Blue Dogs threatening to quash health bill over surtax voted for Bush tax cuts.
Blue Dogs threatening to quash health bill over surtax voted for Bush tax cuts.
Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR) — along with six other members of the Blue Dog coalition on the House Energy and Commerce Committee — are threatening to vote down the House’s health care legislation in committee. Ross reportedly objects to the surtax included in the bill, saying “I don’t like the idea of raising taxes in the worst economic crisis since World War II.” However, the Blue Dogs concerned about the surtax voted for some of the budget busting Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 that constituted a huge gift to the very wealthiest Americans. Of the seven Blue Dogs on from Energy and Commerce who are complaining, four were around to vote on Bush’s tax cuts. Here’s how they voted:
| Member | 2001 | 2003 |
| Rep. Mike Ross (AR) | Yes | No |
| Rep. Bart Gordon (TN) | Yes | No |
| Rep. Jim Matheson (UT) | Yes | Yes |
| Rep. Baron Hill (IN) | No | No |
Over the ten year window from 2001-2010, the Bush tax cuts gave the richest one percent of Americans about $715 billion in tax breaks. This comes out to about $518,000 per household over ten years or about $51,800 per year. The proposed surtax, meanwhile, would raise $544 billion from households making more than $350,000 per year. The Wonk Room has more.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
F uckin’ chunkheads.
July 16th, 2009 at 8:06 pmThese blue dog traitors should be voted out of office! People making over 250k-350k a year aren’t going through hard times.
Let those who are wealthy pay their fare share of taxes.
THIS SHYTE IS RIDICULOUS – BURN IN HELL BLUE DOGS!
Sorry – this shyte is really pissing me off!
July 16th, 2009 at 8:16 pmAnd let me point out the obvious – anyone who has $350,000 of taxable income makes a whole hell of a lot more than that!
Raise taxes on those who benefited most from W’s tax boondoggle, and create a donut hole for FICA/Medicare payroll tax that kicks back in on a 1% basis for each $500k made over $1 million, with a cap after, say $15 million/year.
PEACE
July 16th, 2009 at 8:22 pmAh, they’re just scared out of their wits they won’t continue to receive money for their re-election from AMA, drug companies, and insurance industry. Chickens!!
July 16th, 2009 at 8:22 pmRight wing hack, Ron Christie, is more concerned with the cost of health care reform, and less concerned with people dying.
Here is the clip, you got to see this!!!
http://progressnotcongress.org/?p=2194
July 16th, 2009 at 8:23 pmkevsters@5, I saw that and almost choked. What if someone he loved had a debilitating illness? Cancer? Diabetes? I guess Ron could afford treatment for someone close to him. But the Middle Class? I guess we are doomed to die because were aren’t worthy enough.
July 16th, 2009 at 8:28 pmTell them all to go to hell.
July 16th, 2009 at 8:30 pmLook what states their from — predominantly evangelical and poorly educated — they have pulled the wool over the eyes of their constituents for years and they think they can hold up the rest of the nation in the same way. Eff Them.
Look at what states THEY’RE from — typo – sorry
July 16th, 2009 at 8:32 pmFingers were flying at the time, I was so furious.
Ron Christie needs some healthcare of his own. I can’t get past his cross-eyed moron look and what sounds like polyps on his vocal chords.
And Ron? If $.75 of every dollar spent on healthcare is spent on chronic illness, dontcha think that negotiating drug prices with BigPharma would be a reasonable cost-savings measure? BTW, Christie’s number is way off because, after profits and administrative expenses, less than $.40 of each dollar paid by a purchaser of healthcare get paid to the providers of healthcare.
But when did the GNOP ever let facts get in the way of trying to make a point?
PEACE
July 16th, 2009 at 8:34 pmThe blue swine dems are a group of traitors; favorite tools of the plutocrats. They always, always vote in favor of the plutes regardless of what their constituencies want. They are worse than republicons. They need to go, ASAP.
July 16th, 2009 at 8:34 pmThe Democratic primaries are going to be increasing in importance as the Republican party becomes less of a threat in the general elections.
July 16th, 2009 at 8:41 pmThe blue dogs are worried about the 2010 election because of the tax issues. What they fail to appreciate is that the tax issue will be less important if a health care program is enacted. They are worried about losing seats in states that are red states, but their seats are never secure in these red states even in better times. They can sell the health care program and minimize the arguments about raising taxes since they do not represent districts where most of the voters will see no change in their taxes.
