Snowe: Health care bill a 'good place to start'

[Guest NewsBot]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. Olympia Snowe, the only Republican who voted to advance the Finance Committee's health care bill, said Wednesday she believes "the time has come to grapple with this issue that has eluded us for decades."...

 

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR

 

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[timesjoke]

The problem is she is selling out principles for what? To get elected again from a moderate area? Why should we keep caving into the pressures of the socialist agenda?

 

I truly believe that most of the Republican downfall in the elections were not because the masses liked the socialist direction the Democrats represent but instead to move away from a party that has lost it's vision.

 

If you really believe you want less Government control over the lives of Americans, there is no way you can vote for something like this.

[eddo]

She was quoted as saying "My vote today is just that- my vote today." meaning that she could very well change her vote at any moment. It appears that she voted for this just to get it to the next step.

 

Not sure I agree with someone that tosses her vote around in such a way.

[RoyalOrleans]

One of the reasons that Olympia Snowe may have voted for the Baucus bill is because of what she calls its "low" price tag -- $829 billion over ten years. But let's take a look at the big picture. Did you know that $507 billion of that $829 billion will be covered by NEW federal taxes and fees? That's not according to some insurance industry reports, that is according to the Congressional Budget Office.

 

CNSNews has a list of the new taxes and fees included in this Baucus bill:

 

- $201 billion in new taxes on high-premium health care plans.

 

- $83 billion in new taxes paid by workers who will receive less employer-sponsored coverage or lose that coverage altogether but will be compensated with higher wages or monetary benefits, which are taxable.

 

- $23 billion in penalty fees paid by employers who do not comply with the federal insurance mandate.

 

- $4 billion in penalty fees paid by individuals who don't have health insurance.

 

- $16 billion in new income and Medicare payroll tax revenue due to changes in Medicare.

 

- $180 billion in other tax revenues items calculated by the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT).

 

According to the JCT, this $180 billion in new taxes would include: A new tax on prescription drug makers that would account for $22.2 billion over 10 years; a new tax on medical device manufacturers that would bring in $38.6 billion; and a new annual tax on insurance companies would net the government $60.4 billion.

 

Are you starting to notice a trend here? More taxes. More government. More bureaucrats. The Democrats are creating bigger government with more strings attached to the purse.

 

Elections have consequences.