The IRS Just Got a New Function
Aug 16, 2009 Political
I knew this was coming, after discovering the provision in HR 3200 that would mandate government the right to go into your bank account and extract the amount of your gubbmint health scare, but I thought it might need to form a new collection agency- what WAS I thinking? Of course it is a natural fit.
The IRS is already quite possibly the most hated agency in America, why should they create another? They already have most of the pertinent information, and they have a storied tradition of invading peoples’ live in search of the government lucre. And when they do not find it, they know how to put people in prison- just ask Al Capone.
Under both the House and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee bills released to the public, the Internal Revenue Service will play a key role in monitoring and enforcing health care mandates against individual taxpayers. Yet the introduction of the IRS into the health care system has received scant attention.
The Senate bill imposes a new requirement that all persons who provide health care coverage to others must file a return with the IRS listing the names, addresses, social security numbers, and the coverage period for each person, and “such other information as the Secretary [of Health and Human Services] may prescribe.” (Section 161(b) starting at page 107). The bill does not limit what information the Secretary may request, so it is conceivable and likely that information as to the nature of the coverage, the family members included, and other details will be reported to the IRS.
The House bill contains similar provisions in section 401(b) (at pp. 175-176). The following information must be reported by the person providing health coverage:
(A) the name, address, and TIN of the primary insured and the name of each other individual obtaining coverage under the policy, (B) the period for which each such individual was provided with the coverage referred to in subsection (a), and (C) such other information as the Secretary may require.
This information is to be provided to the IRS for good reason. The House bill provides for a tax on people who do not have acceptable coverage at “any time” during the tax year. House bill section 401 provides for a new section 59B (at pp. 167-168) of the Internal Revenue Code:
(a) TAX IMPOSED.—In the case of any individual who does not meet the requirements of subsection (d) at any time during the taxable year, there is hereby imposed a tax equal to 2.5 percent of the excess of—
(1) the taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income for the taxable year, over
(2) the amount of gross income specified in section 6012(a)(1) with respect to the taxpayer.
The Senate version is similar, although the tax is called a “shared responsibility payment” not a tax. Section 161 (at pp. 103-104) words new section 59B of the IRC to require lack of coverage for a month (subject to certain exemptions) before the tax kicks in, and does not specify a specific percentage, but instead, directs that annually
the Secretary shall seek to establish the minimum practicable amount that can accomplish the goal of enhancing participation in qualifying coverage (as so defined).
legalinsurrection.blogspot.com
Oh joy- more of our freedoms lost- well, this is ALWAYS to be expected under Democratic rule. Contrary to their “stated” goals and tenets, the Dems LOVE to exert control, and they are trying to exert with all their might, using every tool that they can bring to bear.
Now,the courts will have to determine whether the IRS has the legal right to delve into Healthcare monies, or whether a new agency must be formed. My thinking is that they are not legally empowered by the Constitution to collect these specific monies- but then I am not a judge- I can’t parse the Constitution as some of them can, but my feeling is that unless the Hussein buys off some judges, things will have to go another way.
I hope so, because it might give Congress time to come to their senses and deny the administration the unrestrained powers of this bill. This is a bad bill, and yes- NO bill is always better than a bad one.
This is a case of, “Go back home, and do it again.”
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Tags: healthcare, illegal powers, invasion of privacy, irs, taxes
Snitch This!
Aug 6, 2009 Political
Come on, all you liberals out there, you know you want to do it- you are spineless, and can’t stand the fact that your spineless leader is being questioned at every turn, because every turn is a new foray into socialist collective behavior and group- think.
Your Clown- in Chief wants to “Fundamentally Change America”- his own words, repeated ad nauseum during the campaign, and I have to admit, although those words gave me a chill when I heard them, even I had no idea how much he hated America as it was, nor just how much he wanted to change our country.
