ObamaCare riddled with tax increases

Throughout the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama pledged that Americans who make less the $250,000 a year would not have their taxes increased.

As with Chicago's failed Olympic bid, that promise seems to be ephemeral, according to the Washington Post:

As it drew close Thursday to finishing work on a health-care overhaul, a key Senate panel engaged in a spirited debate about whether the measure is "riddled" with tax increases that would violate President Obama's campaign pledge not to raise taxes on middle-class Americans.

Republicans cited that vow in attempting to strip billions of dollars in fees and taxes from the package. "There are going to be a lot of people whose taxes are increased by this legislation," said Sen. Mike Crapo (Idaho), if it violates "the promise and the pledge the president has made to the American people."

Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee narrowly defeated Crapo's amendment and a similar proposal by Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), but they lost the votes of two moderates on the panel, Sens. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), suggesting that the tax issue could prove problematic as the debate shifts to the full House and Senate in the coming weeks.

Democrats struggled to respond to the GOP charge, saying that the fees and taxes are necessary to pay for universal health coverage.

No gold, silver, or bronze medals for the president and the Democrats on health care--or the Olympics. Just a hunk of twisted scrap metal from the cash for clunkers program.

Technorati tags: news obamacare health universal health care health care reform Obama politics Barack Obama seniors Olympics