Carlson misrepresented health care bill to claim that "real victim ... is the small business owner"
SUMMARY: Gretchen Carlson misrepresented the health care reform bill to claim that if small business owners do not offer health insurance, they will face "an 8 percent penalty." In fact, only businesses with payroll exceeding $400,000 annually that fail to provide insurance would pay that penalty.
Fox News' Fox & Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson misrepresented the health care reform bill introduced by House Democrats to claim that "the real victim, potentially, of this health care reform ... is the small business owner," because "they are going to be hit potentially with this health care reform if they don't offer health care to their employees -- an 8 percent penalty on them." In fact, under the House bill, small businesses with combined annual payroll of less than $250,000 would not face a penalty for failing to providing health insurance; only businesses with payroll exceeding $400,000 annually would pay that penalty. Further, the bill establishes tax credits for small business employers that do provide health care.
America's Affordable Health Choices Act would establish a 2 percent payroll penalty for employers with combined payroll between $250,000-$300,000 that don't offer health insurance to employees; 4 percent for employers with $300,000-$350,000 in payroll; and 6 percent for employers with $350,000-$400,000 in payroll.
From the July 16 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:
CARLSON: Well, as I was stating yesterday, if you're a Republican, I don't think you need to even delve into the mess; you just know you're not going to vote for it, because these amazing taxes that would now be accumulating against the people who have been successful in this country would be well over 50 percent. I think in most of the states now people in a certain income bracket would be paying over 50 percent for the first time since 1986? Is that the correct --
STEVE DOOCY (co-host): Thirty-nine states.
CARLSON: Thirty-nine states. I mean, that's an amazing thing, but here is the real victim, potentially, of this health care reform -- and that is the small business owner. And these are the people who have been lobbying for the last couple of months, saying, "What about the bailout for us?"
Yeah, bail out the banks, bail out the car industry, but what about small business? Now they are going to be hit potentially with this health care reform if they don't offer health care to their employees --
CLAYTON MORRIS (guest co-host): Right.
CARLSON: -- an 8 percent penalty on them.
MORRIS: Yeah. And the outrage was palpable on Capitol Hill yesterday, of course, talking about how this could affect the economy at large. Take a listen to some Republicans yesterday.
REP. ERIC CANTOR (R-VA) [video clip]: Who's going to pay for all of this? And it's clear in their bill who is paying for this are the small businessmen and women.
REP. KEVIN BRADY (R-TX) [video clip]: This is taking health care in a direction I think no American wants to see.
REP. KEVIN McCARTHY (R-CA) [video clip]: Better solutions, looking at the patient to make the decisions, not government.
REP. MIKE PENCE (R-IN) [video clip]: The proposal by House Democrats amounts to a government takeover of our health care economy.
DOOCY: And there's the president who wants to ram this through before the senators and congressmen take their summer vacation coming up very shortly. Now, here's the thing: Charlie Rangel, who is in charge of the Ways and Means Committee, said that the reason that they have targeted high earners is because, quote, "It causes the least amount of pain on the least amount of people." Hey, Charlie --
CARLSON: I saw that part.
DOOCY: Charlie, the problem is, you are creating pain for the people who create jobs in this country. And so many of those small businessmen -- and, apparently, two of three jobs in America come from small businesses -- they pay their taxes, their business taxes, on their individual income return forms.
MORRIS: Right.
DOOCY: And so, that's the problem. And for New Yorkers, they -- some New Yorkers will face a top marginal tax rate of 58.6 percent -- 60 percent. So, in other words, every other day when you go to work --
MORRIS: Yeah.
DOOCY: -- at least, you're working for the government to pay taxes.
A news organization covers the news does not make it like fox. They try so hard to strum up support for the tea parties. They just about begged people to come and meet their reporters which was covering it.
Lastly, about capitalism and our great country; small business is not the backbone of capitalism, the backbone of it is the people. This is a country which government is of the people by the people and for the people. Trying to make what should be part of the commons into the market place is wrong and will just lead us to become more of a fascist government. We need cheap health care like all other indusrtrial countries have. We need to have cheap safe food. We need to have education affordable to all without coming out of higher education with a huge debt. We need to be able to offer our citizens with the commons from companies which first priority is their shareholder’s investments.
