No Middle-Class Health Tax

The White House has just released "The President's Proposal" on health reform. It must be considered in context, and the context is this: The House and Senate have each passed a bill and they're deadlocked on the differences between them. The President is outlining what he considers a reasonable resolution of the two bills, with the expectation that it will be used to guide the remaining negotiations. more »

It's been a fascinating anthropological exercise to watch the health excise tax concept (the so-called "Cadillac tax") keep its popularity among Democratic and liberals, even as one study after another discredits the assumptions behind it. It's the Democratic equivalent of trickle-down economics - an idea that doesn't seem to die no matter how much it's contradicted by the facts. more »

It hurts to lose a Senate seat but, hey - setbacks happen in politics. What's really discouraging is the sight of Democrats, from the White House on down, refusing to accept responsibility for their own part in this loss. That, more than the loss itself, is reason for grave concern about health reform - and the party's future. more »

Labor leaders met with the White House last week to hammer out a deal on the health excise tax.  Depending on the outcome of today's Senate race in Massachusetts, that deal is likely to become law.  So how good is it?  Here's an overview:

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The Washington Post has an uncanny knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, pushing the wrong policies and making the wrong moves. That's four wrongs in once sentence, and four wrongs don't make a right - unless you're talking about "right"-wing bias. But here's the good news: They've given me an idea that'll make a million bucks.

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The AFL-CIO has announced that it is coordinating a "National Call-In Blitz" today.. more »

The New Republic's Jonathan Chait has penned an ode to the excise tax on health benefits. He says his "faith in the Cadillac tax remains ardent," even after being led astray by a faulty graph.  We hate to dim his ardor, but it's a love gone wrong.  You should know in advance that it's not a typical love story, though: there will be some math. more »

People are saying that the so-called Cadillac tax "might fall flat" and "has real problems."  And those are its defenders.  I can't remember any new policy in recent history whose own advocates had so many complaints with its design. more »

A blogger contact has told me of a new argument in favor of the health excise tax: Since the tax will be imposed on insurers, the Senate's limit of 15% for insurance company profit and overhead will prevent the cost from being passed on to consumers. There are a number of reasons why that argument won't work: more »