July 16th, 2009 at 8:43 pmBlueDog@mail.house.gov
July 16th, 2009 at 8:45 pmKristen Hawn, Communications Director
1% more on 350K? We make several powers of 2 less than that and I’ll pay an additional 1% right now if it means my fellow citizens won’t die from lack of money for treatment. 1%? That’s the value these blue slugs (I’ll insult neither dogs nor swine) place on their conscience, their Christian values? Sheesh!
July 16th, 2009 at 8:50 pmI was watching Ron “crosseyed” Christie on Ed tonight – it’s amazing how selfish and greedy Rethuglicans are. It’s even worse when so called Blue Dog Democrats are worrying about taxing the rich to cover the expense of healthcare. They act as if passing legislation for affordable healthcare for Americans is something that they can drag their feet about.
July 16th, 2009 at 8:52 pmI am beginning to wonder. Is the Democratic Party supposed to be a party for liberals, or is it just a party that accepts liberals? Because some of these party members have diametrically opposing political views on certain very key issues. How are voters supposed to know what the party as a whole will support and fight for, if we can’t be sure that everyone in that party will support and fight for those things?
July 16th, 2009 at 8:53 pmThanks to Regan and all the Republican Revolutionaries in 1994, they are the ones who claimed ALL taxes were evil. In their quest to court Big Business to solidify power, they brainwashed Americans that Government was an evil entity. Now unions are going extinct, wages are stagnebt and Middle Class Americans are suffering. Sad thing is, many STILL believe all taxes are wrong. Sigh.
July 16th, 2009 at 8:54 pmTaxing people who make $250K/person or $350K/family 1% more in taxes is now brutally cruel?
Boo-frickin’-hoo.
Don’t these people know how much their premiums and copays are increased because so many people are not insured?
Is everyone making that kind of money that self-centered?
July 16th, 2009 at 8:58 pmDo people making that kind of money really feel that way – or are others speaking for them?
A blue dog wakes up each morning and recites the Pledge of Hypocrisy in front of their Lindsey Graham and Michael Steele photos, before eating a robust bowl of Cap N’ Traitor cereal.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:00 pmspencers mom says:
Ron Christie needs some healthcare of his own. I can’t get past his cross-eyed moron look and what sounds like polyps on his vocal chords.
It’s not easy keeping your eyes on the prize while looking over either shoulder at the same time.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:03 pmAnyone remember Harry and Louise commercials?
They’re back and this time, they’re in favor of health care..
Here
July 16th, 2009 at 9:08 pmPAT BUCHANAN IS ON RACHEL RIGHT NOW! WHAT A RACIST!
July 16th, 2009 at 9:09 pmP.D. says:
Thanks to Regan and all the Republican Revolutionaries in 1994, they are the ones who claimed ALL taxes were evil. In their quest to court Big Business to solidify power, they brainwashed Americans that Government was an evil entity. Now unions are going extinct, wages are stagnebt and Middle Class Americans are suffering. Sad thing is, many STILL believe all taxes are wrong. Sigh.
Here in Tennessee, we have a large middle class populace that seems unable to do basic math. Every time anyone tries to do tax reform on a state level, it’s voted down after massive “Ax the Tax” campaigns by business and the wealthy.
Currently in this state, there is no income tax, but our sales tax is 10%. Yes, 10%, on every single thing we buy, with the exception of a couple of items here and there.
Considering that most folks spend 95 – 100% of their income every year, we’re consenting to pay 10% o he state on pretty much all of our income.
But when tax reform comes around and we get proposals that would shift more tax burden to the upper classes (example: one proposal voted down would have introduced a flat 3% income tax / 3% sales tax), they’re attacked and shot down by special interests and the “conservative” views of the electorate. This drives me insane.
I would like to start a non-profit in this state that teaches adults basic math. Maybe if they can figure out for themselves how this affects their own pockets, they’ll vote accordingly XoD
July 16th, 2009 at 9:10 pmMorgan@23. I feel for you. 10% in sales tax! That is highway robbery. Here in PA it’s 6%. I still don’t understand why the South is so beholden to the Repug Party. Is it religious issues or what?
July 16th, 2009 at 9:13 pmHey PD – I’m watching Pat Buchanan in action right now! He’s SO rascist that I had to stand back from the TV! My mercy!
July 16th, 2009 at 9:15 pmSorry OT but Rachel just shut Pat down!
July 16th, 2009 at 9:17 pmP.D. says:
PAT BUCHANAN IS ON RACHEL RIGHT NOW! WHAT A RACIST!
As long as you’re a stern racist who can laugh every now and then…
Lets face it, Pat has name value and MSNBC keeps him on air “just because” it provides the necessary balance (or so it seems) with the crazies who’d decry it if he was left to walk to CNN.
