Socialism has arrived

[GoNRA 12]

Hmm maybe we should just ban those things outright now!

Politics 101

Before we ban anything, we monetize the shlt out of it. Keep levying and raising the taxes until the point of zero net gain, then ban it outright because there's no longer any profit in taxing it.

 

It will soon happen to cigarettes. Each time the taxes go up, more people quit. When the taxes no longer support the bureaucracy, the move to ban will move to the forefront. And since the number of smokers will have been reduced to a statistically insignificant number, it'll be no problem, and the government will have nationalized another industry, since tobacco companies are too big to fail.

 

fuck politicians I roll my own cost me avg about 2.50 a pack..

[kenw 293]

Do you use tobacco? Tobacco tax

Do you use rolling paper? - Paraphernalia tax

 

You can't escape. All you can do is delay.

[Malsua 1,422]

Seems like everyone thinks Ron Paul and Steve Lonegan are crazy right wing radicals, would you say the same about the founders?

 

Ron Paul is not a Crazy right winger. He's a Libertarian with some good views on the constitution and some really nutty ideas about quite a few other things. He supports NO, that is NO limit on imports and exports. China could dump whatever it wanted on us until what is left of our mfg base is gone and Ron Paul would allow it. THIS is where I have issues with him. He's against free trade agreements because he wants no trade agreements.

[GoNRA 12]

Do you use tobacco? Tobacco tax

Do you use rolling paper? - Paraphernalia tax

 

You can't escape. All you can do is delay.

 

agreed, i'll have to grow my own tobacco and learn how to make paper,

[NJ609 22]

Do you use tobacco? Tobacco tax

Do you use rolling paper? - Paraphernalia tax

 

You can't escape. All you can do is delay.

 

agreed, i'll have to grow my own tobacco and learn how to make paper,

 

Then it will be illegal to grow tobacco.

[kenw 293]

Do you use tobacco? Tobacco tax

Do you use rolling paper? - Paraphernalia tax

 

You can't escape. All you can do is delay.

 

agreed, i'll have to grow my own tobacco and learn how to make paper,

 

Then it will be illegal to grow tobacco.

Unless you're growing for the government. Tobacco products are a huge export item, and the failure of the tobacco industry would raise our trade deficits significantly. The Government could kill 2 birds... eliminate domestic use by nationalizing the domestic growers and manufacturers, and reap the benefits of being the sole exporter of cigarettes and tobacco products worldwide.

 

They're not stupid, just anti-American.

[njpilot 671]

There will be a long drawn out fight in the courts over much of this bill.

 

Looks like we will be stuck with this Senate bill. The Republicans found a very strong point of order that could totally derail the Senates attempt at reconciliation. The "Cadillac Health Plan Tax" would affect Social Security and that is not allowed. Have to wait and see.

 

Hopefully the stupid sheep that make up the majority of voters in the country won't forget what happened yesterday when Nov comes around!

[matt6669 71]

It's also said that this whole gov't take over of student loans could get derailed and they were planning on funding the health care package with 60 million dollars from the profits made off school loans.

 

So if the school loan program is shot down, the health care bill starts day 1 at a 60 million dollar deficit.

 

Great job there Democrats!

[NJ609 22]

Great job there Democrats!

 

If ever there were truer words spoken....

[njpilot 671]

As soon as they pass the $250-300B doctors fix, the deficit will grow. So much for the bullsh*t of reducing the deficit. F'ing lying P.O.S.s

[DirtyDigz 1,812]

Ron Paul has some very good ideas, but every time I watch him in a televised congressional hearing he sounds like someone's bat-guano crazy uncle. I can get behind some of his ideas, the man, not so much.

 

Back on the health care bill, read this today, liked it:

 

Health Care Arbitrage

 

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/2109-Health-Care-Arbitrage-Obama-And-The-Dems.html

 

...Here's the bottom line:

 

* If you refuse to buy health insurance, you will be fined on a sliding scale that amounts to 2% of your AGI. So if you make $100,000 a year, you could be fined $2,000 for "refusing" to buy insurance.

 

* You cannot buy a catastrophic policy any more. The "cheapest" acceptable policy will cost somewhere around $15,000 for a single person, and over $20,000 for a family. This is, for most people, more than five times the maximum possible fine - each and every year. The law makes it effectively impossible to maintain an existing catastrophic policy as they "renew" every year, and should any change be made you are then forced to buy something "acceptable" in the law (or pay the fine.)

 

* When the "pre-existing condition" bar comes down you cannot be charged more or denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

 

* I fully expect 20-50% premium increases immediately, and for the next three years sequentially, in all existing policies. This is precisely what the banks did in front of the CARD act becoming effective, and it will happen here as well. That is the cause of the short-term rocket shot in the health-related stocks this morning.

 

* In addition the capital gains tax changes will do severe damage to capital formation immediately, and these changes will become especially severe starting in 2014. The market will anticipate these changes and react accordingly, although you certainly wouldn't know it today.

 

Ok, this one's easy.

 

When the fines and pre-existing coverage "stop-out" go into effect (now for kids, in a couple of years for the rest) drop all coverage for those affected.

 

Why?

 

Because:

 

* The fine is 1/5th or less the cost of the "insurance."

 

* For routine care, you now can negotiate for your care before it is provided. It will be cheaper to do so than to buy the insurance - for routine events. Don't try to tell me it's not either - I've been carrying a catastrophic-only policy now for more than a decade, and as a consequence I've negotiated these fees and costs for routine things and saved tens of thousands compared to simply "buying a full-boat policy." The only reason for me to carry the "catastrophe" policy - the possibility of being screwed if I developed a serious condition and thus got excluded - has just been erased by this law, effective in a couple of years.

 

* If you have a catastrophe of any form, buy the insurance at that point in time. You cannot be turned down or charged more.

 

Screw the government. They are the ones who set the standards - we simply have to live with them, and this is the only logical action to take given what they have just done. ...

[Ray Ray 3,566]

Anyone on "our" side is fine by me. Palin, Huckabee, Paul, Romney, Jindal, whoever!