Norah O'Donnell falsely claimed that she isn't annoying. THANK YOU. njguy93@yahoo.com

The headline we won't see: 

Bush: the problem is that some people have good health insurance coverage and we have to do something about that.

Income tax deductions mean little to low income people who don't pay much in taxes, and they won't enable them to buy insurance or to pay for the good preventive primary care that could reduce huge medical problems and costs later on. That is, unless we're willing to believe that some cost savings for insurance companies and employers under this plan will somehow "trickle down" to lower income or middle income people without insurance. Yeah, sure. 

And the plan is complicated enough that it could lead some reporters to fall back on administration spin as the easy way to report it and meet a deadline.

Large bold font unintentional.

If the exemption levels don't rise as fast as the health care system's value does, then this will be a trap for more and more middle class workers each year.

I don't know exact numbers for where I'm at on my personal plan, but a $7500 deduction isn't much for coverage that would easily run 500-600 a month, privately.

The guaranteed winners here are the wealthy elite who can afford to buy their own plans, yet don't enjoy a fat deduction for it.  We're already protecting them enough with Bushs tax cut packages that finanace these record federal deficits on the next five generations.

It can't pass, but no thanks, anyway....I already gave at the office.  Quit pandering for handouts, GOPers.

what i mean is while the 7500 dollars currenly does cover many plans, there isnt much room for protection against inflation, if health care costs rise faster than exemption levels in this plan...not sure that was clear

Exactly.

This is an idiotic plan from an idiotic President.  Who does he think he's fooling, other than the drooling 28% who still support him?

What Karl Rove forgot to tell the Moron-in-Chief is that the cost of Health Insurance is not necessarily related to the benefits, as in his "Gold Plated" reference.  Many people in high-risk professions pay higher premiums, as well as people in high-risk groups, or with pre-existing conditions, or just old age.  This plan potentially raises taxes on all those people if their employers provide the coverage (like fire fighters and police officers).  And this from a President who insists that not giving tax cuts to billionaires will hurt the economy?  What an idiot.

He also ignores the fact pointed out above, that a lot of the people who can't afford insurance still won't be able to afford it, since they pay little or no taxes anyway.  What a moron. 

<>The most hilarious part is listening to Pig-Man Limbaugh try to defend this Middle Class tax increase, especially after he swore he wouldn't carry water for the GOP any more.  

This is the same approach as the prescription drug plan.

It helps some people in certain situations.

It is horribly complicated. 

Protects health care industry profits.

Doesn't deal the REAL issue - health care costs spiraling out of control.

There's a reason that the number of IRS forms has increased from 224 in 2000 to 249 in 2004.  The number of pages of instructions on the 1040 has gone from 118 to 128.  The "average time to complete" has gone from 68 hours 7 minutes to 68 hours 53 minutes.  The IRS operating costs have gone up from $8.26B to $9.95B.  H&R Block revenues have gone up from $739M in 1996 to $2B in 2004.  The size of the tax code has gone from 40,000 pages to over 65,000 pages in the last six years.

And this is our "conservative" President who wants to get rid of big government, regulation, and simplify things for the people.

Mistaking deductions for credits leads me to believe Ms. O'Donnell has never had to worry about doing her own taxes.

Sadly, it doesn't really matter what O'Donnell says anyways.  The smarter of us know that it came from Bush's mouth and therefore is crap; the kool-aid drinkers don't care if it helps them or not.

My thoughts exactly;  Bush proposed it and Rush Limbaugh supports it; that's all I need to know. 

The Bush plan (sounds odd, don't it) is not much help if you pay for healthcare directly out of pocket, as I do. That $7,500 deduction from my income would pay for a small portion of the cost, which is nice, but why I should have to pay ANYTHING is the real question.

 

Why should the burden of insuring against catastrophic illness fall in the lap of the citizen at large? Moreover, I am not just paying for myself, but for the uninsured. How's that for a crooked formula.

 

Also, we don't have "healthcare" in America. We have sickness care.

 

Case in point: my insurance company has no problem doling out $50,000 for a fat person who needs heart bypass surgery or volunteers for intestinal reduction surgery; as for my "extravagant" health club dues of $300 for 15 months, that's not covered. Well, if they pay for healthcare, then what is it about joining a health club that is contrary to that supposed mission statement? 

 

It makes little sense to wait till someone is sick THEN pay verses the most basic preventative medicine on Earth, staying active.