Firing Squad Assembling?
The Democrats’ circular firing squad is positioning themselves for maximum damage. There’s nothing like the sight of a full-fledged fight first thing in the morning. Here’s the details on the latest Democratic Party infighting over health care:
It’s not every day that you hear a Democratic senator charge that a fellow Democrat is proposing to raise taxes on the middle class, but that is what happened on Tuesday when Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., ripped into the health-care bill developed by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mt., the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
The Baucus proposal would impose, starting in 2013, a 35 percent excise tax on insurance companies for “high-cost plans”, defined as those above $8,000 for individuals and $21,000 for family plans.
The minute the American people hear that the Baucus bill contains huge tax increases, they’ll turn against the bill. They’re in no mood to see taxes increased. FOR ANY REASON. Levying a 35 percent tax on supposedly high cost plans will only cause employers to dump employees during this recession.
In addition to that being stupid economic policy, it’s the worst possible political strategy the Democrats could choose. They’re falling in the trap where they think that their policies are popular. That’s a huge mistake. I know it’s a mistake because that’s a major driving factor for the TEA Parties. This last weekend and over the last three weeks, literally millions of people showed up for the March On Washington bus tour that started in Sacramento and culminated in DC.
The West Virginia Democrat worries, however, that a lot of middle class workers, like the coal miners in his state, will end up facing “a big, big tax” under the Baucus bill because they currently enjoy generous employer-provided health care benefits which they receive tax free.
If something doesn’t make sense, like a Democrat whining about big tax increases, the rule of follow the money still works effectively. I didn’t think that Sen. Rockefeller was opposed to tax increases in general, though I thought that he’d oppose tax increases for another reason.
I’d recommend that everyone read the entire Rockefeller article. It’s a great list of why the Baucus bill is already in trouble.
Technorati Tags: Max Baucus, Health Care, Reform, Jay Rockefeller, Coal Miners, Tax Increases, Employee Benefits, Democrats, TEA Parties, Conservatism
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog