House Dems to levy new tax on wealthy to pay for health care

Must be a rather ball-less tax. Bush's tax cuts for the rich increased our deficit by almost that much PER YEAR. So the rich are still waaay ahead!

He will CHANGE his mind and tax everyone and everything .

It's good to be poor in America. No wonder millions of illegal immigrants wants to go there since the Democrats promised way to citizenship. All for the VOTES Yankees! Youngsters are voting for OBAMA because they don't need to work... They'll just benefit from hard earned billionaires like Buffet or Gates. Wow! They also acquire free cars out of new GM or Government Motors. All hail OBAMA!

its about time

Yep, keep milking the "rich", just like Jimma "Robbing Hood" Cahtah. It was a disaster then, it will be worse today. Obama painted himslef innto a tight corner ("I won't tax those making less than $250k", and then he goes out and spends tha most money in the history of man! Somebody has to pay fopr all of this, and that only leaves the "rich" - to get saoked to the bone.). Cahatah barely made it through ONE term; Obama will be lucky to get that far!!

This is making no sense to me. Health reform should not be COSTING the country anything unless Barack Obama is planning on handing over money directly to insurance companies. One of the reasons for major health reform is that it should be able to SAVE the country--and each of us--money. We should move from sepnding paying $0.31 of every $1.00 on overhead (ie, insurance companies,billers, etc) to the 3 cents of every Medicare healthcare dollar that Medicare spends on its overhead. Where are these numbers coming from?

This is sick!! The Dems think they have found the way to give their constituents everything they want. "Tax the other guy and use the money for what I want." In spite of what the Dems will most likely say, this is not good. Wait until someone gets in charge who decides to tax you for their constituents. There is no stopping this stupidity.

nope...just Obama's America. I don't even make 1 5th that amount and I know it's wrong

How about we tax the people sucking the money out of the government? You know kind of a "PAYGO" for welfare. You want government entitlements like government health care you pay more in taxes for it. Why tax people who will not be using government health care?

Hope they tax the insurance execs 5% more tax for fleecing the public.

Democrats make me sick. They punish success and create class warfare. I feel like I am losing America.

It is very important to have an affordable health insurance program including a public option.The present system isn't working. The insurance companies/drug companies are reaping people off. The congress should find a better way of funding instead of primarily taxing the rich. The other alternative is to cut spending in other areas to fund healthcare. The republicans should stop playing constituency (pro business) politics and offer realistic suggestions instead of just saying NO. Oigialen Texas

Ahhh, it begins.......the taxes will keep on coming. Add to this the additional taxes that states will be adding and spending is going to slow to a crawl. Way to stimulate the economy.

Is that AGI? If so, you'll never get them to pay. Their accountants are already busy finding loopholes and offshore accounts to get them under the minimum. Can't we just go to a flat tax that everyone pays. No deductibles, no capital gains, just a flat rate on all income! I know, too easy.

Why not tax sin products like Twinkies? These sugar filled creations are what is making us fatter and sicker by the year. Every state in the nation has at least twenty percent of its population above the obesity line. About six are over thirty percent. Add in high sodium and other high fat products and we would have more than enough to pay for health care. Do they have the guts to do it in Washington?

I will reduce my annual charitable donations by an equal amount that I'm taxed.

Stupid rich people. Making too much money... spending that money and boosting the economy... creating jobs... paying the vast majority of the taxes... buying nice things with the money for which they've busted their butts. Shame on them. This is how it always works. In today's society their are more takers than there are producers (givers). That means more voters are takers. Therefore, politicians must play to the takers. So what if you soak the producers in order to subsidize the takers? All that gets you is reelected to public office.

Whatever it takes. Just getter done.

Wait a minute, hmm, on campaign trail, didnt Obama tell Americans if he is elected POTUS, they will and should have same healthcare plan as congressional members? Dont believe the dem hype. Obama and dems said they will only raise taxes on the rich. They have raised taxes on cigaretts, which affects ALL Americans. Obama has raised gas prices (remember dems said Bush responsible for gas prices) which affects ALL Americans. Americans have freedom to work hard, which creates a measurable degree of earned wealth. We have people like dems who feel entitled to others wealth that they didnt help create. Obama/dems redistribution of wealth- one segment of society has the basic right to the money of other segments of society.

Thank you Bush and Obama for your one-upsmanship in the tax wars. Ironically the two Presidents may just cancel each other out.

If you people this tax would come anywhere close to paying for the healthcare bill then you are rout of your mind. If a one percent tax raise were to be applied to generate 54 billion a year, then you would have to tax 5.5 trillion. That is 1/3 of the US GDP. The money to pay for this is not in the banks of the super wealthy, it is the wallets of the middle class. There are very few people that qualify as super rich. There millions of people that are in the middle class. Taken as a whole, the middle class control the vast majority of the nations weath. So don't be suprised when Obama comes for you. Or at least whoever is president in 10 years because in 6 months Obama spent all the money we will make in the next decade. This is business and economics, not politics. We will never all be equally rich. But very soon, we will all be equally poor.