Now we can begin to see the outlines of his agenda, and it is anti- American, plain and simple. That is just a fact. There is nothing that he has either done, is doing, or plans to do that is compatible with anything Americans need to have done.
The stimulus was and is a failure- it has brought no jobs, and only stimulated the egos and jobs of those over at Treasury, cash for clunkers did nothing more than help put even more people in debt at a time when we need to be digging ourselves out of debt.
Cap and Trade is a shell game that benefits no consumer, and has some truly scary provisions in it that are punitive. Since “Climate Change” is a far from settled subject, we should not, at this time, be doing as much as this bill decrees, nor the way it goes about it.
More than 60 prominent German scientists have publicly declared their dissent from man-made global warming fears in an Open Letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The more than 60 signers of the letter include several United Nations IPCC scientists.
The scientists declared that global warming has become a “pseudo religion” and they noted that rising CO2 has “had no measurable effect” on temperatures. The German scientists, also wrote that the “UN IPCC has lost its scientific credibility.”
This latest development comes on the heels of a series of inconvenient developments for the promoters of man-made global warming fears, including new peer-reviewed studies, real world data, a growing chorus of scientists dissenting (includingmore UN IPCC scientists), open revolts in scientific societies and the Earth’s failure to warm. In addition, public opinion continues to turn against climate fear promotion.
The July 26, 2009 German scientist letter urged Chancellor Merkel to “strongly reconsider” her position on global warming and requested a “convening of an impartial panel” that is “free of ideology” to counter the UN IPCC and review the latest climate science developments.
The scientists, from many disciplines, including physicists, meteorology, chemistry, and geology, explain that “humans have had no measurable effect on global warming through CO2 emissions. Instead the temperature fluctuations have been within normal ranges and are due to natural cycles.”
“More importantly, there’s a growing body of evidence showing anthropogenic CO2 plays no measurable role,” the scientists wrote. “Indeed CO2’s capability to absorb radiation is almost exhausted by today’s atmospheric concentrations. If CO2 did indeed have an effect and all fossil fuels were burned, then additional warming over the long term would in fact remain limited to only a few tenths of a degree,” they added.
“The IPCC had to have been aware of this fact, but completely ignored it during its studies of 160 years of temperature measurements and 150 years of determined CO2 levels. As a result the IPCC has lost its scientific credibility,” the scientists wrote.
“Indeed the atmosphere has not warmed since 1998 – more than 10 years, and the global temperature has even dropped significantly since 2003. Not one of the many extremely expensive climate models predicted this. According to the IPCC, it was supposed to have gotten steadily warmer, but just the opposite has occurred,” the scientists wrote.
climatedepot.com
And now we come to the Healthcare, or Obamacare- whatever you choose to call this ill- conceived, socialistic, “soylent green” type of care that makes a mockery of our medical system. You lawmakers will not even read the bills- that is an incredibly irresponsible thing to do, or not do , in this case. Reading the bills is your job.
If you won’t read the bill, get off of the Hill. You have no business being there, because you are not representing your constituents, if indeed you ever were.
So here’s the deal, all you Liberal Socialist weak- minded people. If you feel like snitching on me, know this- I have already told them at the “Snitch Czar’s” office who I am, and my objections to them , so it would be redundant to turn me in again, but feel free- I will continue to exercise my first amendment rights as long as we continue to have a first amendment (which might not be long, the way this is going).
In the meantime, perhaps I will see you at the town hall meetings, if you libtards have the guts to show up, and not cancel, as so many of your “courageous leaders” have done so far. Being afraid to answer the tough questions is definitely not “Profiles in Courage”.
But then it has been awhile since your side has had anyone with courage.
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Tags: courage, cowardly behavior, healthcare, snitching
You Can’t Handle The Health
Aug 2, 2009 Political
Lawmakers are on “recess”, (makes you think of carefree children, playing on a playground- probably not far from the truth- the children part, anyway), and hopefully they are getting an earful from people who know that this “Healthcare” package is detrimental to virtually everyone it will affect; and it will affect virtually everyone. The main reason for this is that private insurers cannnot match the price that the government can impose, thus driving these insurance companies out of business.
