Humpty Dumptyism: The act or practice of misusing or misinterpreting a word, phrase, or article of text to suit one's own meaning or purpose.
And so it is with the Republicans repeal of the ACA mandate, which provides the needed cash to help provide massive cuts to the wealthy and corporate "persons." Take a look at the size of what could have been added to the nation's debt over 10 years before the $1.5 trillion compromise:
Sen. Patrick J. Toomey’s (R-Pa.) handout ... added up to more than $2.5 trillion over a decade. (Repealing the ACA mandate) would generate revenue that would solve major budgetary issues … the Joint Committee on Taxation implied that low-income Americans would be subject to drastic tax increases.
Here's where Toomey’s Humpty Dumptyism springs into action…it’s not a tax increase if Americans decide not to have health insurance. What a choice, and what an effort to increase the number of uninsured:
Toomey: “This is absolutely not a tax increase, and you guys know that,” he bellowed at Democrats. “It is not a tax increase if a person decides they don’t want to buy an Obamacare plan and, as a result, we don’t send a payment to an insurance company.”NOTE: I thought this also exemplified the GOP's irresponsible tax cut behavior beyond a reasonable doubt:
GOP played a strong game of kick the can: Republicans avoided the most pressing problems by repeated can-kicking.
1. They failed to fund the governmen, punting a decision into January.
2. They let the vital, popular and bipartisan-supported children’s health-care program known as CHIP lapse, promising to take that up next year as well.
3. Republicans delayed an agreement to raise the nation’s debt limit until early spring.
4. Republicans also kicked the can when they failed to make individual tax cuts permanent. Instead, benefits to the middle class will expire in 2025, letting a future Congress handle that issue.
5. By reforming taxes in a way that increased the deficit, Republicans put future Congresses in a difficult position if an economic downturn requires new fiscal stimulus. Increasing debt levels and interest rates complicate an inevitable reckoning over national finances.
No comments:
Post a Comment