Health care: Imposes higher fees on individuals and employers who go without insurance. The plan would strengthen the individual mandate by adopting the House’s higher penalties for those who opt not to buy insurance. There are still hardship exemptions and exemptions for those with income below the tax filing threshold. The fee on employers who don’t offer coverage would be $2,000 per worker, with firms with 50 or fewer employees exempted from this requirement. There is also a $40 billion infusion of tax credits available to small businesses to help them offer coverage beginning in 2010.

Details on the plan are after the jump, but in essence, the Obama plan is the Senate bill with some changes that the administration says can all be passed via reconciliation. Getting reform done would require the House to pass the Senate bill and both chambers to pass a reconciliation bill loaded with fixes, like those contained in the White House plan. The Obama plan would cost $950 billion over 10 years and provide new insurance coverage for 31 million Americans.

For you who would vote for a pig for president, some important facts: the above note is a cost of $950 billion; that gets 31 million insured for 10 years. Some people think that is free insurance! Wrong, it is $3,065.52 for each of those people who can’t afford insurance.

Obama and his liberal cohorts mandate that everyone, including those who could not afford insurance, must pay that amount every year. If you don’t you get fined! If you don’t pay the fine, the feds go into your checking account and remove the money.

Another part of this health care bill consists of a federal agency that has to issue a license to sell your home. If the house doesn’t meet their energy efficiency requirements, no license, no sell.

What the heck does that have to do with health care?

Also, if you have a business that does more than $600 worth of deals with any one individual you are required to file a Form 1099 with the feds to track the money, so the individual can be taxed on it.

Again what the heck has that got to do with health care?

Every one of you liberals seem to think health care will be free. No way.

One other note, 56 new bureaucracies are created in this health care plan. Guess who will be paying for them?

Dale E. Smith

Enumclaw