Speaking of healthcare, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has an excellent column in Human Events today analyzing the obvious contradictions in ObamaCare. Below are a few excerpts.
Contradiction #1: As far back as the campaign, President Obama promised he wouldn’t raise taxes on Americans making less than $250,000. But an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that at least 71 percent of the individual mandate penalties in Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus’s (D-MT) bill would be paid by Americans earning less than $250,000. The Senate Finance bill also levies $215 billion in new taxes on employers and health insurers for offering high-value insurance benefits, which will surely be passed onto all consumers.
Contradiction #2: In his speech to the Joint Session of Congress, the President was adamant: “I will not sign [a bill] if it adds one dime to the deficit, now or in the future, period.” And yet House bill H.R. 3200 will increase the deficit by an amazing $239 billion over the next decade.
Contradiction #3: In his speech to the Joint Session of Congress last month and elsewhere, the President has reassured nervous Americans that if they like their current coverage, his reform will let them keep it. Unless you happen to have Medicare Advantage, that is. Or employer provided insurance. The director of the nonpartisan CBO testified before the Senate that, under the Senate bill, the benefits of seniors under Medicare Advantage would be cut in half. And an analysis of the House bill found that 88 million people will lose their current insurance under government health care.
Contradiction #7: One of President Obama’s main rationales for health care reform is that it is necessary for economic recovery. Working against this promise is the provision in the Senate bill that will tax small businesses -- the engine of American economic growth and job creation -- that can’t afford to purchase health insurance for their employees. It’s hard to see how the economy recovers when small businesses are prevented from hiring new workers by a new government tax.
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