I guess it’s either Pat Buchanan as a guest analyst or someone like Tucker Carlson going for their own show for how many months, yet again.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:20 pmWell Rachel told Pat the way it is. He is a relic from the fifties. Like my dad and a lot of other aging Baby-Boomers. They can’t handle the diversity staring them in the face. Here in the Philly suburbs, it is no longer white bread, but a melting pot of all different races. That scares the crap out of Pat Buchanan and older white men like my father.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:22 pmSales taxes and VAT’s are regressive. They tend to discourage consumption and have a bigger impact on the poor. Income taxes are the fair way to tax and I don’t mean flat taxes which ultimately favor the very rich. Just look at Europe and you see that VAT discourages the poor and middle class people from buying but not the rich that can easily afford the VAT.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:29 pmP.D. says:
I still don’t understand why the South is so beholden to the Repug Party. Is it religious issues or what?
As a southerner, I don’t think it’s religion though that’s part of it. It’s easy to get these folk to defend their “freedom” to accept whatever crumbs they’re given. We can be a fairly self-reliant group, so you can get people to try to be self-reliant even when the deck is so hopelessly stacked against them. I love my fellow southerners, but this is a group that has historically fought for the right of the rich to keep slaves even though the fact of slavery guaranteed that there were few jobs available for the white underclass. Free to starve, free to work for the crumbs. For some, racism is the only thing they’ve got to allow themselves to feel better than someone.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:31 pmP.D. says:
Well Rachel told Pat the way it is. He is a relic from the fifties. Like my dad and a lot of other aging Baby-Boomers. They can’t handle the diversity staring them in the face. Here in the Philly suburbs, it is no longer white bread, but a melting pot of all different races. That scares the crap out of Pat Buchanan and older white men like my father.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Rachel scares the crap out of Pat. Anyone not like Pat scares the crap out of Pat. I can’t wait to see the video — even if his voice goes high enough to break glass. ;)
July 16th, 2009 at 9:32 pmEeek, the sky is falling, eek! People will die if Congress votes in a public option federal health insurance plan. Funny, people in America have been dying here for the last eighty years for the lack of affordable health insurance, but that never bothered the GOP before…
The greedy selfish Republicans and their greedy selfish corporations are scared stiff that when this public option federal health insurance plan that there will be a massive rush of millions of people out of the clutches of private insurance companies and into the public plan…
July 16th, 2009 at 9:35 pmZooey, You had to see Pat. He was so flustered trying to explain his point. But that’s the problem. He is a RACIST. People like us will never understand his veiw, just like he can’t understand our point of view. To people like Pat. All the problems in the world are because of other peole. People like Pat and the Repugs can’t blame themselves for their foilbles, it is ALWAYS evry one elses fault. And who are the easiest targets? Minorities.
July 16th, 2009 at 9:47 pmThese guys are partly to blame for getting us into this mess, and it looks like they want to keep us here.
Vote them out!
July 16th, 2009 at 10:05 pmRoss talks about tax increases like everyone is getting their taxes hiked, instead of the wealthiest 1 or 2% among us who have had a windfall the last few years. They would barely notice the effects of paying these taxes. It seems like the least the rich could do was contribute what in reality is their fair share for all the financial breaks they’ve been given.
As Nate Silver reported, Ross and several other Blue Dogs should really be supporting the healthcare reforms as stated in the House and HELP legislation, since they have some of the largest percentages of people in their districts who would be helped.
July 16th, 2009 at 10:32 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Back in the 50’s we had Joseph McCarthy’s commie witch hunt. So they had to ruin thousands of American’s lives and enrich to military industrial complex to keep the dreaded communists from gaining any power here. Actually, they were demonizing communism to scare Americans to make it easier to protect the capitalists. Vietnam, same thing. The commies were going to take over a country that most Americans had never heard of and then they would be coming here. More bullshit, same result. Americans scared, capitalists gain. In the 80’s it was the communist Soviet Union being aggressive so Reagan dramatically increases defense spending to fend off the communist version of socialism, which the republicans, the military industrial complex and the capitalists all consider one and the same. Now we have terrorists that we’re all supposed to be scared to death of so we can bloat the Pentagon some more. And we have the health care crisis. Once again our politicians come out to tell us to be afraid of the dreaded socialized medicine with horror stories of how it works (or doesn’t work) in other countries. Well, it does work. It works very well. There isn’t a country on this planet with socialized medicine that wants the heartless debacle of health care we have. Our politicians don’t give a shit about you, your family, you finances or anything else that would remotely be considered humane. They only care about protecting the capitalists and their status quo. And they’ll concoct anything and stop at nothing to scare the shit out of Americans so as to maintain that status quo. It’s one of the few things our politicians do well; promoting fear, having adulterous sex and killing people in other countries. Capitalism easily promotes corruption. We can do better.
