^ J n rtla n ò (ßbsertter
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O pinion
September 9, 2009
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No Sales Tax
for Health Care
May be the worst idea ever
L ois D anks
D e s p e r a te ly
search in g for a
way to fund a $1
t r i l l i o n
h e a lth c a r e r e ­
fo rm p a c k a g e ,
th e O b am a a d ­
m inistration floated a trial bal­
loon in a W ashington P ost a r­
ticle on M ay 27 — a VAT or
V alue-A dded Tax.
S enate B udget C om m ittee
Chairm an Kent C onrad agreed
the tax should be considered.
So did O bam a's econom ic ad ­
viser Paul Volcker. R ecently
e v e n U .S . R e p . C h a r le s
Rangel, D em ocratic C hairm an
o f th e H o u s e W a y s a n d
M ean s C o m m ittee gave the
tax a plug.
A VAT is essen tially a n a­
tio n a l sa les tax th a t is c o l­
lected at each step in the pro­
d u c tio n p r o c e s s a n d u l t i ­
m ately passed on to the c o n ­
sum er in h ig h e r p rice s. F o r
exam ple, a flour m ill ow ner
buys grain and pays a VAT;
he sells flour to a baker and
she also pays a VAT; and so
by
A m ericans for Fair Taxa­
tion. In 2001 th is group
ca lle d for rep lacin g the
federal incom e tax w ith
a national retail sales tax,
and dubbed it the "F air
Tax."
T h is m ay so u n d a p ­
pealing: no m ore ho rrib le tax
returns to fill out! B ut som e
basic m ath show s otherw ise.
To replace current taxes w ould
require a sales tax rate o f 30
percent.
M e a n w h ile ,
D e m o c ra ts
would also like to slip some form
o f sales tax through to pay for
th e b a llo o n in g d e f ic it a n d
health care initiativ es. G iven
that openly pushing such a tax
could m ean political suicide,
Democrats are sugarcoating the
idea by coupling it with propos­
als such as instituting a higher
income tax on the w ealthy or
o ffering to subsid ize people
below the federal poverty level.
This is a slick effort to make a
regressive tax seem p ro g res­
sive. D on't buy it. N o m atter
how they spin a sales tax, it still
hits the people who can least
No matter how they spin a
sales tax, it still hits the
people who can least afford it
the hardest.
on until the consum er pays $4
for a lo a f o f bread instead o f
$2! The VAT is w idely used in
E u ro p e and o th e r c o u n trie s
such as A ustralia, Japan, and
B razil — and tax rates range
as high as 25 percent.
E z e k ie l E m a n u e l, th e
b r o th e r o f th e p r e s id e n t's
chief-of-staff Rahm E m anuel,
w a s h ir e d by th e W h ite
H ouse B udget O ffice to help
overhaul the U .S. healthcare
system . A y ear ago last May,
h e p u b lis h e d
a book,
H ealthcare, G u aran teed that
proposed using a 10 percent
VAT to fu n d h e a lth c a re r e ­
form.
T h r o u g h th e y e a r s , th e
rig h tw in g has m ade sim ila r
p roposals in an effort to free
the rich from paying taxes on
th e ir p ro fits, d iv id en d s, and
inheritances. But with the U.S.
deficit soaring, D em ocrats are
d esp erate to raise revenues.
A nd w hat b etter way to do it
than by prop o sin g a re g re s­
sive tax to fund a program that
w o rk in g p e o p le re a lly ca re
ab o u t, lik e p u b lic ly fu n d ed
healthcare.
F ro m th e r ig h t, a m a jo r
p u s h e r o f th e s a le s ta x is
Kennedy’s Most Passionate Purpose:
National
health care
proposals
by M arc H. M orial
afford it the hardest. Folks with
sm aller incom es see a m uch
larger proportion o f their pay-
checks hit by sales tax because
all o f it is spent every month
ju st to cover basics. M illion­
aires m ay pay more sales taxes
on their expensive yachts, but
have money left over to invest,
all free o f sales tax.
Any v ersion o f a n ational
sales tax will worsen an already
regressive U.S. tax structure.
Over several decades. Republi­
cans and D em ocrats have al­
ready shifted most o f the cost
o f g o v ern m en t and serv ices
onto the w allets o f workers.
Rightwing groups utilize talk
show s and bogus stu d ies by
conservative think tanks to hide
th is re a lity an d p ro te c t the
wealthy from paying more taxes,
M eanwhile, Democrats are pig­
gybacking their VAT proposal
onto healthcare reform.
But no m atter w hich party
is pushing the idea or how the
po litician d resses it up, this
one is a no-b rain er fo r w o rk ­
ing folks. A sales tax by any
nam e stinks.
Lois Danks is the organizer
o f Radical Women in Port An­
geles, Wash.
M y in tro d u c tio n to
Sen. Edw ard Kennedy
cam e in 1979, when as a
21 year old Senate intern
I w itn essed his sp e ll­
b in d in g p re s e n ta tio n
b efo re the S en ate F in an ce
C om m ittee in support o f one
o f his earliest proposals for
national health coverage.
I did not know it then, but
o v er the years, as I w atched
S en ato r K en n ed y 's tireless
a d v o c a c y f o r th o s e w h o
s c rip tu re c a lls , "th e le a st
am ong us," 1 cam e to under­
sta n d w h y h e w as c a lle d
"the L io n o f the Senate."
D u rin g his 47 years in the
S enate, no one ro am ed far­
ther, fought h ard er or w as a
m ore fearless ch am p io n for
th e r i g h t s o f e v e r y d a y
peo p le than Ted K ennedy.
