Now we know what he meant by Change!
The two words that defined Obama’s campaign for president were Hope and Change. (I think they’re proper nouns when used in reference to the Messiah’s campaign.) Now we know what he meant by Change – it meant he would change his position on everything. From swearing off earmarks to scouring the budget line-by-line his positions are changing daily. The latest change is his position on tax health benefits.
On the campaign trail he mocked and derided McCain’s plan to tax health benefits. Now Obama is considering doing just that. Obama’s change of heart is more sinister than a simple deception, though. True, McCain’s plan sought to impose taxes on employer provided health benefits. But it also provided for a health care tax credit for individuals. This would decouple health insurance from employment, something I’ve suggested would be a good thing.
The plan that Team Obama is floating is so fundamentally different from McCain’s that they really shouldn’t even be compared. The only similarity is that they both would impose taxes on employer provided health benefits. But while McCain’s tax increase financed a program to bolster the private health care system, Obama’s would be used to pay for “overhauling the health care system” – an oblique reference to more government involvement, not less.
In fact, conflating McCain’s and Obama’s plans serves Obama well. When viewed alone his plan will be clearly seen for what it is: an attempt to raise taxes to fund increased government control of the health care system. When it is compared to McCain’s plan Obama mainly takes heat for reversing a campaign talking point and people may fail to understand the stark differences between the two.
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Brian, did you read the part of the Washington Post article that said this:
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is signaling to Congress that the president could support taxing some employee health benefits, as several influential lawmakers and many economists favor, to help pay for overhauling the health care system.
Sounds like President Obama is seeking a “bipartisian solution” to me. And so what if Obama’s plan increases taxes to help pay for overhauling our health care system? I’ll pay higher taxes if it means overhauling the health care system. I’d rather pay taxes for overhauling the healthcare system than bombing, invading and occupying Iraq.