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House To Propose Taxing Wealthy To Pay For Health Care--Bill To Be Unveiled Monday

Despite recent disagreements with conservative members of their caucus, House Democrats will unveil their health care reform bill on Monday, and Ways and Means Committee chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) says they will propose a more than $500 billion tax on Americans making more than $350,000 a year to help finance it.

Between the tax revenue, cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, and other savings--including, perhaps, from a public plan--Democrats should have enough money to cover the cost of the bill, which will likely cost about a trillion dollars. Early indications suggested that the Senate might propose a different tax--on employer-provided health benefits--to cover the remaining costs of reform. But more and more that idea looks dead in the water.

Late update: More detail from Jeff Young of The Hill: "There would be different surtax rates, ranging from 1 percent to 3 percent, for workers with annual earnings of $350,000, $500,000 and $1 million, Rangel said."


9 Comments

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Expiration of the Bush tax cuts will raise more money than that. The inheritance tax alone would generate more than that over 10 years.

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The Bush tax cuts expiring are already factored into the 10-year budget.

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How long do you guys think it will be before some prominent Republican threatens to go Galt?

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Woo-hoo!

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Can't wait for the CBO to score the house bill. It's price tag will definitely be something to pay close attention to.

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There's definitely something I don't like about this solution. The benefits of the health care bill are designed to benefit the poor and middle class, yet the entire cost of the reform is going to be paid for by the rich.

It seems to me that combining these initiatives, the whole thing turns into a free lunch for the majority, and a tax with no benefit for a minority. That seems like bad policy to me, and is reminiscent of President Bush responding to September 11 by asking Americans to spend instead of sacrifice. If we want to reform health care, we should be willing to pay for it, not just get the benefits while sticking someone else with the bill.

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How much money do you make in a year?

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Less than half of that!

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