Romney Comes Out Gunning for the Nomination – Remarks from the Granite State

Mitt Romney Charges Ahead - GOP 2012 - Photo Politico

In what Politico is calling an “unofficial kickoff” of former Massachusetts Governors, Mitt Romney’s “Granite State Campaign, Romney came out speaking of the President and pulled no punches – from saying it was time for a New President, to pulling down “Obama Care”, to using the “misery Index” term most associated with Former President Jimmy Carter, and attaching Obama’s name (justifiably so), Romney began his “unofficial campaign” hard in the State that gave him the nod in the 2008 GOP campaign.

Of interest is the defense of Massachusetts Health Care System, one which was exported nationally and is now one of the main hot button conservative issues with the President. Romney noted is was a states issue, however, the plan put into motion by the former Governor Romney, and then handed to a tax and spend Mass. Legislature and new Governor Deval Patrick, is not the same plan Romney had in mind originally – although mandates were a part of the original proposal.

The Boston Herald, came in with comments regarding the fact that being first in the first primary in the nation, does not always bode well for a candidate, choosing several recent races where a candidate won New Hampshire and went on to lose the nomination.
It would be hard to fathom Romney not being a front runner in his own state, he should have the support of the Massachusetts Republican Party, that said, rank and file, and independent leaning Republicans, may make other choices, and upend him in his own back yard – note to Huckabee, Gingrich, The Donald, Palin and anyone else thinking they might want to take a shot at Romney in some way shape or form – Massachusetts is not, repeat not, a winner take all state, and it takes more than three weeks to get an organization up and running to get the 15% necessary to put ones name on the ballot.
Since the majority of the front runners do have books in the marketplace, add a few stops to the Bay State, and the results may surprise you (we’re down the road from New Hampshire).

Democrats Taxing Insurance Benefits – The Disastrous Road to Paying for Health Care Reform

From CBS News: Congressional Democrats are seeking for ways to fund the proposed health care reform plan – the way out – taxing those who have Cadillac insurance plans purchased either privately or through employers. The Senate has also considered assessing taxes on insurance plans, as well as “fining” individuals who do not choose to carry insurance.

Further, from Politico

This doesn't happen often enough.
Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) received a handwritten note Thursday from Joint Committee on Taxation Chief of Staff Tom Barthold confirming the penalty for failing to pay the up to $1,900 fee for not buying health insurance.
Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor and could face up to a year in jail or a $25,000 penalty, Barthold wrote on JCT letterhead. He signed it "Sincerely, Thomas A. Barthold."
The note was a follow-up to Ensign's questioning at the markup.

The Note:

Note from Senate - Fees Assessed on Non Compliance of Federal Health Care

The Citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, (who groan each time one of the harebrained programs that burden the remaining tax base is exported nationally), currently pay fees (taxes) for not carrying health insurance, fees that are paid to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (see Tax) – that said, the Senate Version of “how to pay for the Democrats Health Care Reform Bill” includes something new – fines and jail time for non-compliance.

Personal liberty erosion aside, the fact that the majority of individuals who “choose” not to carry health insurance do so because they cannot afford coverage, (yes, Virginia, even in Massachusetts), they either make too much money to qualify for the State Plan (based on last year’s income), and many are faced with loss of income either through job loss or wage cuts. Additionally, the Commonwealth has the option of garnering wages in order to collect these “fees”. Under the plan proposed in the Senate of theses United Sate, if someone cannot afford the premium, one gets hit with a fine, which, given circumstances, they may not be able to pay, and therefore, they are further taxed, and/or imprisoned and once can bet the house, one’s wages may also be on the line – or one’s unemployment benefits.

