The Obama’s Lefties Tax Marriages with Obamacare

 

from the National Center for Policy Analysis:

The Effects of the Affordable Care Act  (Obamacare)

 on Work and Marriage

Though the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is most often discussed in terms of its effects on health insurance and medical care costs, the ACA will have numerous effects in various facets of American society.  Specifically, its financial and taxing system will create incentives that perhaps the authors of the bill did not foresee, including that the average American worker will be discouraged from marrying and working in a wide range of circumstances, says Diana Furchtgott-Roth, a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute.

The primary difficulty with this system is that it stipulates an individual’s premium payment toward their health insurance based on household income, failing to account for the circumstances of the family structure.

• This negatively affects incentives to marry because marrying (and the shared household that customarily follows) serves to combine the spouses’ incomes.
• When this combination moves a couple into a higher bracket of income (measured as a percentage of the poverty line) than the two people were in prior to marriage, it reduces the government’s assistance in paying for their health care significantly.
• Thus, the ACA’s premium payment rate structure makes marriage financially costlier.

Additionally, the ACA’s structure furthers this problem by reducing incentives to work — especially in married couples.  Upon getting married couples will undoubtedly notice that their health insurance premium will become significantly more expensive.  The difficulty with this situation is that many will respond by attempting to make less money, thereby moving the newlywed couple back into a lower bracket.  This drive can manifest itself in several ways, whether they be that one of the spouses no longer attempts to get a promotion or leaves the workforce altogether.

Source: Diana Furchtgott-Roth, “The Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Work and Marriage,” Testimony before the Subcommittee on Health Care, District of Columbia, Census and the National Archives of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, October 27, 2011.

For text:

http://oversight.house.gov/images/stories/Testimony/Furchtgott-Roth_Testimony-Bio-TNT.pdf

For more on Health Issues:

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=16

The Obama Left Will Force Sweeping Cuts of the U.S. Military to Weaken America’s Role in the World

Panetta Warns Military Cuts Would Invite ‘Aggression’

from Fox News:

“Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Thursday that sweeping military cuts which could be triggered by the failure of the congressional deficit committee to strike a deal “invites aggression” from abroad. 

The comments from Panetta were among the toughest to date about the consequences of failure by the so-called Super Committee tasked with reducing the deficit. The committee is facing a Nov. 23 deadline to produce a plan that cuts at least $1.2 trillion over the next decade, but is far from a deal. Absent a compromise, the legislation that created the panel would “trigger” sweeping cuts to defense and entitlements. 

Panetta on Thursday urged the committee to “sacrifice just a little,” to avoid painful cuts to the military — which would just about double the $450 billion in cutbacks the department is already looking to carry out over the next decade. 

He said the military would be a hollow shell of its former self, lacking “the people, the training, and the equipment it needs to actually get the job done.” 

“I’ve warned that by cutting in excess of 20 percent in every area, (the trigger) will lead to a hollow force. And let me explain just exactly what we’re talking about when we talk about hollow force. Obviously, that which is hollow retains a shell but lacks a core,” he said. 

“It’s a ship without sailors. It’s a brigade without bullets. It’s an air wing without enough trained pilots. It’s a paper tiger. An Army of barracks, buildings and bombs without enough trained soldiers able to accomplish the mission. It’s a force that suffers low morale, poor readiness, and is unable to keep up with potential adversaries. In effect, it invites aggression,” Panetta said. 

The secretary said such an outcome would be the result of “poor leadership.” 

Meanwhile, lawmakers on the committee and party leaders are trying to work out their differences, but are far from a deal. 

Republicans had offered a $1.5 trillion package that included, for the first time, new tax revenue to the tune of about $300 billion, but Democrats are rejecting the offer — saying the revenue component is not substantial enough. 

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said earlier this week he’s “hopeful” a deal can be reached by Nov. 23. 

In reality, that deadline will hit even sooner. The budget crunchers at the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office must get a complete product soon, in order to have time to analyze and score a bill for floor consideration. Super Committee aides say CBO must then publish that score by Nov. 21. 

Fox News’ Justin Fishel and Trish Turner contributed to this report.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/11/10/panetta-warns-military-cuts-would-invite-aggression/#ixzz1dRKUGtcc

Comment:   I cannot think there is but one handful of responsible Democrats left on the American national scene.   One of the very best is Leon Panetta…….a throughback to when nearly all Democrats and Republicans were good citizens battling to improve the American condition……before the invasion of the Marxist infidels of  the Democrat Party following the opportunist  movement’s sabotage of the Vietnam war effort,  which created the vile, Senator  John Kerry from Massachusetts and eventually the current president of the country.

Why Support Hanoi Jane Fonda’s Institution for Marxist Health, the AARP?

How is AMAC different from AARP?

• We believe in a strong national defense, and in the best funded, and best equipped military in the world; AARP is silent on the issue.
• We believe in the right to bear arms; AARP supported the Brady bill.
• We opposed ObamaCare, and will fight to repeal it; AARP supported the bill.
• We stand against high taxes, which are harmful to those living on a fixed income. AARP is silent on tax policy.
• AMAC is not afraid to say we still believe in God and country; AARP has hired Jane Fonda and Harry Belafonte to be their spokespersons.