Post Obamatax: now what?

Some supporters of President Obama's massive overhaul of our national health care system have compared the individual mandate to the requirement that drivers purchase car insurance. The analogy is fatally flawed for two reasons: driving a car is a privilege, not a right, as mandated healthcare for everybody has been said to be. In other words, if you neither own nor drive a car, you don't have to buy car insurance. The second reason the analogy doesn't work is that the minimum required insurance doesn't protect you...it covers the other guy when you are at fault. Liability insurance covers the people who might get injured because of your improper exercise of your privilege to operate a car, assuming you have a driver's permit and minimum coverage. To have your own car fixed when you are at fault, you need to buy collision insurance. The "individual mandate" now declared a new tax was opposed by almost eighty percent, nearly four out of five American voters prior to the official release of the court opinion. It stands to reason that more people will oppose this very onerous, punitive and unpopular new tax levied on a select members of the middle class. Why selected members of the middle class? Remember, the court also ruled that entire states can "opt out" or refuse to implement Obamatax without paying a Medicare penalty. Republican governors on record have already announced that's exactly what they plan to do. According to Eric Cantor, the vote to repeal Obamatax is now scheduled for July 11th, only a couple of weeks away. Even if passed by a … [Read more...]