How to pay for health care?

[crunchgarcia]

Really. Let’s just say I received an extremely questionable email… How to pay for health care? Simple.

Tax the ultra-rich.

Seriously. Once someone becomes a BILLIONAIRE, precisely how much money do they require? The top 1% of US citizens could FINALLY do something for the people and the society that put them where they are today. Republicans are suffering from an undeniable fact: The rich have gotten a lot richer in recent years. According to UC Berkeley, between 1993 and 2006 the average real income of those in the top 1% of the income distribution rose 5.7% per year while that of the bottom 99% rose just 1.1% per year. An April poll by CBS News and The New York Times found that 74% of Americans thought it was a good idea to raise federal income taxes on those making more than $250,000 to pay for health reform.

Hmmmm.

I say make it happen. In the interim, could just ONE PERSON make a valid point for not doing this?

http://www.areyouhappywithyourhealthinsurance.org

[stray cat]

1. Somebody has to pay? I suppose I have to buy my own house as well?

[Travis_0004]

2. The rich pay enough taxes

The rich already pay plenty in taxes. We need better solutions to balance the budget than taxing the rich every chance we get.

Instead, why don't we cut wasteful spending, and get rid of programs we can not afford. We could balance the budget without raising any body's taxes.

[CrispyQ]

5. I'm all for cutting programs we can't afford - like empire building.

There's always money for war & empire building, but there's no money to take care of the empire's citizens or it's roads & bridges. :eyes:

The rich have done very well in this country, much of it on the backs of the poor & middle class. It's time the rich ponied up. As a group, the rich pay more in taxes than the rest of us, but individually they pay a smaller percentage of their total income, than those making five figures. It's time to tax investment income like regular income. I would also support a small tax on every stock transaction.

"To those whom much has been given, much will be expected." Not exactly a code we embrace in the good 'ole US of A. Every time someone mentions taxing the rich, the whining that ensues blocks out all the combined noise in the universe.

[Cleita]

6. Nah, the reason they got rich is that they cheated workers out of

just compensation for the work they did. Taxing the rich and giving it back in programs like in health care forces them to do so in the end. Let's face it, we wouldn't need social programs like universal health care if everyone could afford to buy it.

[Warpy]

10. Bullshit

They pay lower taxes than at any time since the last time they got the GOP into power and crashed the economy.

Maybe you've heard of it. It was called the Great Depression.

We do need to cut some spending, especially military spending. That's where the boondoggles and massive waste are.

However, "cut spending" has been the hue and cry of the rich man's lackey and code for "don't do anything for human beings." The consequences are dire and the social safety net is nearly as shredded as it was in the late 1920s. Only Social Security and Medicare are still functioning as they were originally designed.

True boom periods have always coincided with higher taxes on the rich. The money is circulated into the economy by a government that builds infrastructure and provides services instead of withheld or used to create speculative bubbles.

It's time for the plutocrats to pony up again. They've had everything their way for the past 30 years and the result is a boom and bust economy with a depleted middle class and misery for the maximum number of people.

[Cleita]

3. I say bring back the 90% tax for billionaires with incomes of over

$5,000,000 a year. That CEO United Health Care Group, who makes $100,000 an hour, will have to scrape by hand to mouth on $10,000 an hour. Poor thing.

[DrDan]

4. a 14% cut in the defense budget pays for the whole thing

[grasswire]

7. how about just means testing medicare and social security?

No one with a certain level of assets needs to have taxpayers paying for their medical care. Nor do they need a crummy couple of thosand bucks a month in retirement.

Means test it. The problem would be solved.

But wahhhhhhh! They cry that they have paid into medicare and social security all their lives.

Okay. Pay them back all their contributions, with interest. They can go buy their own insurance and retirement.

Let's say $5 million in assets. Cut it off there.

[Lucy Goosey]

8. Remove some of the profit from the equation.

Canada provides health care for all of its residents for much lower per capita costs than the US, and one of the big reasons is that none of the money is going to provide insurance company CEOs with multi-million dollar summer homes. Hospitals are also non-profit organizations. Many European countries do it for even less per capita than Canada.

[carguy67]

9. ?!?

You are serious? Seriously? Yeah that will not lead to tax evasion... Think money going offshore is bad now? Also how can you as an American justify trying to make a person pay double (example) taxes just because they make more?

[Alfa]

11. Come to Norway

In Norway, health care is almost for free. Although the taxes are utterly high. We recently had an election, and if the Conservatives had won, it would be more like the US, lower taxes and higher prices for health and psychological services. I'm fairly happy with our system, its beneficial for everybody.