July 16th, 2009 at 11:04 pmWhat is their goal? What do they really want? Do they think by interfering with this bill they will become more powerful, a’la Snow and Lieberman? I really hope they get their asses kicked hard enough to leave a footprint or two.
July 16th, 2009 at 11:10 pmAll true Mr. Evil. In our zeal to defeat communist regimes we supported dictators and reaped resentment among the repressed. Communism only seems preferable to those who are so down-trodden they would accept anything that seems to promise social justice. If we’d put half the effort, and money, into building just societies that met the needs of all their citizens as we have into propping up fascists and creating complex weapons systems, we might not need the freaking weapons.
July 16th, 2009 at 11:17 pmWell, with the Bush tax-cuts [which are backloaded] only about three million jsobs were created in the eight years leading up to the ‘economic crisis’
July 16th, 2009 at 11:36 pmRoss is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, and he considers himself a social moderate and fiscal conservative. Ross supports stem cell research but opposes abortion. He also is against gun control, and is one of the few Democratic members of Congress to earn an A+ rating from the National Rife Association’s Political Victory Fund.
This loser is about as much a “Democrat” , as Bush was a “war president/great leader”……….
July 16th, 2009 at 11:45 pmThe reason their Blue Dogs is……….they want to be hypocrites like the Reich.Are these clowns wearing TIN hats to?
July 17th, 2009 at 12:12 amUm. Aren’t we being a bit premature? This is just the first full day to examine a huge bill. There are going to be countless motions and counter motions and moves to block the motions that blocked a previous counter motion.
Personally, I want a lively debate in the hopes of getting the best possible bill. After recent history it’s easy to forget that the real purpose of debate is to get the best result rather than score political points.
And, when push comes to shove, if a few Dems really try screw up the works I don’t they they have the clout or numbers to pull it off.
July 17th, 2009 at 12:33 amQuestion: Why does msnbc advertise for fox business channel? I thought msnbc was owned by GE and fox by Murdoch. I also see the commercial on the weather channel, which is an affiliate of msnbc. Are they all working for the same purpose-to deceive the public w/ this supposed fighting b/w the left-wing and right-wing? It’s all a means of distraction IMO. They want us to get so caught up in all this nonsense that we won’t notice as our economy tanks even further and we plunge deeper into wars for oil.
Before I get my hopes up for a public option, I want to read the fine print to see what procedures will be mandatory (i.e. vaccinations) in order to get into the plan. There have got to be strings attached to keep big pharma/HMO’s pleased b/c THEY are the ones that pull the puppet strings.
July 17th, 2009 at 12:50 amThere have already been over 100 amendments and many of them were from Republicans and Blue Dogs. These amendments were incorporated but no Republican is going vote in favor of the bill. The lobbyists are dangling money for campaign contributions and I hope every SOB that takes their money gets exposed. It would be very gratifying if their constituents get up in arms over their vote against the bill. It is shameful that instead of doing what is right for the country, they are doing what is right for their pocketbook. The politicians who are against this bill may find themselves out of office, as well they should.
July 17th, 2009 at 12:56 amThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
This comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Let us make it abundantly clear to the Blue Mutts that election 010 is upcoming, and we can do quite a bit to see that they are electorally neutered…
July 17th, 2009 at 1:25 amThe health care debate on MSM and the blogs has deteriorated to name calling for the most part. Please make sure you know the bill being talked about and READ it! This bill was on my democratic representative’s website. It stinks! I have been reading it and it seems the govt option is to pass you off to qualified private plans.
There is no lesser of two evils in this debate. We will either have single payer or, smoke and mirrors private insurance. Read the bills!
July 17th, 2009 at 1:35 am.
It appears that:
Rep. Baron Hill (IN) passed on the Grape-O Punch…
Rep.s Mike Ross (AR) and Bart Gordon (TN) enjoyed the first round…
And Rep. Jim Matheson (UT) double dipped in the concentrate.
.