People who run small businesses will throw their employees into the “public” option, exacerbating the situation, and when you essentially “dump” 20- 46 million new people into an existing infrastructure, without having the commensurate number of doctors added to the mix, you have a problem that all the smooth language of our brainless leader cannot solve.
Meanwhile, the members of Congress, all but one, have opted to keep their medical insurance, foregoing the public option they keep reassuring us is really good. Listen, you didn’t believe it when you were little, and your mom said strained peas were tasty, especially when she wouldn’t take a bite, so why would you believe this?
Too much, too fast, too expensive. Those are some of the objections lawmakers have voiced against the healthcare overhaul Democrats are attempting on Capitol Hill.
But many Americans think Congress is out of touch. How, they wonder, can lawmakers empathize with the underinsured or those lacking insurance when they receive a benefits package — heavily subsidized by taxpayers — that most of us can only envy?
Among the advantages: a choice of 10 healthcare plans that provide access to a national network of doctors, as well as several HMOs that serve each member’s home state. By contrast, 85% of private companies offering health coverage provide their employees one type of plan — take it or leave it.
Lawmakers also get special treatment at Washington’s federal medical facilities and, for a few hundred dollars a month, access to their own pharmacy and doctors, nurses and medical technicians standing by in an office conveniently located between the House and Senate chambers.
In all, taxpayers spent about $15 billion last year to insure 8.5 million federal workers and their dependents, including postal service employees, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
latimes.com
There will be unintended consequences- for one thing, all the plans Congress has at its disposal are, for the moment, private plans, and they rely not on Congress to keep them afloat and profitable, but millions of regular people to share the risk. If Congress succeeds in forcing millions of people onto a public plan, there will not be enough people to make Congress’ plans sustainable for their own health- they will in effect, have forced themselves onto the public option, or they will have to subsidize an insurance company.
This could be funny, as they try to undo their own laws, or forge a “special” exemption for federal workers- I mean, Federal workers, from the Resident on down, already enjoy health coverage anyone else would envy.
In all, taxpayers spent about $15 billion last year to insure 8.5 million federal workers and their dependents, including postal service employees, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
Generous plans are available in private industry. But the federal coverage far surpasses that enjoyed by 70 million Americans who are underinsured and at financial risk in the event of a major health crisis — not to mention the estimated 46 million who have no medical insurance.
“For the average worker, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan would probably look quite attractive,” said Pete Sepp, a spokesman for the National Taxpayers Union, a pinch-penny advocacy group.
Indeed, a question often surfaces: Why can’t everyone enjoy the same benefits as members of Congress? The answer: The country probably couldn’t afford it — not without reforms to bring costs way, way down.
latimes.com
So once again, we see that these hypocrites that want us to sacrifice, and ration our health, will not do the same when it comes to their families. Why should we believe them, when they tell us that the fire doesn’t burn, when they won’t stick their hand in the flames? The very fact that they are not willing to use the same care package that we the people do, should make anyone with even a remedial brainstem ask why not.
The old saying, “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” is applicable here, and this plan should be summarily rejected out of hand. This plan is truly not about the people, but a blatant power grab to gain more control over the American people and their options. This is all about the government wanting more control over your lives and your choices. You see, they know better than you, because they truly believe they are smarter than you.
Until The Resident, and ALL his minions, czars, lackeys, and suck- ups are willing to go by the same rules that the rest of us have to, this proposed law should die the ugly death it deserves, and ANY member of Congress that votes for this obamanation of a bill should be immediately impeached for high crimes against the American people.
Because anyone who votes for this bill is a traitor, plain and simple.
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Tags: Congress, healthcare, hussein, hypocrites
Can You Say “Incompetence”?
