Posted on 07/06/2010 7:03:50 AM PDT by celticfreedom
As the nation prepares to celebrate Independence Day with parades and barbecues, America’s veterans face a new tax on prosthetic limbs and other vital medical devices.
The health care overhaul passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama earlier this year contains a new tax on medical devices such as prosthetic limbs, pacemakers, and wheelchairs. This tax, which its proponents claim will raise $20 billion over the next ten years, contains no exemption for the nation’s 22 million veterans. In fact, Senate Democrats specifically refused to exempt veterans from the tax.
On March 24 2010, Senate Democrats rejected an amendment offered by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) to the healthcare bill. This amendment (SA 3644) would have prevented the medical device tax from hitting veterans covered by the Veterans Healthcare Program or TRICARE for Life. This amendment was rejected by a vote of 44-54. All but five Democrat senators voted in favor of retaining the tax for veterans.
The medical device tax was one of over twenty new or higher taxes in President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul. This permanent new tax is being collected now.
“On March 24, Senate Democrats had the opportunity to exempt our veterans from Obamacare’s new tax on medical devices such as prosthetic limbs. But 54 Democrats voted against the measure. They chose to side with the tax-and-spend crowd in Washington over our wounded warriors,”said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “This is one of the many reasons Harry Reid and the Democrats did not want Americans to read the 2,500 page health care bill before it was passed.”
In addition to those who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Department of Veterans Affairs reports the following number of veterans from America’s wars:
World War II: 2,079,000
Korean War: 2,507,000
Vietnam War: 7,569,000
Desert Shield/Storm: 2,254,000
The following senators voted for the tax:
Daniel Akaka (D-HI) Max Baucus (D-MT) Evan Bayh (D-IN) Mark Begich (D-AK) Michael Bennet (D-CO) Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Sherrod Brown (D-OH) Roland Burris (D-IL) Maria Cantwell (D-WA) Ben Cardin (D-MD) Tom Carper (D-DE) Bob Casey (D-PA) Kent Conrad (D-ND) Chris Dodd (D-CT) Byron Dorgan (D-ND) Richard Durbin (D-IL) Russ Feingold (D-WI) Diane Feinstein (D-CA) Al Franken (D-MN) Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) Tom Harkin (D-IA) Daniel Inouye (D-HI) Tim Johnson (D-SD) Edward Kaufman (D-DE) John Kerry (D-MA) Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Herb Kohl (D-WI) Mary Landrieu (D-LA) Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) Pat Leahy (D-VT) Carl Levin (D-MI) Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) Claire McCaskill (D-MO) Bob Menendez (D-NJ) Jeff Merkley (D-OR) Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) Patty Murray (D-WA) Bill Nelson (D-FL) Mark Pryor (D-AR) Jack Reed (D-RI) Harry Reid (D-NV) Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) Arlen Specter (D-PA) Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) Mark Udall (D-CO) Tom Udall (D-NM) Mark Warner (D-VA) Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) Ron Wyden (D-OR)
Read more: http://www.atr.org/wounded-warriors-face-new-tax-independence-a5175##ixzz0suWVL85H
words escape me.....
ping-a-ling
rats being rats........they just added another 21 billion to the military budget for “social” programs....but they’ll tax and give themselves raises like no one’s watching.
The Obamadon'tcare law must be repealed!
I dont see why anyone should be paying tax on prosthetic devices. The government should not taxing things of this nature.
Moreover, if this tax applies to all medical devices, look forward to a new tax on your contact lenses.
I dont see why anyone should be paying tax on prosthetic devices. The government should not taxing things of this nature.
Moreover, if this tax applies to all medical devices, look forward to a new tax on your contact lenses.
What scum.
They are taxing everything. I think that tax applies to half the stuff sold in a pharmacy.
“They are taxing everything.”
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Not yet they aren’t, they are not taxing you on your taxes yet. You can expect that soon, Lyndon Johnson did it, Obama can’t let a peckerwood from Texas outdo him.
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