I’m echoing some of what Charley said, but just to be clear: there is absolutely no way I would consider supporting an individual mandate for health insurance if there is no employer mandate. I’ve already made pretty clear that I don’t like the idea of an individual mandate under any set of circumstances. I was grudgingly coming around to the possibility that in order to get an employer mandate through, it might be necessary to have some kind of individual mandate as well.
But this notion that it’s OK to tax individuals – and yes, Mr. "no new taxes" Governor, it’s a tax – within an inch of their lives to force them to carry health insurance, but it’s too hard on business to give employers a choice of paying a tax or covering their employees, is bullshit. If that kind of plan passes, I will be the first one signing the referendum petitions to repeal it.
So to Speaker DiMasi: stand your ground. Put in all the technical tweaks you want to protect the good employers from having to pay the tax, but at the end of the day, pass a bill that lets businesses choose between, on the one hand, providing coverage for their own workers, and on the other, making it easier for those workers to buy their own health insurance (by paying into a state fund for that purpose). Don’t let the Chamber of Commerce bully you.
And to Senate President Travaglini: get with the program. You should be backing DiMasi on this. Fact is, DiMasi’s plan is a lot bolder than yours, and you’re probably pissed about that, since suddenly DiMasi has transformed himself from a do-nothing figurehead more interested in golf than leadership into a visionary who might lead not only the state but the nation on health care, while you’re still wondering what hit you. Well, too bad. Swallow your pride and do the right thing for the people you represent.
Oh, and Governor Romney, just stay out of it and try not to screw things up. You’re basically irrelevant anyway – whatever plan finally passes will pass by veto-proof margins in both chambers. So why don’t you just do us all a favor and keep quiet. Go to a steak fry in Iowa or something. People here are trying to work.
Awesome, David. Thanks for that.
A-frackin’-men!
Can I get a witness?CAN I GET A WITNESS??Preach it, Brother David.WF
David,[*** deleted by the Administrator ***]Why does an employer owe you anything but a job? Make it expensive enough to be here and companies have lots of choices – they don’t have to be here. The focus on the Walmarts and the others who need to be close to the customers to survive and therefore can be taxed more is nonsense. They pass on the cost to us.
Jack, maybe we should just repeal the worker’s comp laws, the unemployment insurance laws, and hey, why stop there – let’s repeal the corporate income tax too! That will make Mass. a more business-friendly environment, right? As for “passing the cost on to us,” as Charley (among others) has noted repeatedly, we’re ALREADY paying for the uninsureds’ health care – ALL of us – but in perhaps the least efficient and least fair way possible. Seems to me we ought to try to rectify that situation. If you’ve got a better plan, let’s hear it.