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By Travis Waldron
The Supreme Court ruled today that the Affordable Care Act, the comprehensive health care reform package signed by President Obama in 2010, is constitutional. The Court upheld the law’s most controversial provision, the individual mandate, ruling that it is constitutional under the government’s authority to levy and collect taxes.
Republicans have falsely claimed the mandate was the “biggest tax increase ever in American history,” so of course, conservatives immediately jumped on the idea that the individual mandate was a massive tax hike on the middle class, reviving an argument Republicans have made since the law passed more than two years ago:
The mandate can indeed be characterized as a tax, as the Court found. But it is not a massive tax hike on the middle class, much less the biggest tax hike in American history. The tax imposed by the individual mandate amounts to either $695 or 2.5 percent of household income for those who don’t have insurance and are not exempt based on income levels. By comparison, the payroll tax cut extension Republicans repeatedly blocked earlier this year would have added 3.1 percentage points to the tax and cost the average family $1,500 a year.
The mandate, meanwhile, would hit a small amount of Americans — somewhere between 2 and 5 percent — according to a study from the Urban Institute. The number could be even lower depending on the law’s success: in Massachusetts, the only state with an insurance mandate, less than 1 percent of the state’s residents paid the penalty in 2009.
The majority of the Affordable Care Act’s other taxes, such as a payroll tax increase and a tax on high-cost health plans, are aimed at upper-income Americans. In exchange, millions of jobs will be created as new people enter the health care system and millions of people will gain access to affordable, quality insurance that they otherwise would not have. And, as we detailed earlier today, the Court’s decision to uphold the entirety of the law will have significant benefits for the nation’s economy.
More: Why The Individual Mandate Is Not A 'Massive Tax Hike' On The Middle Class | ThinkProgress
NOTE: The above link also contains live source links.
It's not just the Mandate that is a Tax Hike. The Bill is full of all sorts of Taxes on Business from a Tanning Tax, to taxes on Medical Devices, to a tax on the Insurance Premiums everyone including the Middle Class pay.
So once again, Your full of shit.
A website from the government....the place that can't get big enough or control our lives long enough....without wanting more....
not on you....you have medicare which is health care, no tax on me or the hubby, we have health insurance....The biggest damn tax hike in the history of America. Democrats done good today.. vewy good.
Okay, then please provide proof of your claim. I provided proof that it isn't.
The Biggest Tax Increase In U.S. History? - Forbes.com
the mandate without the ''public option'' or ''non profit health insurance option'' is a problem that needs fixing imho... otherwise insurance companies have no ''check'' to keep their excess profits from soaring...again imho.
Taxation: The high bench has confirmed that ObamaCare's individual mandate is a massive tax on the American middle class. But let's not forget the 20 other new taxes that are embedded in the law.
Though President Obama never sold it as a tax hike, the Supreme Court ruled the mandate is exactly that. Unfortunately, the majority argued it's legal under Congress' taxing authority.
Forcing citizens to buy health insurance "is absolutely not a tax increase," Obama insisted in 2009. Earlier, he assured the public that raising taxes on the middle class to support his health care plan was "the last thing we need in an economy like this." "Folks are already having a tough enough time," Obama added.
Indeed they are. But his plan, which subsidizes some 30 million uninsured, amounts to a $1.8 trillion whammy on working families. And that's just for starters.
The court was silent about the 20 other different taxes hidden in ObamaCare, more than half of which affect families earning less than $250,000 a year.
The new taxes, which cost some $675 billion over the next decade, include:
A 2.3% excise tax on U.S. sales of medical devices that's already devastating the medical supply industry and its workforce. The levy is a $20 billion blow to an industry that employs roughly 400,000.
ObamaCare's 21 New Taxes Are 21 More Reasons To Repeal The Onerous Law - Investors.com
And aiming significant tax increases at upper-income Americans really reeks of more class warfare, a tactic liberal Democrats have gotten entirely too good at.
Lahkota isn't known for reading its own links.
How Much Is the Obamacare Tax?
Posted on June 28, 2012
Q: How much will the tax penalty be for going without health insurance?
A: The minimum assessment will be $695 per person (but no more than $2,085 per family) in 2016, when fully phased in. The amount can be higher depending on income. But there are exemptions for low-income persons and others.
Just what I posted.
And aiming significant tax increases at upper-income Americans really reeks of more class warfare, a tactic liberal Democrats have gotten entirely too good at.
LMAO. Dems can't get a single tax increase through. SO what ever it is you think Dems have gotten so good at, it aint class warfare and tax increases.
And you know what, I could give a rats ass if ultra wealthy people pay more in taxes. Matter of fact, everyone should get sick and tired of all the poor woes don't pick on the rich bull shit.
What part of the fact that ultra rich people have never had it better or been richer than they are right now, what part of that do you not understand? And you want to worry about whether they pay more for HC. LMAO again.
it is a tax penalty, that one has a choice to pay (be charged with) or not pay....just as if my neghbor chose not to pay his taxes when due, he gets slapped with a tax penalty of ''X%'' of the regular taxes due....
my taxes were not affected by my neighbor's choice to pay late and get an increase in his own taxes, due to the tax penalty.
why isn't it as I explained in my example?
refute/debate is welcomed....honestly....
Taxation: The high bench has confirmed that ObamaCare's individual mandate is a massive tax on the American middle class. But let's not forget the 20 other new taxes that are embedded in the law.
Though President Obama never sold it as a tax hike, the Supreme Court ruled the mandate is exactly that. Unfortunately, the majority argued it's legal under Congress' taxing authority.
Forcing citizens to buy health insurance "is absolutely not a tax increase," Obama insisted in 2009. Earlier, he assured the public that raising taxes on the middle class to support his health care plan was "the last thing we need in an economy like this." "Folks are already having a tough enough time," Obama added.
Indeed they are. But his plan, which subsidizes some 30 million uninsured, amounts to a $1.8 trillion whammy on working families. And that's just for starters.
The court was silent about the 20 other different taxes hidden in ObamaCare, more than half of which affect families earning less than $250,000 a year.
The new taxes, which cost some $675 billion over the next decade, include:
• A 2.3% excise tax on U.S. sales of medical devices that's already devastating the medical supply industry and its workforce. The levy is a $20 billion blow to an industry that employs roughly 400,000.
ObamaCare's 21 New Taxes Are 21 More Reasons To Repeal The Onerous Law - Investors.com
OMG, if Investor's Business Daily says it - it must be true.
Okay, then please provide proof of your claim. I provided proof that it isn't.
The Biggest Tax Increase In U.S. History? - Forbes.com
That's funny. Here, read a little about the author of that Forbes article...
Merrill Matthews Jr., Ph.D.
Yes, you are a retard.FactCheck.org : A Bogus Tax Attack Against Obama
FactCheck.org : Romneys Gross Exaggeration on Obamacare
FactCheck.org : GOPs Job-Killing Whopper, Again
PolitiFact | Health Care statements
PolitiFact |Limbaugh, GOP have it wrong: Health care law is not the largest tax increase ever
PolitiFact | Top 5 falsehoods about the health care law
