There is a group named the Tax Foundation that is non-partisan by most accounts. It says that six years ago twenty percent of Americans received three quarters of their income from a collection of government programs. Another one in five were receiving forty percent of their income from the government. Today, 60% of American households are receiving more income from the government than they are paying back in taxes. The Tax Foundation estimates that President Obama’s budget, which includes the new health insurance reform bill, will result in 70% of Americans being dependent on the government, up 10%.
When just a few pay the taxes to support the majority, those few get to call the shots. The bailouts come to mind, as does health insurance reform. Large corporations that are, “too big to fail,” are saved while small company employers are deemed too small to succeed and must fend for themselves. And fending for themselves just got a whole lot tougher due primarily to the health care bill passage. Taxes of small employers have gone up 25%. There is the new Medicare tax increase, the capital gains tax increase, and higher taxes in Arizona across the board, and all of these increased taxes mean one thing… less jobs. There are roughly 30 million small employers in the country and their effective tax rate is now 50%, up from 40%.
How many examples are needed to show that the government cannot be trusted to implement and oversee the new health insurance reform bill in a financially responsible way? Take Fannie and Freddie Mac for example. Look at what a beautiful job just a few dozen congressmen did with their oversight of these two mortgage entities. Now imagine what thousands of new government employees will do with your health. And no one actually believes the cost will be about $1.3 trillion, as boggling a figure as that may be. The government guessed when Medicare passed that it would cost 10% of what it actually does.
We are fast becoming a social welfare state. Without some major changes in the next two voting cycles we are certainly headed for a financial meltdown, not to mention a continuing loss of freedom. The first order of business is to repeal and replace the health care bill.
Michael Higgins
Arizona health insurance broker.
602.405.8769