Hold on to your wallets…

By Jon Cordeiro

Filed Under General on Jun 8 

I realize I’m in the minority when I say I believe people say what they mean. In the case of Barack Obama, he says what he thinks you want to hear.

During the seemingly interminable 2008 Race for the Oval, Obama made a plethora of campaign promises related to his “plan” to bring equity to the US tax code and thus make everyone feel better about the price of Hope and Change. The pain, according to The One, would only be borne by those best able to shoulder it – meaning the dirty rotten stinking filthy rich fat cats would finally get what was coming to them. They would get soaked by the Taxman so the little guy could afford his constitutionally mandated McDonald’s quarter pounder – with cheese.

The One’s “definition” of “rich” started out at a lofty 250 Large*. Anyone making less than the threshold of evil richness would not be subject to having The One’s goons come and pillage their paycheck. Once the campaign dust settled, however, and people with green eye shades and slide rulers started taking a look at The One’s sorry excuse for an economic plan, it became evident that there wasn’t enough cash in the evil rich to make The One’s socialistic dreams come true.

Even during the campaign, The One’s definition of rich began to slide southward. First it slid to 200 Large. Then 175 Large. More and more people began to fall under The One’s definition of “rich”. One of The One’s signature issues (he has so many these days) is the tried and true liberal standing issue of Health Care Reform. I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to pour trillions of dollars down a huge rat hole just so that the same people who run the Postal Service can decide if I’m worthy of medical treatment. You think you have a bad wait at the doctor’s office now, just wait. Ever filled out a passport application?

But I digress.

It turns out that The One’s health care reform will be anything but cheap. That cracking sound you heard today was the sound of yet another Obama campaign promise getting thrown under the bus. The One is hell bent on shoving a rather substantial tax increase on the value of your employer provided health care benefits.

Just in case you were wondering, The One excoriated John McCain for proposing exactly what The One is now considering.

Oh, and if you’re keeping track of The One’s sliding definition of “rich”? Under this proposal, “rich” people are anybody lucky enough to a) still have a job, and b) make more than 125 Large. As the only tax rate understood by The One and his minions is “more”, hold on to your wallets. It’s only a matter of time before he considers you to be among the evil rich.

*Sopranos currency explanation:
$1 = 1 Clam
$100 = 1 Bill
$1000 = 1 Large

Comments

  • kristen

    I also tire of this ‘punishing the rich’ concept. They are the ones who keep the economy moving!

    • Troy La Mana

      I never got the “punish the successful even though that is what the American Dream is all about”

      • Sartho

        Yep. Why bother to try to be financially successful? We’ll just get slapped down for it. I once had dreams of winning the lottery until I found out that the government takes two thirds of it. Why bother?

  • kristen

    Maybe they’ll take the DMV and run it as a health clinic as well. You can renew your license and get a physical at the same time.

    I for one am frightened by govt-run health care. If you think waiting in line at the DMV is painful, just wait. It amazes me that so many think this is a good idea.

  • Alaina

    Hey, if Arnold gets his way, you could always move to Cali.

    • Alaina

      Ooops… that was supposed to be posted under Shawn’s comment.

  • Alaina

    But 99.99% of Americans will receive a tax cut and 10 million jobs will be saved.

  • Shawn Naegle

    Brilliant! Now when everyone drops their employer sponsored health insurance and takes the state sponsored welfare version – bingo -government run health care.

    I’m not a big fan of government sponsored tax breaks in the first place because they are subject to this kind of evil. Give me a flat tax or give me death. I guess it will probably be death…