re: #104 lawhawk

Considering that the individual mandate is a major revenue point on the plan, this throws everything else into doubt. It’s meant not only to persuade businesses and individuals to buy into the plan or face penalties.

These are set forth at IRC Sec. 5000A
The provision is as follows: impose an annual penalty of $95, or up to 1% of income, whichever is greater, on individuals who do not secure insurance; this will rise to $695, or 2.5% of income, by 2016. This is an individual limit; families have a limit of $2,085. There are exemptions to the “fine” in cases of financial hardship or religious beliefs.

Those penalties generate real revenues - as per the CBO and proponent budget forecasts.

I’ve always had an issue with how this was treated - it walks like a tax, looks like a tax, and really is a tax (heck, even the IRS is involved in collecting it), but the Administration claims it isn’t.

I’d rather see them end the Bush tax cuts for the rich. Get out of AFPAK and stop wasting money there and in Iraq. I’d also like to see us stop preparing for the invasion of the Klingons and use that money for other things — i.e. more butter instead of guns. Lots of other things we could be doing to save money like cutting down on US Aid particularly on military aid for every Tom, Dick, and Harry nation out there. But that ties in with preparing for the invasion of the Klingons (which I say sarcastically).