If Reidcare has lost Bob Herbert…
…it’s in some big kind of trouble.
Herbert is ordinarily one of the most stalwart supporters of whatever the left might be dishing up at the moment. But his relatively clear-minded and well-reasoned opposition to the Cadillac health insurance tax levied by the Senate bill indicates that he (and others on the left) are not going to roll over easy on this one. Although Herbert doesn’t state it in the column, my guess is that he is angry that there’s no public option, and that the Senate bill is a watered-down pastiche of disparate elements that pleases no one except perhaps the insurance companies. So he’s calling foul.
One of the phenomena I’ve noticed recently is the growing anger on the left towards Obama about a host of things, one of which is that, even with this “historic opportunity” afforded by enormous Democratic majorities, the bills in both House and Senate are not what the left would have them be.
That’s not exactly Obama’s fault, since he’s no longer a member of the legislature. But he’s shown no leadership on this issue, leaving the details to the tender mercies of Congress. The result is a batch of sausage that isn’t particularly tasty to either left or right.
I actually disagree on this – subsidizing health insurance is a form of compensation. Employers get tax benefits by paying for a benefit instead of giving this as direct compensation. If I were to be paid by my employer the $8/hr for a fully paid insurance plan that would be all taxable. Mind you I am totally opposed to the current bill but not because of this reason. Funny how the left is opposed to confiscatory taxes now.
Bandit,
And???
If an employer’s choice of health care plan is better than another employer’s…. that is the said perk of working for that company. It’s draw upon skilled employees.
So – yes – it has been a tax break per say.
But some companies have a better match in their 401K’s.
I think when it lost Howard Dean it was in deep doo-doo.
Blue State governors rip the Senate Health plan
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/31032.html