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   From: Zeke@BearHoller.net   
      
   What is the difference between Omama's power & the Supreme Leader Ayatollah   
   Ali Khamenei of Iran?   
      
   Both control 50% of the banks, both control the major industries, both   
   control the radio, TV, & newspapers, both control the health care, both   
   control the military, both have czars to bypass the elected representatives,   
   & both destroy their critics.   
      
   Z   
      
   "Sarah Houston"  wrote in message   
   news:Xns9C2DB2337741CSntzldfrdSntzldfrdco@216.196.97.142...   
   > HEALTHCARE: OBAMA'S WATERLOO?   
   >   
   > By DICK MORRIS   
   >   
   > Published on TheHill.com on June 16, 2009   
   >   
   > To quote the esteemed Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the chickens that were   
   > hatched in the stimulus package are coming home to roost in the   
   > healthcare proposal. The budget deficit Obama racked up paying for the   
   > massive federal spending passed in January is now having a real   
   > economic and political impact, which is forcing the president and his   
   > congressional allies into hard choices as they face his healthcare   
   > legislation.   
   >   
   > Of course, the prudent thing to do is postpone healthcare changes until   
   > the economy generates some revenues and trims the deficit. But the   
   > socialist in the White House can't do that. He's got to strike while   
   > his congressional majority is hot. So he is forcing his administration   
   > and his party to choose among unpalatable choices to finance his   
   > program. His demand may be a bridge too far, endangering his popularity   
   > with the American people.   
   >   
   > First of all, the very fact of a focus on healthcare reform inevitably   
   > stirs discussion of the deficit. Americans are allergic to deficit   
   > spending and worry the more the deficit grows. As interest rates rise   
   > and the government finds it more and more difficult to borrow enough to   
   > cover Obama's massive spending, the economy is likely to show the   
   > negative effects. It is a matter of a few months, certainly no more,   
   > before voters start to realize that it is the deficit, not the   
   > pre-existing conditions Obama inherited, which is causing the   
   > prolongation of the recession. Already the jump in mortgage rates has   
   > slowed the refinancing, which was the only aspect of the Obama economic   
   > program that was working well.   
   >   
   > But the foreign and domestic focus on the deficit has a harsher   
   > political impact: It forces the Democrats to come up with money to fund   
   > healthcare reform. In other words, it makes them raise taxes. The   
   > Democratic Party is good at fooling itself that tax increases don't   
   > matter and are politically palatable, but they do and they are not.   
   >   
   > The massive spending healthcare will require dwarfs the capacity for   
   > the rich alone to pay the bill, no matter how confiscatory Obama   
   > chooses to become. Only broader taxes will do the job. Obama faces two   
   > practical choices: a value added tax or taxing health insurance   
   > benefits.   
   >   
   > The political harm either way will be enormous. Not only will Obama be   
   > breaking his pledge not to tax the middle class, but he will be doing   
   > so in a particularly pernicious way. If Obama opts for the value added   
   > tax (VAT), Democrats will hope to cloak the increase in the price of   
   > the product. They reason that the consumer won't know how much the tax   
   > is since it will be added on throughout the sale and resale of the   
   > product rather than at the cash register at the end, as the sales tax   
   > is. But it will work the other way. As inflation sets in, triggered by   
   > Obama's deficit spending, consumers will blame the whole thing on   
   > Obama. His VAT will be much magnified in the voters' minds to include   
   > all of the inflation going on. Just as voters blamed Clinton's gas tax   
   > increase of five cents in 1993 for the entire run-up in gasoline prices   
   > at the pump, so they will place all the blame for inflation on Obama's   
   > VAT.   
   >   
   > Or Obama could tax healthcare benefits, a direct reversal of his   
   > campaign pledge. He would be adopting a policy for which he overtly and   
   > loudly criticized McCain. And his popularity will wilt as taxpayers   
   > suddenly have to add onto their tax liability the money their employer   
   > has always paid for their health insurance. Obama will probably have   
   > his own separate line on the 1040 and even on the short form for his   
   > new tax. That's not the way to stay popular.   
   >   
   > Obama's only good option is not to move so quickly on healthcare   
   > reform, to give himself some wiggle room. But as the song says, "we're   
   > knee deep in the big muddy but the damn fool says to push on!"   
   >   
   > Go to DickMorris.com to read all of Dick's columns!   
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