Most of Obamacare Upheld on the Peoria.com Forums - Page 3

@Sterling:

Wanna bet? If you seriously believe that, then you sir are a bit naive.

@AV8R:

Not sure naive is the word you are looking for here.

I had a few other ones in mind as well, but decided for once in my life to be polite. Seemed out of character, didn't it?

I don't know enough about the law, and I suspect most people don't either, to know how this will play out in the next two or three years.

What I do know is this - once a year at my company, our insurance guy rolls up in his shiny new Escalade, and his partner rolls up in his freshly detailed Beamer. They sit down the powers that be, and tell them a sob story about how costs have sky-rocketed and they're going to have to raise premiums another 20-30%. This has been annually and on-going for several years.

So, based on my own personal experience, I hope two things happen - a) they insurance companies get bent over and fuked, and b) costs either maintain their ridiculous rates or actually start to decrease. Either way, I don't see how the cost to insure the average person can get much worse than it already is.

Itguy...those are the brokers, not the insurance companies. I know, from working for a broker for 4 years, that the commissions have dropped dramatically over the last few years. They used to be a % of premium but now they are usually a flat rate per person.

I don't like the law, I think there is way too much going on with it. I like the new rules about preexisting conditions, staying on insurance until 26, and no maximum benefit but all of the exchanges and that nonsense is a mess. I, for the life of me, cannot figure out why health insurance is tied to employment. Why is it the employer's job to provide insurance? I know why it started but that was in the days of working for a company for your entire career, those days are gone.

While I am on a rant...why is it an employer's responsibility to process child support/garnishments from an employee's check? That has to be the biggest pain in the @ss at my job.

I agree that insurance shouldn't be tied to employment.

I think the exchanges will model themselves after the federal employees health insurance selection process.

I just read an interesting legal concept on Obamacare, one that if true gives some hope to ending this fiasco. In a nutshell, the only way Obamacare survived the Supreme Court is by being considered a tax. If it's not a tax, then Congress lacks authority under the Commerce Clause to push the individual mandate. It did not survive under the Commerce Clause. That was the essence of the ruling.

So there we have it. Either it's a tax, or it isn't. If it isn't, then it's unconstitutional. If it IS, however, then it's future lies with a simple majority in Congress, who under our Constitution have the sole authority to lay and collect taxes.

"The Congress shall have power To lay and collect Taxes..." (Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution). Interesting, Republicans win the Senate and hold the House, a simple majority can end this thing by reconciliation...even WITH Obama in office. Turns out maybe it's a good thing that this was declared a tax after all!

Democrats used reconciliation to birth this ungodly thing, and hopefully next January Republicans can use that same reconciliation to kill it.

I think in that same article it said you can't dispute the tax until it's actually assessed, which means not a lot will happen until 2014. Maybe that's a different subject altogether.

I will use the UCC and not pay a cent.

JnJ:

I believe that only applies to a court challenge from a taxpayer. Congress can still act to repeal or defund existing legislation, to my understanding.

This is interesting....just read it online. A loophole it seems.

So the dog has no teeth. All you really need to do is adjust your withholding rate down to the point that you owe a nominal amount of taxes come April 15, and send in the exact amount you owe. Nothing for them to withhold if you don't have a refund due.

@AV8R:

I do that now, Pay taxes for a few months, and then adjust, and send them a check come tax time.

It's almost like the strong arm tactics used by a loan shark or a mobster. No civil or criminal obligation on the part of the borrower to pay, just threats to pay up or else. Wonder how long before the goons start to actually show up at the door with their threats and bullying.

Professor Gates will be longing for the day it was only the Cambridge Police at the front door investigating a possible burglary.