Obama-Care & All That Jazz

We borrow and spend money from other countries like a crackhead hits the pipe for their next fix. And now that the election over (thank the heavens) a lot of people are looking at the economy and this Universal Heath Care System, otherwise known as Obama-Care, and how the hell we are going to pay for it all because in the long run America is financially fucked. We are borrowing money from China and elsewhere at a substantial rate. According to the United States Treasury we topped $16 trillion in debt back in September with no stopping (hell, not even a tapping of the brakes) in our sights anytime soon, and according to the latest data (December 2011) 56.9% of the U.S. debt is foreign held (whether by counties or private partners) with Main Land China leading the way with $4,996 billion which is actually down from previous years. But as we look towards the future with Obama at the helm of the country we can be assured that the $16 trillion we owe is only going to grow. (The U.S. Treasury believes that in the first quarter of 2013 (Jan.-Mar) the U.S. another $342 billion in marketable debt)

When it comes to Universal Health Care we can not pay for it in it’s (Obama’s) form. Ending the war doesn’t help because that is BORROWED money, taxing the 1% more will not help. 1 per centers all ready pay 35% (I am not talking Capitol Gains which is another tax bracket all together, I am just talking personal income). The $2000 penalty a year for those that still refuse will not pay for it. So in the end the only thing Obama can do is raise taxes across the board. Something he will not do, or so he says.

As it stands in the U.S., the middle class -according to the MARGINAL TAX RATES 2012- is taxed between 15% (35,350 & under a year down to roughly $8,000) to 25% (35,351-85,650 a year). Now compare that to the U.K. who has a similar Universal Health Care plan (I am not saying ours is going to be anything like the U.K.’s, I am just using them as an example) the middle class is taxed 20% (34,371 and under) to 40% (35,371-150,000 a year). Now Obama’s version, however, is that anyone who makes $250k a year is considered rich (and by estimates he has to put himself in that tax bracket between his Presidential salary and that of his wife’s), the problem is that those people are already paying something like 33%. Now the uber rich already hide their money in off shore accounts and/or claim Capitol Gains. Now you raise the rates on anything over $250k, the uber rich that do not already file Capitol Gains will, if not then money goes off shore. Raise Capitol Gains and companies that pay that tax are just going to push the cost down the line, same goes for business and corporate taxes where in the end the consumer (meaning you, me and everybody) gets to make up the difference to their lost income along with a reduction of workers.

I know both Obama and Romney talked about closing loop holes and deductions to make up the difference in not raising taxes on the middle class, however, there are not enough people in America that make that kind of income to make up the difference so in the end we are back to raising taxes across the board.

And here is another thing: the U.K. spends something like 12% of their taxed income on health care. And their population is not as big as ours. So we can expect the government to probably have take more than that. Add in all the other entitlements, then on top of that National Defense (which will be cut but that is still going to be in the billions), the bailout, the stimulus, the money we have to pay back, the list goes on and on. How can we afforded it? But with that said Romney had no clear cut path either. His health care that he passed when he was governor was pretty much Obama-care LITE. And his plans of cutting loop holes and deductions was not going to help out either because there are not enough deductions to cut. So, again, in the end the middle class either has to take the same cuts or raise taxes.

We are already seeing companies looking to drop workers from staff to get around the health care laws that make them pay part of difference (now more people out work, more people collecting unemployment, more people needing welfare). And Obama-care is only partially in effect. It does not fully kick in until 2014. Just in time for the Mid-Terms.