This morning's email brought a link to this HIT piece [ed: /groaner!] on the so-called Health Insurance Tax portion of ObamaCare©:
"A hidden tax known as the Health Insurance Tax, or HIT, which will increase health care costs and threaten our ability to grow and create jobs ... and will have a direct impact on businesses and their employees’ bottom line."
No kidding.
Mr Plemmons, the Executive Director of the Council of Independent Business Owners, continues:
"The tax was originally intended for insurers, but the small businesses, their employees and the self-employed who purchase health insurance on the fully-insured market will be the ones paying the bill."
I repeat: No kidding.
Insofar as he characterizes the net impact of the HIT on the economy, I of course agree with Mr Plemmons' analysis. But I find it distressing that the very folks who purport to represent the interests of "small business" are unable to grasp a core issue at the heart of their advocacy, to wit: insurers (which are, of course, business themselves) and other businesses (large and small) do not pay taxes.
We covered this almost 5 1/2 years ago:
"Companies do not pay taxes, and they do not pay for health insurance."
This obvious point seems lost on Mr Plemmons, which is a shame, because it represents a missed opportunity to address other substantive issues with the HIT. These include "upwards of $90 billion in additional excise taxes," a point we made when we first noted the "Stop The Hit" campaign last month. I'm all for dodging that particular HIT, but please let's keep the rhetoric accurate, and thus credible.
"A hidden tax known as the Health Insurance Tax, or HIT, which will increase health care costs and threaten our ability to grow and create jobs ... and will have a direct impact on businesses and their employees’ bottom line."
No kidding.
Mr Plemmons, the Executive Director of the Council of Independent Business Owners, continues:
"The tax was originally intended for insurers, but the small businesses, their employees and the self-employed who purchase health insurance on the fully-insured market will be the ones paying the bill."
I repeat: No kidding.
Insofar as he characterizes the net impact of the HIT on the economy, I of course agree with Mr Plemmons' analysis. But I find it distressing that the very folks who purport to represent the interests of "small business" are unable to grasp a core issue at the heart of their advocacy, to wit: insurers (which are, of course, business themselves) and other businesses (large and small) do not pay taxes.
We covered this almost 5 1/2 years ago:
"Companies do not pay taxes, and they do not pay for health insurance."
This obvious point seems lost on Mr Plemmons, which is a shame, because it represents a missed opportunity to address other substantive issues with the HIT. These include "upwards of $90 billion in additional excise taxes," a point we made when we first noted the "Stop The Hit" campaign last month. I'm all for dodging that particular HIT, but please let's keep the rhetoric accurate, and thus credible.
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