What Happened to Promises of No Pork?

During his campaign, President Obama promised legislation in his administration would not contain pork, or earmarks.

However, in order to capture what the Senate feels are their 60 votes needed to pass national healthcare reform, there is definitely excess baggage contained in the bill.

Consider that Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson ended up with at least an additional $45 million for his state as part of the payoff for his vote.

One wonders what each Senate vote cost residents of Main Street USA.

And there is bad news for people who like to frequent tanning salons. A tax of 10% will be added to each visit with the reasoning that utilizing those machines increases the risk of cancer. (Thus, not a sin tax like booze, but a health tax.)

That leaves unanswered the question of how many other convenience or consumption or other taxes are in the bill.

Earlier there was discussion of taxing the purchase of sugary drinks. Did that stay in the bill?

And what other taxes, in the guise of other words, will befall each and every citizen in one way or another?

It would also be nice to see what segments of our society make up this 30 million people who will now be able to acquire health insurance.

As stated in an earlier post, the number of those who could not actually afford healthcare insurance was closer to the 10 million mark, with the balance made up of people who could but decided, for their own reasons, not to do so.

They will, evidently, now be forced to acquire it or face fines and penalties.

While there are many millions of people who are against this legislation, but not necessarily totally against healthcare reform, one still has to wonder how, with the thousands of pages written of the actual bill and the various proposed amendments (one of which was 767 pages long), that tort reform is still not in the equation.

Attorney and law firm lobbyists must carry some incredible weight within the walls of Washington.

And, what does the fine print say about the government's ability to add taxes that are not now in the bill if projected revenues fall short and estimated expenses are higher than anticipated?

Citizens of the USA, if this passes, get ready for increased government intervention into your lives, higher personal taxes, consumption taxes on who-knows-what and incredibly massive deficits.

Over For Now.

Main Street One