Finally some real financial sense in Washington

I recently read an article (from AP via Yahoo) saying a tax increase on the wealthy might part a large part of the proposed healthcare reform. Here is an excerpt:

"Democrats on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee agreed to a new surtax that would start with households making $350,000 a year and begin in 2011, said the committee's chairman, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.

It would raise some $540 billion over 10 years, about half the cost of Obama's ambitious plan to reshape the nation's health care system and provide care to the 50 million uninsured. However, lawmakers could not provide an exact price tag of the overall bill."

I have been screaming this message to anyone who'll listen for months now. I like to think maybe my message got through somehow but I realize that's not likely. The "rich people" who will carry this burden can well afford it. I suspect most of them will spend more than the tax amount to influence greedy legislators to oppose it. The people who exist in the suggested income level certainly have the resources to handle the tax. Sure they might have to forgo an extended trip to Europe or they might decide to keep their BMW for a few months longer than the normal 6 but the real impact on their lives will be minimal. The impact of health issues without medical care is much more real to the poor people who will be the recipients of the health care.
There will continue to be loud speeches trying to say the government will control our healthcare, select our doctors, designate our hospitals...etc. I will go to any doctor I have to go to to get treatment I would not otherwise receive and a lot of people feel similarly. The rich folks will still go the their providers of choice because they can afford it. Also I really do not believe the government wants to control our healthcare. Only if the healthcare industry refuses to cooperate with government cost subsidy plans will interference be needed.

The speeches will be given by those legislators in the pay of the rich who don't want to pay back something to the country that provides them the opportunity and people who shovel the dirt and tighten the screws for them as they make their money.
Look closely at the people who oppose healthcare reform. Make an effort to look past the rhetoric and try to understand their real motives.

D. Page