If you have started a business, and it's making over $400,000 a year, and those taxes are being paid on your individual return, then you deserve to be taxed out of business. An enterprise with that much revenue should be incorporated and run as a -business-, instead of a hobby.
Also, after forty years of conservatives working as hard as they could to ship middle income manufacturing jobs overseas, where is this newfound (and I'm guessing insincere) concern about the small business owner coming from? And how do they seriously expect to hide their hypocrisy?
Oscar, I have a progressive friend here who lobbies for small businesses in Oregon (she owns one) She was instrumental in getting reasonable rates for small biz in the latest tax increases here...
The most upsetting part about the lies and BS that Fox-Noise and most of the rest of the corporate owned media is not that these clowns lie and BS about the facts... but that there is even one person (who would benefit from that which the media is lying about) who will defend and/or vote against their own interests...
And that includes (inevitable) some small businesses.
But nooooooooooooooo. The Troglodytes would never hear of such a thing. They have to look out for their Insurance Company sugardaddies.
If I say to 50 people you must buy health insurance, 40 would gladly buy and the other 10 would either not buy it or wouldn’t keep up on the premiums which means the insurer would be forced to drop them. So how do we force those above a certain earning level to buy their own health care? Do we have cops start asking for license, registration, and proof of insurance and medical insurance card?
Making it affordable and everyone buying it are two different objectives.
Also, what is to stop employers from buying outrageously expensive plans that are basically no cost to the employer and makes the employee foot the total bill? This would allow the employer to meet the criteria of "offering insurance" to their employee’s which would allow them to avoid the penalty.
Single payer collected via taxes like FICA would be the only way to assure every American has coverage. I know guys that won't pay their rent or who gets cars repo'd monthly. How will we get them to pay their premiums?
If you are uninsured and go to the emergency room you are sent a bill. You then, can either pay it, have bill collectors hound you into paying, settling with the bill collectin agency or bankruptcy. The emergency room is not free to all who enter the emergency room.
The biggest liability is the illegal aliens who don't have any money and only go to the emergency room.
McCain got tripped on this point on the talk shows this week when he said, "we need to cut taxes on small businesses since they create the jobs". The host replied, "didn't small businesses just get a tax cut in the stimulus"? McCain actually confessed that he meant corporations.
If we libs don't do anything else we need to check them on the use of the word small businesses since it would be a very small portion whose taxable income was $400K. Less than 5% of the tax payers.
http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/serv_sstd_tablepdf.pdf
Small business works best when it has the fewest external concerns. Small government types like to stay completely out of the way of small business so they can do their job efficiently and grow.
Healt care as proposed by the House will cost them dearly. Some will dare not grow to the $400,000 level someone mentioned because the step function of costs will put them out of business. That step function is also a high barrier against creating jobs.
The Dem's are setting up a system that they can use for political advantage come election time, and still suck big campaign contributions (bribes) from insurance companies.
Health care should not be a for profit business. Business should not be involved in health care, or retirement plans. Imho.
Does anyone want to try to survive by excluding all medical advances discovered by profitable hospitals and drug companies?
I doubt it.
Just curious.
I actually do doubt you for your statement shows you have no idea how research is done in this country. The majority of the drug research is actually done at the university level by professors and PH. D students. When the research is done by the companies they are taking already research concepts, which are free to them, and looking to tweak them so they can copy write them instead of what is the best way to treat the ailment. The pharmaceutical companies spend almost twice as much on promotion as it does on research and development.
-- U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., a leader of fiscally conservative House Democrats...said the bill, introduced Wednesday by House Democratic leaders, doesn't include provisions adequate to curb rising health care costs, including what the government spends on healthcare...
"Last time I checked, it takes seven Democrats to stop a bill in the Energy and Commerce Committee. We had seven against it last Friday; we have 10 today" -- Nasdaq.com
Very few would argue that some reform of the health care industry is not needed...that's not the issue. The issue is the cost, stupid. Way to go Blue Dogs.