can change the tax code with simple majorities in Congress it is only a matter of time before Democrats get a majority in the House and the Senate and occupy the White House and then the Democrats will do what they have always wanted to do which is tax the hell out of the wealthy in America and use the money raised to expand federal government service programs for lower and middle income Americans, prudent thinking would conclude that the Republican Party will be making an epic mistake that they will never live down if they change the tax code through the reconciliation process.



Even on the specific Republican plan to change the corporate and individual income tax code at the same time I agree with the significant number of responsible voices on this issue that say the Republican party is taking on too big of a task with this approach the weight and complexity of the task is so large it will cause the whole tax reform effort to fail. I know the Republican Party leadership would respond that a lot of small businesses, America's biggest job creators, tax file as individuals so unless you lower their taxes you're not really going to increase jobs and wages like America needs. Granted a lot of good that would come from reducing individual income tax rates won't occur, but remember this is only a temporary state maybe later this year or in 2019 this task can be accomplished, and most importantly bifurcating the issue will allow lower corporate tax rates to be implemented in America that will have a great economic stimulus effect this year significantly affecting job and wage growth in America this year and Republicans need to remember the investment community and corporate America won't wait forever to pass their agenda the Congress and the President need to start delivering on their legislative agenda or these entities will conclude nothing really is coming and act accordingly to the detriment of America. The other argument the Republican leadership would give why Congress needs to do both at the same time because in order to lower the individual income tax rates to the level needed Congress needs the revenue generated from reforming the corporate tax code and closing all those corporate tax code loopholes to make up for the loss of tax revenue flowing into the U.S. Treasury from a reform of the individual tax code. The strategy Congress should be taking on this point is that when we just pass Corporate tax reform we know it is going to generate a lot of additional tax revenue and we are going to make the concurrent decision that we are not going to spend that additional revenue this additional revenue is reserved to pay for reform of the individual tax code that we will do at a later date.



Larry Kudlow and Stephen Moore wrote an editorial published on January 27, 2017 in the WSJ where they called for this prioritizing of corporate tax reform over individual income tax reform because such an effort is readily achievable it can readily get bipartisan support, it can get Democrat support and they are spot on with this Congress should make tax reform a bipartisan effort. When one gets to the nuts and bolts of the Republican Party plan on how to reform the corporate tax code one should see a lot of trouble. What really needs to be said is that over the last eighteen months the Republican Party has lost its way with this recent election and the Republican Party Presidential candidates tripping over themselves offering lower and lower tax plans they've mislead the whole Republican Party. Before this past election season the Republicans had a great corporate tax reform plan which was lower the corporate tax rate to twenty-five percent and either don't tax foreign profits or tax it at an extremely low rate like ten percent this would make America corporate tax structure competitive from an international standpoint. Republican stick with this plan it is a plan made with good judgment, realistic views on the challenges involved and perspective!



If a person is going to make a full comment on the Republican plan for Corporate Tax Reform he or she has to comment on the "border tax proposal". In a nutshell one should say this is an extremely bad idea and Republicans should scrap it yesterday! It is really perplexing that Republicans who are supposed to be the party really dedicated to virtue and high ideals would come up with such a proposal; a government if they are really out to be acting virtuous only tax that income which is profit income they don't tax income that covers the expense to make the product or service this is fundamental principle. This border tax violates this principle because it taxes the gross revenue on imports it does not allow the importers to deduct their costs or expenses. Proponents of this tax their talk about this tax is crazy how any prudent person could find their case as persuasive is incomprehensible. First, they say don't worry American consumers and businesses that buy these imports who will likely at least initially see price increases as importers raise prices to pay for the tax because this tax reform will increase the value of the U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies meaning that a higher dollar will lower the cost of imports. Point one being why do the American people want to have legislation passed that raises the value of the dollar when America is competing in a global economy where increasing exports is our chief route to increasing America's prosperity and a higher dollar make our exports less competitive in foreign markets. Secondly, the proponents say this negligible effect on consumers and businesses that depend on imports will ocurr because this change will cause America's currency to increase in value and their reasoning is that this tax change will cause an increase in U.S. exports and a decrease in U.S. imports which will create an increase in demand for dollars and a decrease in demand for foreign currencies which will raise the dollar. I am sorry but these proponents are over simplifying currency movements also a factor in how currency moves is investors throughout the world chasing investment returns if this tax change affects the American, consumer based economy, by lowering consumer discretionary spending because ordinary Americans have to pay more for necessities (imports they definitely need) sending recessionary wakes through the American economy international investors will to at least a significant degree seek to invest outside the U.S. thus putting downward pressure on the U.S. dollar which shoots apart these proponents rationale. Lastly, leaders throughout America are very upset about the large trade imbalances America has with numerous countries throughout the world and rightly so because if such didn't exist these sums would be going to paying for more jobs and higher wages for American workers. The only real hope that currently exists to fix this trade imbalance problem is American leaders going to foreign government leaders and saying you must remove obstacles in your country that obstruct American exporters selling in your country because these obstacles aren't fair. After America's implementation of this border tax proposal America's leader will have no credibility to complain on this issue because America's economic system will be unfair to foreign producers compared to U.S. domestic producers because domestic producers won't have the expense of the border tax!
 
