The health care debate is about to become a tax debate now that House Democrats have unveiled their health care plan that would levy a new tax on 2 million Americans.
Politically, this means Democrats are proving the stereotype true as the tax-raising party, and it will give the GOP a chance to strike and Democrats the need to fight back. At risk is landmark health care reform and part of the voter coalition President Obama rode into office.
Republicans may argue against the bill on the basis that it simply raises taxes on individuals that gross more than $280,000 or households that gross $350,000. That's a necessary but insufficient argument against the tax because Democrats are arguing this isn't just a tax, but a fee to be paid in return for a service: health care.
Instead, the GOP can crunch the numbers for the tax rates, which go
from 1 percent up to 5.4 percent for those earning more than $1
million. Using those totals, Republicans may simply say to the
potential surcharge payers: with the money the government is going to
take, you could pay for your own health care plan, a better plan, or a
range of surgeries.
Furthermore, Republicans can try to sever the fee-service analogy
between the tax and the health care plan. That's because the tax is
intended to raise revenue to be used by the federal government to pay
for coverage for the uninsured. In other words, the GOP could say: you
aren't going to get this money back in federal health care coverage.
Democrats can counter by also appealing to peoples' self interests and sympathies.
Democrats could argue that the surtax will benefit those who pay it by
expanding coverage to all Americans, which will help reduce health care
costs across the board because it will make the system more consistent
and stable, as The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn recently wrote.
The party can broaden its argument into one about charity and shared
sacrifice by appealing to high-earners' sympathies with the uninsured.
With millions of Americans out of insurance in the worst economy since
the Great Depression, Democrats can ask their tax targets to sacrifice
the cost of a vacation to give everyone in America health insurance.
The important political question to both sides is how far Democrats and
Obama can go in taxing part of their constituency. Throughout the
election, Obama promised to raise taxes on those who earn more than
$250,000 and received
52 percent support among those earning more than $200,000. Now that
this promise is becoming reality, during a grueling recession no less,
will Obama be able to convince these voters to dig deeper into their
pockets? Or will the health care bill start a Republican resurgence
among their traditional base of wealthy voters?
Time to get it done. Republicans don't want a healthcare plan. Just playing obstructionists. There is a related post at http://iamsoannoyed.com/?page_id=588
Justin:
If you are Republicans, you just believe in getting something for nothing. We know how that has worked out. Besides, doesn't anyone remember Obama's campaign promises? He campaigned on raising taxes on the rich. And won!!!
I don't think Obama is worried about angering wealthy voters. He made it clear during the campaign that he is raising taxes on those making $250,000 and yet they STILL voted for him. Remember all that talk about "sharing the wealth," that was supposed to remind rich voters of why they were once Republicans? It didn't work.
Wealthy Democrats are, by and large, well-educated. They have no qualms about their taxes going up - at least marginally. They vote Democratic because of either social issues - many are socially liberal - or because the GOP has proven itself utterly incompetent and "unserious."
Wealthy Republicans are primarily Sunbelt suburbanites with conservative social views to match their conservative economics. To them, higher taxes means money going for a poor population that they believe is poor because of laziness. There is no noblesse oblige among this class, except insofar as their churches do mission work.