Taxation

The stunning decline of Barack Obama: 10 key reasons why the Obama presidency is in meltdown – Telegraph Blogs

There is a distinctly Titanic-like feel to the Obama presidency and it’s not hard to see why. The most left-wing president in modern American history has tried to force a highly interventionist, government-driven agenda that runs counter to the principles of free enterprise, individual freedom, and limited government that have made the United States the greatest power in the world, and the freest nation on earth.This, combined with weak leadership both at home and abroad against the backdrop of tremendous economic uncertainty in an increasingly dangerous world, has contributed to a spectacular political collapse for a president once thought to be invincible. America at its core remains a deeply conservative nation, which cherishes its traditions and founding principles. President Obama is increasingly out of step with the American people, by advancing policies that undermine the United States as a global power, while undercutting America’s deep-seated love for freedom.

via The stunning decline of Barack Obama: 10 key reasons why the Obama presidency is in meltdown – Telegraph Blogs.

Investors.com – Making Nightmare Out Of Health Care

Yet, a 2008 study by the British medical journal Lancet shows government-run health care systems in Germany, France, Britain and Canada have higher rates of death from breast, prostate and colon cancer than the U.S. — due largely to substandard government care.Americans have greater access to MRI, tomography and other sophisticated diagnostics — and more lifesaving drugs. The waiting list for surgery and other treatment runs to 800,000 people in Canada and 200,000 in Britain, notes health care analyst Sally Pipes. Thousands die each year from lack of care in Europe and Canada. The U.S. has virtually no waiting lists.

read the rest here… Investors.com – Making Nightmare Out Of Health Care.

James M. Peaslee: Tax Penalties and the Health-Care Bill – WSJ.com

Under current law, taxpayers who lose an argument with the IRS can generally avoid penalties by showing they tried in good faith to comply with the tax law. In a broad range of circumstances, the health-care bill would change the law to impose strict liability penalties for income-tax underpayments, meaning that taxpayers will no longer have the luxury of making an honest mistake. The ability of even the IRS to waive penalties in sympathetic cases would be sharply curtailed.

via James M. Peaslee: Tax Penalties and the Health-Care Bill – WSJ.com.

John Mackey: The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare – WSJ.com

While we clearly need health-care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction—toward less government control and more individual empowerment. Here are eight reforms that would greatly lower the cost of health care for everyone:

Read the whole article here…  John Mackey: The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare – WSJ.com.

10 Facts About US Healthcare – Hoover Institution

Many great facts about private vs public healthcare. Too bad Barry doesn’t read.

Americans are responsible for the vast majority of all health care innovations. The top five U.S. hospitals conduct more clinical trials than all the hospitals in any other developed country. Since the mid- 1970s, the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology has gone to U.S. residents more often than recipients from all other countries combined. In only five of the past thirty-four years did a scientist living in the United States not win or share in the prize. Most important recent medical innovations were developed in the United States.

via Hoover Institution – Hoover Digest – Here’s a Second Opinion.

Pelosi’s Health-Care Payroll Tax Is a Tax on Labor – WSJ.com

A new study by Sageworks, Inc., a financial consulting firm, runs the numbers on the income statements of actual companies. It looks at three types of firms with at least $5 million in sales: a retailer, a construction company and a small manufacturer. The companies each have total payroll of between $750,000 and $1 million a year. Assuming the firms absorb the cost of the payroll tax, their net profits fall by one-third on average. That is on top of the 45% income tax and surtax that many small business owners would pay as part of the House tax scheme, so the total reduction in some small business profits would climb to nearly 80%. These lower after-tax profits would mean fewer jobs.

To put it another way, the workers who will gain health insurance from ObamaCare will pay the steepest price for it in either a shrinking pay check, or no job at all.

via Pelosi’s Health-Care Payroll Tax Is a Tax on Labor – WSJ.com.

Support Slips for Health Plan – WSJ.com

In the new poll, conducted July 24 to July 27, 42% called it a bad idea while 36% said it was a good idea.

Among those with insurance, the proportion calling the plan a bad idea rose to 47% from 37%.

The declining popularity of health-care overhaul appeared to be fueled by rising anxiety over the federal budget deficit and concerns over the role of government in determining personal medical decisions.

via Support Slips for Health Plan – WSJ.com.