It is absolutely terrific that the "No Labels" non-partisan political movement is having a problem solving conference today how desperately does our country today need such a unbiased public advocacy group! This is no slam on Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, these guys are good citizens without a doubt, but boy are they on the wrong path when it comes to leading the country out of the big ditch it's in! The American people have been told that the Republican Party's plan is for the Congress to first enact legislation that does a repeal and replace of the Affordable Care Act. Then after this accomplishment which will dramatically cut and stabilize the Federal Government's yearly expenditures on the U.S. health care system, so the plan says, Congress will then go and enact legislation that both dramatically cuts America's corporate income taxes and America's individual income taxes and accomplish passage of this tax cut legislation through the budgetary reconciliation process which only requires a majority of Senators to vote for a bill to pass it as opposed to the normal legislation enacting process which requires a super-majority of Senators (sixty) to vote for a bill to pass it.



What a pipe dream this plan is, I am inclined to say the odds of this plan succeeding are nil but even saying this remark is being optimistic! A prudent person could write at least a ten page report why the Republican's ACA replacement bill will never become law but some of the points that should jump out at a reasonable person include the following. The Republicans want to give tax credits as opposed to the ACA's voucher like subsidy to Americans that absolutely cannot afford to buy health insurance without the federal government's help this idea will never work these American families cannot afford to front this insurance premium expense they simply do not have the available cash, studies tell us a lot of Americans live pay check to pay check. Secondly, the Republican plan provides no mandate on insurance companies that they have to have a good minimum annual claim limit for enrollees like at least $150,000.00 on the insurance plans they sell to the American people without such good minimums Americans that get common illnesses like cancer or needing heart surgery the Republican insurance ain't paying for a treatment that cures them and the American people are going to be up in arms about this reality! Thirdly, the vast majority of the Republican caucus or the numbers the Republican Party needs to pass such legislation don't support a single replacement bill so how the hell is the Republican leadership going to pass the bill so that it gets to the President's desk for a signature? I think a sensible American will conclude what former Speaker John Boehner has said on this whole issue which is that Congress will be unable to pass a replacement bill the only thing they will be able to achieve is passing an improvement bill for the ACA!



As for the tax cut portion of the Republican plan are you Republican folks incapable of thinking long-term don't you realize that you are setting the country up for sky high tax rates on upper income Americans long-term with the use of the reconciliation process to pass tax reform legislation. If you open up the door that Washington can change the tax code with simple majorities in Congress it is only a matter of time before Democrats get a majority in the House and the Senate and occupy the White House and then the Democrats will do what they have always wanted to do which is tax the hell out of the wealthy in America and use the money raised to expand federal government service programs for lower and middle income Americans, prudent thinking would conclude that the Republican Party will be making an epic mistake that they will never live down if they change the tax code through the reconciliation process.



Even on the specific Republican plan to change the corporate and individual income tax code at the same time I agree with the significant number of responsible voices on this issue that say the Republican party is taking on too big of a task with this approach the weight and complexity of the task is so large it will cause the whole tax reform effort to fail. I know the Republican Party leadership would respond that a lot of small businesses, America's biggest job creators, tax file as individuals so unless you lower their taxes you're not really going to increase jobs and wages like America needs. Granted a lot of good that would come from reducing individual income tax rates won't occur, but remember this is only a temporary state maybe later this year or in 2019 this task can be accomplished, and most importantly bifurcating the issue will allow lower corporate tax rates to be implemented in America that will have a great economic stimulus effect this year significantly affecting job and wage growth in America this year and Republicans need to remember the investment community and corporate America won't wait forever to pass their agenda the Congress and the President need to start delivering on their legislative agenda or these entities will conclude nothing really is coming and act accordingly to the detriment of America. The other argument the Republican leadership would give why Congress needs to do both at the same time because in order to lower the individual income tax rates to the level needed Congress needs the revenue generated from reforming the corporate tax code and closing all those corporate tax code loopholes to make up for the loss of tax revenue flowing into the U.S. Treasury from a reform of the individual tax code. The strategy Congress should be taking on this point is that when we just pass Corporate tax reform we know it is going to generate a lot of additional tax revenue and we are going to make the concurrent decision that we are not going to spend that additional revenue this additional revenue is reserved to pay for reform of the individual tax code that we will do at a later date.