WELL NOW thats a great idea and everyone in government should have to be in the same health program as private citizens . same coverage same cost from state elected people to federal employees everone gets the same coverage and take the large profit away from insurance companies ..make them charge a reasonable rate like normal businesses do . GREED is what got us into this mess in the first place

Wow, these democrats must be proud of themselves..........already 40 percent of Americans pay no taxes, now they want to tax the top 10 percent to pay for their new government trough. When is this stampede to socialism going to end MR PRESIDENT?

do we really want this new health care ?

o.k. dems - do you really believe what o'bama promised while running and trying to hide who he really is - i can't wait for all of you who think you aren't rich being taxed out of your houses! you put him there and you will suffer just like the ones of us who saw through his b.s now we will all be paying through the nose until we can get rid of him & the dems in congress and replace all the scum with people who will at least try to right the course of this country before it really is too late - thanks a lot dems - you deserve what you got but I don't - i was smart enough to vote AGAINST him and his communist policies ! ! ! ! !!!!!!!!!!!

That is a no brainer. It's about time we start to put tax rates back to sane levels.

Well it is about time. Healthcare is dragging the economy down. Shame on the republicans.

Padon me if I dont shed a tear for the poor rich having to pay more taxes. For all those GOP supporters who always bring up their religious morals do you really thinkt hat Jesus would give more money to those that already have plenty, and not use it to help those who are in need?

Under this plan, my taxes would go up. If the health program is effective, I'm cool with it.

Let's hear it GOPPERS, boo hoo, it's class warfare!!! Actually, it's only fair considering how screwed over the lower and middle class has gotten all these years.

But let's not call this Socialism. Call it a Banana.

Get ready to ready from the "Whine" and Cheese crowd.

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves. ......Abraham Lincoln

Good. Maybe we can return the sane kind of tax code this country had for most of the 20th century, instead of the cut-taxes-no-matter-the-damage madness of the new breed of ideologically driven Republicans.

Sin Taxes are bad for sinners. George W. Bush writes in his new soon-to-be-released book something about social darwinism, which he calls "survival of the fittest," and implies that lesser-individuals should basically breed themselves into extinction. So what if millions of people die every year from tobacco, he would have you believe they didn't deserve to live. Just an interesting tidbit of information for those such as myself that like to latch onto bits and pieces of little known information.

Obama and the Democrates have LOST my savings, have LOST my IRA, have LOST my RETIREMENT. Obama and the Democrates are the worst since the early 1900's. Obama and his leadership is the BIGGESTS JOKE and the stock market shows it. OBAMA QUIT TRYING TO BE THE BLACK DICTATOR AND FIX THE ECONOMY INSTEAD OF BEING A WASTE AND A LIER. OBAMA CANT FIX THE ECONOMY BECAUSE HE CANNOT LEAD, HE CAN ONLY TAX !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so this is how we reward success? Really, where's the inspiration to do well and get rich when you know youre just going to get taxed for it.

Just remember that the amount of money, in taxes, that the government received via federal taxes was down over 30% year to year when it comes to your paycheck. They will do anything to make up that difference. Yet, they still claim things are fine. When are millions of Americans going to wake up and realize things will get much worse in this country.

First, I'd like to hear someone explain just what exactly this $500 billion in projected savings from health care reforms is?!?!?! Then, I'd like to know how the stimulous is doing such great things for me when my $26.00 dollars a month savings in federal income tax just ends up going to increased medicare taxes. Isn't that kind of like robbing Peter to pay Paul. We fulfill our promise to lower your federal income tax, but then we fulfill our promise of affordable health care by increasing your medicare tax.. So basically we've killed 2 birds with the same stone and you (the taxpayers) are in the same spot you were before.

Democrats seem to be determined to either seize every bit of private wealth in the country--or to drive it out of the country. I'm leaving, and I don't make even as much as the low-end of the Dems confiscation targets.

The democrats continue their criminalization of wealth. The result will be the gradual impoverishment of all Americans.

so campaign promise kept?

I won't be taxed under this plan, but I have to ask - do the Dems know ANYTHING beyond raising taxes? Anything at all?

Oh yes lets do it and then when we see how much it really cost we will all pay the price. Don't worry CNN does not post anything they do not want you to hear. Our Kids future is lost because we want and want but, we do not want to pay we just will take it from some one that has more thats what our founding fathers wanted right. The home of the free right give it to me free and now

I am happy President Obama is actually keeping the campaign promise on health care, lots of people need this like yesterday.

Nothing is implausible at this moment in history--neither taxing the wealthy (again after 29 years when the top rate was 70% for the 16 years previous to that) nor investigating a republican president for felonies (again after 36 years when Nixon was investigated for the Watergate cover-up) nor examining why the fourth estate simply went with the flow (went along and got along) for the past 8 years or so while the U.S. Constitution was used to roast marshmallows by the justice department and the intelligence gathering agencies (and by the house of representatives and the senate and the supreme court as well). Yes, CNN please review this posting for appropriateness.

Same old liberal story ; class warfare to promote their agenda!

Well, it's finally in the open! Wealth distribution a la Obama! Who woulda thought? Whoopdeedoo for the lazy!

my wife and I have a few years until we clear the 1/2 mill $ mark, so make it a temporary tax, when we reach the mark then repeal it

While I think the tax levels on high incomes of the late 1930's to late 1970's got a bit outrageous, the evisceration of these revenue streams under Reagan, Bush and Bush was terrible for the federal government. The top marginal rates could easily stand a raise of 4 to 5 percentage points, and I can't think of a better cause than a true universal health care system. Of course the Obama health care plan is garbage and far from universal, so this tax may be harder to sell than necessary; if the Democrats approved a truly universal, single-payer plan, I'm sure citizens at all tax levels would be glad of the tax increase, considering the many other ways they'd make it up (in employer pay, in reduced co-pays and surcharges, and, of course, in not having to pay for procedures the insurance companies whimsically decide they won't cover).