Jul 31, 2009 Political
The “Cash for Clunkers” program, which was allegedly supposed to get inefficient vehicles off of the streets, but instead is a blatant incentive program for the ailing car business ( nothing wrong with that, just call it what it is), has now been suspended by the government, as it has run out of money.
The program, which was to run through October, has instead burned through all of the incentive money the government had allocated to assist the car dealers, as our citizens, addicted to buying things, any things, seized this opportunity to “move on up” to a new car. Don’t you just love that new payment smell?
“Cash for Clunkers” came to a screeching halt Thursday, after only six days on the road.
In a shocker, the government announced it would suspend the program at midnight because demand was too great.
It may have been the best $1 billion the government has spent so far this year.
Business was humming at Crestmont Toyota/Volkswagen Thursday night as salespeople rushed back to work on news that the government’s “Cash for Clunkers” program was being suspended.
It’s the deal where you get up to $4,500 for your older low mileage beast if you buy a new car with more efficient fuel consumption.
On Thursday night we learned the program was only good until midnight, all because of a backlog of red tape. So the salespeople were trying to get their deals through the government’s Web site.
wcbstv.com
Yes, instead of standing pat on cars that possibly were paid for, some people opted to place themselves in even more debt, despite the government’s largesse- which reminds me- I also own a piece of your new gubbmint car, so bring it over. I might need to take it out and race for pinks. A man’s gotta do something for money these days, and I can trade in what I win for money, right?
No??
Well, at least we know that this is a well run government program, implemented with foresight,and… what?… they did what?…suspended the program- why? They ran out of money? Sheeee………..
“If they can’t administer a program like this, I’d be a little concerned about my health insurance,” car salesman Rob Bojaryn said.
The “Clunkers” program was being administered by the National Highway Safety Administration, which has seemed overwhelmed from the get-go. Some in Congress are expected to push for expansion of the $1 billion budget on Friday.
wcbstv.com
Well, so much for the dream that the new government would know what they are doing- now that we know better, we the people need to spend this August recess of Congress peppering our representatives with our views on the abortive Healthcare bills that they are considering.
There should be No government interference in our system, no “public option”, and especially no page 245, where the government comes in to tell you all about your options on ending your life, so as to save money.
There should be no government entity that is required to come to your house and tell you how to parent in the optimum way (according to these government people), or get in your face when you have to make the decisions that affect your family.
After all, if the government can’t even give away cash competently, how can you expect them to do anything more complicated, such as look over your wellness, and that of your family?
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Tags: autos, government snafu, healthcare, incompetence
The Tenth Amendment Becomes Hip
Jul 25, 2009 Political
Well, Governor Rick Perry has rediscovered (or at least begun to assert) the terms of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, you know, the one that declares that all powers not specifically granted to the Federal Government by the Constitution, nor prohibited to it by the Constitution, are the specific powers of either the State government, or the people.
This is in regards to all the various programs Hussein wants to cram down the throats of the states. Hussein wants the states to do this, because acceptance of the money would begin to erode the rights of the states that would take the money.
Gov. Rick Perry, raising the specter of a showdown with the Obama administration, suggested Thursday that he would consider invoking states’ rights protections under the 10th Amendment to resist the president’s healthcare plan, which he said would be “disastrous” for Texas.
Interviewed by conservative talk show host Mark Davis of Dallas’ WBAP/820 AM, Perry said his first hope is that Congress will defeat the plan, which both Perry and Davis described as “Obama Care.” But should it pass, Perry predicted that Texas and a “number” of states might resist the federal health mandate.
“I think you’ll hear states and governors standing up and saying ‘no’ to this type of encroachment on the states with their healthcare,” Perry said. “So my hope is that we never have to have that stand-up. But I’m certainly willing and ready for the fight if this administration continues to try to force their very expansive government philosophy down our collective throats.”
star-telegram.com
It’s not just about healthcare- that is just the problem du jour with the Hussein administration, which keeps hammering at the door of State’s Rights, hoping to weaken this fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution.
