First call to impeach Obama, depending on what he does...

[brianwspencer]

But in all seriousness, I'm pissed because the LGBT provisions in the House version weren't passed along with this -- meaning that the premiums and employer pays for domestic partner insurance are considered income for the providing partner, leaving, depending on the plan, an income tax hit of several thousand dollars for the pair of them for the same exact coverage that a heterosexual spouse wouldn't have to pay on those premiums...it would just be the premiums. So they're *still* looking at a husband/wife duo paying additional premiums of, say, $100/mo vs. domestic partners paying a premium of $100/mo PLUS income tax on some $400 or so/mo. Nobody in the regular middle class can afford an extra $2K tax hit at the end of the year.

So backwards...and seems like it shouldn't be tough to fix, really, but it still is, leaving people to pay higher premiums for insurance plans that cover less, don't cover regular preventative check-ups, and really only function as catastrophic insurance if you're lucky, for somewhere around double the premium a partner could offer if the differential weren't taxed as income.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by brianwspencer

But in all seriousness, I'm pissed because the LGBT provisions in the House version weren't passed along with this

What was passed (Senate version) really isn't much "reform", and everyone really knows that. However, like Medicare, like Civil Rights, now that there is a base law, specific amendments will be easy to get. Hang in there, maybe this gave the Dems some guts

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by Riot

What was passed (Senate version) really isn't much "reform", and everyone really knows that. However, like Medicare, like Civil Rights, now that there is a base law, specific amendments will be easy to get. Hang in there, maybe this gave the Dems some guts

This is what I hope. Though something like a tax penalty like that could be done at any time without a healthcare bill as a basic matter of fairness, because it isn't even exactly a healthcare issue...it's a tax issue that only levies taxes on certain people for the exact same product that their coworkers don't get taxed on.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by brianwspencer

This is what I hope. Though something like a tax penalty like that could be done at any time without a healthcare bill as a basic matter of fairness, because it isn't even exactly a healthcare issue...it's a tax issue that only levies taxes on certain people for the exact same product that their coworkers don't get taxed on.

What do you think about Virginia repealing equality for gays wherever they could?

Un - freekin' - believable. I thought this was America.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by brianwspencer

This is what I hope. Though something like a tax penalty like that could be done at any time without a healthcare bill as a basic matter of fairness, because it isn't even exactly a healthcare issue...it's a tax issue that only levies taxes on certain people for the exact same product that their coworkers don't get taxed on.

Like the people who make more than 200k a year?

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Like the people who make more than 200k a year?

So taxes based on how much money people make are exactly the same as taxes on people based on who they are?

Riiiiiiiiight. Good try, Chuck.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by brianwspencer

So taxes based on how much money people make are exactly the same as taxes on people based on who they are?

Riiiiiiiiight. Good try, Chuck.

Well the people who make more than 200k now get taxed at a higher rate yet will mostly get worse coverage. They are paying for the rest of us with no benefit. Kind of sucks to pay more with no benefit, no?

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Well the people who make more than 200k now get taxed at a higher rate yet will mostly get worse coverage. They are paying for the rest of us with no benefit. Kind of sucks to pay more with no benefit, no?

And gays who make more than $200K pay those same taxes as well, because those don't discriminate based on WHO someone is, but how much money they make...like nearly all taxes.

Yay, great that you're upset about taxes....but it doesn't address the meat of what I was saying, though I'm not even sure if you think it does...

Let's just tax blacks at 5% higher than everyone else while we're at it and just pretend it's a matter of "oh tough luck, those are taxes...sucks to get taxed with no benefit, right?"