Dick Morris, our chief strategist at the League of American Voters, is warning of massive new taxes if Obama's healthcare plan gets through.
As Dick explains, the Obama plan will force states to spend much more on healthcare as part of new federal "mandates." This means states will be forced to raise taxes from you and me.
This is just one more of the more dangerous and insidious aspects of Obamacare.
We are fighting hard to continue this struggle to expose and defeat Obamacare.
Prepare for massive HEALTHCARE TAXES
By DICK MORRIS
newsmax for info and League
of American Voters,
The Obama healthcare initiative will be the biggest unfunded federal mandate on the states in history. It will force dozens of states, particularly in the South, to abandon their low-tax ways and to move toward dramatically higher rates of taxation. It may even force Florida and Texas to impose an income tax!
In the Senate version of the bill, states must expand their Medicaid eligibility to cover everyone with an income that is 133 percent of the poverty level.
The House bill brings it up to 150 percent. But a host of states have kept their state taxes low precisely by so limiting eligibility for Medicaid that it essentially is only for seniors needing long-term care and not for poor younger people who require acute care.
For example, Texas covers only those who make 27 percent of the poverty level or less. Florida covers only 55 percent. Pennsylvania covers only 36 percent. Arkansas covers only 17 percent. North Dakota covers only 62 percent. Nebraska covers only 58 percent. Louisiana covers only 26 percent. Indiana covers only 26 percent.
The revenue required to bring these states up to the 133 percent level in the Senate bill or the 150 percent level in the House would be enormous. Even California only covers up to 106 percent of the poverty level.
All states except for Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont and Wisconsin (plus the District of Columbia) will have to raise their eligibility for Medicaid under the Senate healthcare bill. And they will have to pay for part of the cost. Under the House bill, with a higher Medicaid eligibility standard, Massachusetts and Vermont would also have to pay more.
The Medicaid expansion provisions of the Senate bill are complex. In the first year of the program (2013), states must enroll anyone who earns less than 133 percent of the poverty level in their programs. For a family of four, the national average poverty level in 2009 is $22,000 a year. So any family that size that makes less than $29,000 would be eligible for Medicaid.
For the first three years of the program (2013-2015) the federal government would pay for all of the costs of the Medicaid expansion. But starting in the fourth year of operation -- 2016 -- states would be obliged to pay 10 percent of the extra cost.
While Obama has often spoken about how he won't raise taxes on the middle class, his healthcare legislation will require the governors to do so.
Particularly in those states with Democratic governors, it is easy to see how the backlash against these new taxes could fundamentally alter state politics.
The following table is a rough calculation of the cost each state will have to bear once it has to pick up 10 percent of the cost. These calculations are based on guidelines laid down for me by the Republican staff of the Senate Finance Committee. There has been no official data yet generated on how much the Senate or House provisions will cost the taxpayers in each state.
STATE SPENDING INCREASES IN MEDICAID REQUIRED BY SENATE HEALTH BILL
Alaska $39M
Ariz. $217M
Ark. $402M
Calif. $1,428M
Colo. $163M
Del. $35M
Fla. $909M
Ga. $495M
Hawaii $41M
Idaho $97M
Iowa $77M
Ind. $586M
Kan. $186M
Ky. $199M
La. $432M
Md. $194M
Mich. $570M
Miss. $136M
Mo. $836M
Mont. $29M
Neb. $81M
Nev. $54M
N.H. $59M
N.M. $102M
N.C. $599M
N.D. $14M
Ohio $399M
Okla. $190M
Ore. $231M
Pa. $1,490M
S.C. $122M
S.D. $33M
Texas $2,749M
Utah $58M
Va. $601M
Wash. $311M
W.Va. $132M
Wyo. $25M
These estimates were obtained by calculating the increase in Medicaid spending
in each state to bring it up to the 133 percent level specified in the Senate
bill. Then I applied the percentage of Medicaid spending in each state on acute
care (mainly for the poor) as opposed to long-term care (mainly for the elderly).
Finally, I took 10 percent of the increased state share of spending and listed
it in the table above. newsmax
for info
Please Note: The Senate may vote on the healthcare bill this month. It's absolutely
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progress, but we must do more. Please help the League today
2. Rove Chronicles Obama’s Friday News Dumps
It's no coincidence that Attorney General Eric Holder chose a Friday to announce that 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other terrorist suspects would be tried in civilian court in New York City rather than before a military tribunal.
The Obama administration has shown a pattern of seeking to mute reaction to policy announcements by issuing them late on Friday.
"Every modern White House has put out news on contentious issues late on Friday in the hope that doing so will bury it or reduce the amount of critical scrutiny it would otherwise receive," former Bush White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.
"What is unusual is the degree to which this White House has relied on this tactic."
Rove cited these examples of Obama's "Friday dumps" in his Journal article:
•On Jan. 30, Obama revoked the ban on providing taxpayer dollars to international
groups that promote or perform abortions in other countries.
•On Feb. 27, the president announced that U.S. combat activities in Iraq
would end in 18 months, a longer period than his antiwar base desired.
•On May 15, another Friday, Obama said he would retain George W. Bush's
military tribunals to try terrorist detainees, a move opposed by civil libertarians.
•On Oct. 30, the White House announced that it had "created or saved"
at least a million jobs since February. A week later, the unemployment rate
hit 10.2 percent.
"Friday night network television news and Saturday newspapers and cable
coverage are traditionally less seen or read," Rove observed. "By
Sunday morning, a Friday announcement is often considered old news."
However, he added that "not even Friday afternoons can offer sanctuary
from dangerous or ill-considered policy choices."