It is a fact that the various states know better than the Federal Government just what specific concerns the residents of a specific state need- that is so simple and true that it needs no further elaboration, but in their quest to have the federal government supreme in its authority (contrary to the Laws of the Constitution), it has hoped, begged, pleaded, and threatened the various State governments to take the bait, er, money.
Alaska declined. In what would be Sarah Palin’s last official act, she reasserted the soverignity of State’s Rights with regard to Alaska- so far, only two states have signed this statement, Tennessee being the other one. Hope reigns supreme that other states regain their sanity, as well as their pride.
This statement was defeated in the Texas Legislature, by the same Democrats who thought that running off to Oklahoma was a good idea, instead of doing the job their constituents had elected them for. As far as I am concerned, they are traitors- turncoats who refuse to truly represent their electorate.
Nevertheless, Governor Perry knows that there is now a need and a time to draw the line in the sand, and just say no, in the strongest possible terms.
It really is a state issue, and if there was ever an argument for the 10th Amendment and for letting the states find a solution to their problems, this may be at the top of the class,” Perry said. “A government-run healthcare system is financially unstable. It’s not the solution.”
Perry heartily backed an unsuccessful resolution in this year’s legislative session that would have affirmed the belief that Texas has sovereignty under the 10th Amendment over all powers not otherwise granted to the federal government.
In expressing “unwavering support” for the 10th Amendment resolution by state Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, Perry said “federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens and its interference with the affairs of our state.”
star-telegram.com
In our society, every part of the various governments have their place- county, state, and federal all have a place in this mosaic we call government, but when one part threatens to overwhelm the others, and attempt to assert an overwhelming and illegal control over the others, well, then it is time to tell the federal government to back the hell off.
That time is now.
Former Rep. Arlene Wohlgemuth of Burleson, a senior fellow for healthcare at the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, echoed Perry’s assertion that the Obama plan is the wrong approach and could have disastrous financial consequences for Texas.
Under the Senate version of the bill, she said, an expansion of the joint federal-state Medicaid program for the poor could cost Texas $4 billion a year.
“There are good solutions” to the country’s healthcare problems, Wohlgemuth said. “This isn’t it.”
Perry said the plan is another example of the Obama administration’s “massive takeover of the private-sector economy.”
“I hope our leaders will look for solutions that don’t dig our country further into debt,” he said.
Perry called on Texans in the House and Senate to oppose the plan. “I can’t imagine that anyone from Texas who cares about this state would vote for Obama Care. I don’t care whether you’re Democrat or Republican,” he said.
Of those Texans who might consider supporting the plan, he said: “This may sound a little bit harsh, but they might ought to consider representing some other state because they’re sure not representing Texas.”
star-telegram.com
Yes, Texans need to represent Texas, no matter where they are on the political spectrum- now is definitely not the time to cowardly cave into pressure from the Feds, because ceding control to the Federal Government on this and many other initiatives the Hussein Administration has proposed or passed is to give up your liberty, your freedom, and your identity as a member of the state (in this instance, Texas) that you’re from.
Over the years, we, as a people, have become more homogenized, our regional identities softening, and in some cases disappearing entirely. This is not always a good thing. True, it is in some cases easier to understand someone’s accent from Maine, (or Texas) than it used to be, but the “Identities” of these regions have gone also, and that was always, for me, such a wondrous way of underscoring the fact that we were separate and very different states, held together by a federal government that allowed the states to retain their regional flavor.
That is no longer true, and while the slide towards a vanilla, tasteless, sameness has begun awhile back, this intrusion by the Feds would absolutely kill any individual state’s sovereignty, and that is not good, that’s bad.
Almost as bad as the Healthcare plan itself.
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Tags: federal mismanagement, healthcare, state's rights, texas