A Rose is a Rose

The great debate over whether Governor Schwarzenegger’s health insurance mandate includes a tax increase or not is raging at the FlashReport in articles penned by Jon Coupal from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and Mike Genest who serves as the Governor’s Finance Director. I commend both columns to the few who actually read this blog:

Dead Parrots and Tax Increases by Jon Coupal; and the less creatively titled

Governor's Health Care Reforms Do Not Include A Tax Increase by Mike Genest.

The clearest statement on the tax issue is articulated by Mr. David Henderson of Stanford’s Hoover Institution in his article Terminator Care published in the Wall Street Journal…

“It [the Governor’s plan] would require employers to provide health insurance; give them the option of paying a tax instead of providing health insurance…”

He [Mr. Schwarzenegger] would require employers with 10 or more workers to provide health insurance or pay a 4% tax on all wages covered by Social Security… Gov. Schwarzenegger would throw in a 2% tax on doctors and a 4% tax on hospitals to help fund Medi-Cal, California's name for Medicaid.

I just can’t wait for Mr. Genest’s next column about the personal income tax fee.