On the one hand, with all the bells and whistles being placed into plans devised by both branches of Congress, including insuring those who are not legal citizens of these United States, someone has to pay the price – the likely target – those who somehow still have nickel to rub together so to speak. It is, in a word, ridiculous that those who have grown so comfortable in Seats to which they feel entitled, have the gall to dictate these types of provisions to the very people who hire them to do the job in the first place. Understanding that the system is broken, looking for ways to fix or enhance the system so that those who currently have coverage they are paying for out of pocket, would maintain their coverage, (without penalty of taxation), that those who for whatever reason are unable to afford coverage but make too much (according to whatever bar the State/Federal Government sets), should be given reasonable options for alternate plans; not penalized, further taxed and threatened with imprisonment for not having health insurance – and those who are already receiving Medicaid, the uninsured, the indigent, those who cross borders without benefit of legality, are currently set - It is the middle class that comes under attack once again, by those entrenched politician’s who cannot see the forest through the trees – The options proposed are ludicrous – if one cannot afford a plan, then one should seriously study alternatives prior to ramming a ridiculous mess down the proverbial throats of the American populace. There is a model in place, Massachusetts, and it is a story of deficits in the billions, with taxes and fees assessed on those who fall through the cracks - It is a blueprint for the Federal government on what not to do – but in ignorance, a sense of entitlement and a false sense of superiority, they appear to go forward and follow blindly. The solution: vote against any congressman or senator, regardless of party, who would further harm the citizens’ individual rights while further eroding the economy.

Senate Democrats Consider Taxing Health Insurance Carriers – Fees to Cover Costs of Health Program will be Passed on to the Consumer

SenateFinance Committee Democrats, are seeking ways to fund the proposed Health Care Reform – the target – health insurance carriers. To date, the hospital and pharmaceutical industries have pledged $235 billion dollars towards the program, with no pledges from the insurance industry. Schumer (D-NY) and Rockefeller (D-WV) feel that the insurance carriers enjoy too much of a profit, and have portrayed them as the villain of health care:

Schumer and Sens. John Rockefeller (D-WV), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) pounded the insurers, who they portrayed as unwilling to help pay for reform even while they have enjoyed exploding profits

Assuming that the insurance industry is assessed fees of over $100 billion dollars; one has to expect that these companies, already burdened by increasing regulation and mandated state and federal benefits, will ultimately pass that increase onto the consumer. Case in point: Massachusetts.

When the State of Massachusetts adopted the trail version of Universal Health Care coverage, known as “Commonwealth Care”, originally designed to increase competition among insurers, and offer low-cost health insurance coverage to uninsured in the Bay-State, up to 26 mandated benefits were added by the State Legislature. Mandated benefits, are those that the insurance company must include in reimbursements to hospitals and other health care providers, some of the Commonwealth mandated benefits include procedures that, in the past, were normally considered “elective”, (not medically necessary or experimental), which would be the patients reponsibility. One of those that makes up over 80% of the cost to insurers is the addition of the treatment of infertility, which costs the State approximately $687 million annually. In addition, the result of adding mandates has caused private insurance health premiums to rise up to 56 %.

The suggestion to those even contemplating the addition of a national health care program - look to the Massachusetts product, one which when managed by a majority Democrat Legislature, with a State bureaucracy that is one’s worst DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles, pick a State) nightmares has consistently run under-budget, and is a major burden on the remaining taxpayers in the Commonwealth – it is simply a badly implemented and managed program. Nationally - the Republican House has produced a chart (here)that shows the planned bureaucracy – which would even make the Massachusetts Legislature blush. It appears that the Federal government has taken the Bay State Model and adjusted it somewhat.

It is a fact that there is a need to cover the uninsured, which is why there is a Medicaid program – or, in other words, government run universal healthcare – already in place. Making adjustments to the existing program, by offering benefits to the working uninsured at a lower premium, would, in effect, to do the trick. It is simple math at this point; as unemployment rises, with no end in sight, (see Stimulus), the Federal and State governments will continue to lose income, and turning to the private sector, which is caring for the remaining tax base, by assessing additional fees, is merely a band aid – not a cure.