For months, Americans for Tax Reform has kept you up to date on what’s going on with the health care battle. With the final vote coming soon, we’ve compiled snippets of several of our most recent items. Click the "read more" links to see each article in full.

Full List of Backroom Health Deals in "Deem and Pass" Healthcare Bill

"These negotiations will be on C-Span, and so the public will be part of the conversation and we’ll see the choices that are being made."
 
On Wednesday, March 17, 2010, House Majority Leader said that, "We’re going to have a clean up or down vote on the Senate bill-that will be on the rule." According to Majority Leader, any Member who votes for the health care takeover rule will also be voting "straight up" for all of the bill’s special deals.
 
Backroom Deals In the Democrats Health Care Takeover.
 
Click here to see all the Backroom Deals

What Would Investment Tax Rates Be Under the House Reconciliation Bill?

If the House votes for the rule on the budget reconciliation bill this Sunday, the Senate’s Christmas Eve healthcare bill gets sent to President Obama’s desk and becomes law.
 
That’s the main fight right now.
 
However, it pays to look ahead to the House’s suggested "improvements" to the Senate healthcare bill which are contained in the reconciliation bill. One of these "improvements" is a 3.8% surtax on "unearned" (investment) income in households making more than $250,000 ($200,000 for singles). 
 
What would the various top tax rates on investment income rise to under this "improvement?"
 
Click here to see the rest of the article.

ATR Will Double-Rate A Vote AGAINST Rule "Deeming" Senate Health Bill As Passed

This Sunday, the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on a budget reconciliation bill. The contents of that bill, while damaging to the economy, are secondary in importance to the rule which will precede consideration of the bill itself.
 
The procedural rule will “deem as passed” the Senate healthcare bill which passed that chamber in December. This is the same bill which contains the “Cornhusker Kickback,” “Gator-Aid,” and all the other shady backroom deals. It contains 19 tax hikes totaling $500 billion. It is loaded with phony and unrealistic budget gimmicks which hide the true cost of the bill from taxpayers.
 
Click here to see the entire Vote Alert.

Obamacare’s 24 Percent Cap Gains Tax

The actual legislative language of the House Democrat reconciliation bill was released this afternoon.
 
Keep in mind that this is not the "deemed" bill which passed the Senate already. If the reconciliation bill passes the House, the Senate bill becomes law.
 
At that point, the House and Senate will start working on an "improvement" to the Senate healthcare bill from December (which would now be law).
 
Click here to the rest of the article.

ObamaCare: By the Numbers

Americans for Tax Reform today released the following “By the Numbers” breakdown of ObamaCare:
The number of new tax increases in the healthcare bill: 19
The number of tax increases that unquestionably violate President Obama’s “firm pledge” not to raise “any form” of taxes on families making less than $250,000:  7
The tax increase over the first decade if the healthcare bill becomes law: $497 billion
Click here to see the rest of the numbers.

Does the Obamacare Investment Surtax Apply to Capital Gains?

ATR sent a letter to President Obama asking him to clarify whether or not the 2.9 percent surtax on "unearned income" applies to capital gains.
 

Obamacare’s Individual Mandate Penalty Is a Tax

A close reading of President Obama’s healthcare plan finds several terms to describe the tax Americans will pay if they choose not to purchase qualifying health insurance. These terms include "payment," "assessment," and "individual responsibility."
 
This same tax has also variously been referred to as a "penalty," a "fee," or a "fine."
 
In fact, it’s none of those things, precisely. It’s a tax. The various synonyms used are designed to hide that simple fact. The reason for wanting to do so is clear: since this tax would be assigned to any uninsured American (including those making less than $250,000 per year), it’s a pretty apparent violation of the President’s promise not to raise "any form" of taxes on working families.
 

UPDATED: Obamacare Raises Taxes by $748 Billion Over the Next Decade

Today, the White House released President Obama’s draft healthcare plan. Below is a comprehensive analysis of all the tax provisions. Where possible, scores have been assigned based on earlier versions of the legislation passed by the Senate, the President’s budget, and (in the case of applying the Medicare tax to unearned income) my own estimates based on IRS data (all scores are 10-year estimates):
 

Obamacare Plan Breaks $250,000 Tax Pledge

The following is a breakout of all the net taxes from the Obamacare plan which fall (or easily could fall) directly on families making less than $250,000 per year.
 
Based on our analysis, we find that the "working families tax hike" subset is a ten-year tax increase of $136 billion on these households.
 

The Left Agree: Obamacare Ushers In Their Radical Ideological Agenda

President Obama has repeatedly attempted to sell his government takeover of healthcare as a centerist, middle of the road policy. Something that won’t be radical, but rather will be ‘consensus’ based.
 
Well, liberal-blogger & columnist Ezra Kein has blown the lie out of the water, and gloated, in great detail, how despite the so-called "compromises", this bill is an unparalleled massive government takeover of healthcare which will lead to greater government control over every aspect of our lives, and is a ideological, not practical, measure:
 
 
To see what else we’ve written about health care, click here.