Larry Kudlow and Stephen Moore wrote an editorial published on January 27, 2017 in the WSJ where they called for this prioritizing of corporate tax reform over individual income tax reform because such an effort is readily achievable it can readily get bipartisan support, it can get Democrat support and they are spot on with this Congress should make tax reform a bipartisan effort. When one gets to the nuts and bolts of the Republican Party plan on how to reform the corporate tax code one should see a lot of trouble. What really needs to be said is that over the last eighteen months the Republican Party has lost its way with this recent election and the Republican Party Presidential candidates tripping over themselves offering lower and lower tax plans they've mislead the whole Republican Party. Before this past election season the Republicans had a great corporate tax reform plan which was lower the corporate tax rate to twenty-five percent and either don't tax foreign profits or tax it at an extremely low rate like ten percent this would make America corporate tax structure competitive from an international standpoint. Republican stick with this plan it is a plan made with good judgment, realistic views on the challenges involved and perspective!



If a person is going to make a full comment on the Republican plan for Corporate Tax Reform he or she has to comment on the "border tax proposal". In a nutshell one should say this is an extremely bad idea and Republicans should scrap it yesterday! It is really perplexing that Republicans who are supposed to be the party really dedicated to virtue and high ideals would come up with such a proposal; a government if they are really out to be acting virtuous only tax that income which is profit income they don't tax income that covers the expense to make the product or service this is fundamental principle. This border tax violates this principle because it taxes the gross revenue on imports it does not allow the importers to deduct their costs or expenses. Proponents of this tax their talk about this tax is crazy how any prudent person could find their case as persuasive is incomprehensible. First, they say don't worry American consumers and businesses that buy these imports who will likely at least initially see price increases as importers raise prices to pay for the tax because this tax reform will increase the value of the U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies meaning that a higher dollar will lower the cost of imports. Point one being why do the American people want to have legislation passed that raises the value of the dollar when America is competing in a global economy where increasing exports is our chief route to increasing America's prosperity and a higher dollar make our exports less competitive in foreign markets. Secondly, the proponents say this negligible effect on consumers and businesses that depend on imports will ocurr because this change will cause America's currency to increase in value and their reasoning is that this tax change will cause an increase in U.S. exports and a decrease in U.S. imports which will create an increase in demand for dollars and a decrease in demand for foreign currencies which will raise the dollar. I am sorry but these proponents are over simplifying currency movements also a factor in how currency moves is investors throughout the world chasing investment returns if this tax change affects the American, consumer based economy, by lowering consumer discretionary spending because ordinary Americans have to pay more for necessities (imports they definitely need) sending recessionary wakes through the American economy international investors will to at least a significant degree seek to invest outside the U.S. thus putting downward pressure on the U.S. dollar which shoots apart these proponents rationale. Lastly, leaders throughout America are very upset about the large trade imbalances America has with numerous countries throughout the world and rightly so because if such didn't exist these sums would be going to paying for more jobs and higher wages for American workers. The only real hope that currently exists to fix this trade imbalance problem is American leaders going to foreign government leaders and saying you must remove obstacles in your country that obstruct American exporters selling in your country because these obstacles aren't fair. After America's implementation of this border tax proposal America's leader will have no credibility to complain on this issue because America's economic system will be unfair to foreign producers compared to U.S. domestic producers because domestic producers won't have the expense of the border tax!
Healthcare is never in the same sentence with a republican congress bill.
 
What cracks me up about the conservatives/Republicans/Trumpsters whatever and not wanting to pay for "them" people's healthcare is, they already do. Since my friends Dad used to take chickens and eggs and beef for payment as a Doctor in Pennsylvania, so much so he just donated most of it to Altoona food banks, we have paid for everyone's healthcare in America. We are just stupid about it. Instead of an evidence based system we have a profit based system. So the Repubs need to get smart and embrace science.
 

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