July 17th, 2009 at 1:41 amFrom my inbox…
July 17th, 2009 at 1:51 am
I am 57 years old. Since 1964 I have hung ” door hangers” for the Democratic Party. I have campaigned for George McGovern when we knew the McGovern campaign was doomed because of “the money”. I have worked tirelesssly for democratic values and put my limited funds for 30 years in the possession of Democrathey are bigger ts believing they would put our “best face forward” in an ever more complex and changing world. With Barack I decided to go “once more into the breech” and give money and time to select our last best hope. We won and then we lost. Progressives throughout the land have lost more than they ever hoped to gain from the politics of the Obama administration. They are the the worst of the best. They hide behind the same catchphrases of the past. They give us half-measures when only a full measure will do. They are held captive, willingly, by the same people who delivered disaster to the middle class for the last 30 years in this country and they are paid well to ignore our plight. Democrats are Scum!! They are SELLOUTS. VIVA LA REVOLUTION. It will not be televised!!!!.
July 17th, 2009 at 2:27 amThe Blue-dogs can just go lick themselves. (or have Lindsay do it for them)
July 17th, 2009 at 2:38 am.
House panel passes tax increase for health plan
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090717/ap_on_go_co/health_care_overhaul_taxes
July 17th, 2009 at 2:58 am
Are they really democrats?
July 17th, 2009 at 5:02 amSen. Obama voted for the Cheney energy bill.
This makes him an honorary Blue Dog.
Cause of global warming: Rush Limbaugh’s Kidneys Are on Fire
July 17th, 2009 at 6:30 amSingle-payer is best, but no matter what happens with this legislation, it isn’t over. It would mean a great deal to many people if insurance companies were required to give everyone full coverage. It isn’t ideal, in and of itself, but it would save lives and allow people locked into the ghetto of SSDI to go to school, find jobs, and live in dignity, without having their poverty enforced to stay alive.
July 17th, 2009 at 6:48 am“I don’t like the idea of raising taxes in the worst economic crisis since World War II.”
Wow. You know, I thought the republicans were stupid, in that all during the 2008 race, McCain kept saying that Obama would raise taxes, raise taxes, raise taxes. Now, centrist democrats (god only knows why they’re even called democrats if they seem so intent on voting with republicans) are saying the same things.
There’s one teensy, tiny, itty bitty little trio of words that republicans and blue-balls (oh, excuse me, blue DOGS) keep forgetting to attach to the end of that term, “raise taxes,”…………
ON THE RICH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We’re not raising taxes on middle class Americans, in fact, we just received a tax-BREAK from Obama when he took office. WE’RE TAXING THE WEALTHIEST OF AMERICANS TO HELP PAY FOR THINGS!!!!!!!!!!
WHYYYYYYYY????!!!!!!! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WHY????!!!!!!!!
Why is it so impossibly hard for these fools to just outright admit the truth, which is that they don’t care about the middle class people who actually VOTED them into office? They only care about making sure that they, and their $350k+/year counterparts around the nation don’t have to pay any more in taxes.
We don’t have a filibuster-proof, 60-seat majority in the senate. We have (probably, possibly less) about 51 true blues, and the rest are blue balls, i.e. republicans in disguise.
It’s time to shift further to the left, because these “centrists” are just as bad as any republican. When I see Rasmussen reports and surveys online that average Americans have backslid and now trust republicans more than democrats to handle the economy, I get REALLY upset…
July 17th, 2009 at 12:16 pmI’ve lived in Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, and now DC. Tennessee was the best.
The sales tax in TN was THE SAME as it was in LA (about 10%) and THE SAME as it is in DC (about 10%) and a little higher than it was in AR (about 5-8% depending). But in LA there is a an income tax. In AR there is a (very low) income tax. In DC, there is a freaking huge income tax, almost 1/2 the federal income tax. Also, in AR and DC there are excise taxes on your property (cars and such) TN had nothing like that. So obviously living in LA, AR, and DC were utopia and TN was hell.
Nothing of the sort. Complete opposite. TN is a very nice place to live and fairly low on the taxes. Property taxes were a little high, but much lower than in DC or Maryland, that’s for sure.
July 17th, 2009 at 1:47 pmTAX THE RICH…NOW
I don’t need a military to protect my rental home.
I don’t need a military to protect my bank…i don’t own one.
I don’t need the military to protect my corporation in other countries because I don’t own a corporation.
I don’t need the military to overthrow government so my corporation can claim the GOODS for america.
YOU SEE, WHY THE FU** SHOULD THE MIDDLE CLASS PAY SO MUCH FOR THE MILITARY WHEN IT’S PRIMARY USE IS FOR THE RICH?????
WE HAVE PAYED FOR DECADES NOW ITS YOUR FUC*EN TURN RICH BASTARDS!!
July 17th, 2009 at 1:53 pmSesli Sohbet
July 18th, 2009 at 5:44 amSesli Chat
Chat
Sohbet
Diyet
Makyaj
Güzellik
Egzersiz