From the bleak hills of A p­
p a l a c h ia to th e s h a n ty
tow ns o f South A frica to the
b a c k s t r e e ts o f B o s to n ,
S e n a to r K en n e d y w ent
talk and m oral equivocation,
Senator Kennedy w as a straight
shooter w ho w as clear about
th e v alu es he and his p arty
should stand for. In his 1980
presidential concession speech
he said, "It is the glory and the
g reatn ess o f o u r trad itio n to
speak for those w ho have no
voice, to rem em ber those who
are forgotten, to respond to the
frustrations and fulfill the aspi­
rations o f all Am ericans seek­
ing a better life in a better land.
We dare not forsake that tradi­
tion."
S enator K ennedy n ever for­
so o k th a t tr a d itio n an d he
gave life to it in ev ery th in g
he did - from his fights to im ­
prove public ed u catio n to his
battles for a living w age to his
e n d o r s e m e n t o f B a ra c k
O b am a for P resident. H is life
is a v iv id ex am p le o f a m an
an d in the b est in terest o f the w ho stood tall and firm even
in the face o f the m ost v eh e­
n atio n .
As a sk illed p o litician who m ent op p o sitio n .
I am h o peful that his m ost
au th o red m ore than 300 laws
an d su p p o rte d th o u sa n d s o f p assio n ate purpose - the p as­
o th e r p ieces o f critical le g is­ sage o f n ational h ealth care -
lation, he show ed us the value b e c o m e s a liv in g , en d u rin g
o f rea so n o v e r rh e to ric and legacy to his rem ark ab le life.
Marc H. Morial is president
p rag m a tic co m p ro m ise o v er
and chief executive officer o f
p artisan p o stu rin g .
In an era o f political double- the National Urban League.
r ig h ts th e N a tio n a l U rb a n
L e a g u e f ig h ts f o r d a ily -
eq u ality , ed u c atio n , em p lo y ­
m ent, and h ea lth c are fo r all.
He tau g h t us that standing
on prin cip le, and not y ielding
to ev en the h arsh e st c ritic s,
is the true b aro m eter o f states­
m a n sh ip an d le ad e rsh ip . He
d id n ot m in d criticism w hen
he k n e w th a t w h a t he w as
fig h tin g fo r w as rig h t, ju s t,
Senator Kennedy went
wherever there was a need to
support democracy's highest
ideals o f freedom and
opportunity fo r all.
im prove the lives o f those who
are too often lo ck ed o ut and
left behind, including workers,
w om en, people o f color, the
p o o r and d isp o ssessed , im m i­
g ran ts, ch ild ren , and peo p le
w ith d isab ilities.
A s o n e o f th e la s t U .S .
S en ato rs w ho fo u g h t for the
C ivil R ights A ct o f 1964, he
sto o d for m any o f the sam e
Helping Primary Care Doctors
Reform must
address
critical needs
by J udge G reg
M athis
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W
w h erev er there w as a need to
sup p o rt d em o cracy 's h ighest
id eals o f freed om an d o p p o r­
tu n ity for all.
L ike his o ld e r
b r o th e r s J o h n
an d B o b b y , he
saw p o litic s not
as a gam e o f self-
in te rest and p e r­
sonal gain, but as
an o p p o rtu n ity to
Pm kina Area
JMNE
Rumiell
«200
R ilm « 11 St
S
F a m ily
d o c to rs
work to keep adult and
children healthy and
aw ay from the em er­
gency room, control­
ling medical costs for
fam ilies and the gov­
ernm ent alike. Yet, lost in cur­
rently heated healthcare policy
discussion is the fact that there
Congress should contemplate
legislation that provides incen­
tives for those who choose to
become primary care physicians.
Forgiving a portion of student
loans for those who do is a good
start. The average medical school
grad ow es hundreds o f thou­
sands o f dollars in loans.
P ro v id in g
g o v e rn m e n t
funded salary increases is an ­
other option. Fam ily care phy­
sicians typically eam less than
half that o f a highly specialized
doctor. Along the same lines,
tax breaks for family care doc­
tors, increasing the money they
take home, could also be used
as an incentive.
If som ething isn’t done, the
family physicians academy pre­
this field has dropped over 51 dicts a shortage of 40,(XX) pri­
percent in the last tw o decades. mary care doctors by 2010. We
There are many reasons for this: will see longer lines in d octor's
the low er pay, longer days and offices and more people using
less prestige key am ong them. the em ergency room for basic
T h e c o u n try is sp e n d in g care, increasing medical costs
quite a bit o f tim e discussing for everyone and defeating the
health care and reform ing the purpose o f the healthcare plan
current system. If we are to truly the O bam a ad m in istratio n is
revam p the way health care is w orking to pass.
Judge Greg Mathis is vice
adm inistered in this country, we
must consider all o f the needs president o f Rainbow PUSH
o f the p a tie n ts...a n d that in ­ and a board member o f the
c lu d e s p ro d u c in g q u a lifie d Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
doctors w ho can serve them.
10 years, we will need
close to 140,(XX) fam ­
ily d o c to rs b u t are
currently only attract­
ing h alf o f that num ­
ber.
A c c o rd in g to th e
A m erican A cadem y o f Family
Physicians, the number of medi­
cal school graduates entering
We must consider all o f the
needs o f the patients...and that
includes producing qualified
doctors who can serve them.
is real a shortage o f family care,
or prim ary physicians, in this
country.
If this issue isn 't addressed,
the more than 40 million people
the O bam a adm inistration in­
te n d s to ex ten d co v erag e to
through its healthcare plan are
unlikely to have a doctor avail­
able to treat them.
There are about 1 (X).(X X ) fam­
ily physicians, w hich include
primary care doctors and gen­
eral pediatricians, in the U.S.
healthcare system. In the next