Donald Trump, it has already been established, is a pathological liar. He has repeatedly said that he will not repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, without replacing it with something much better.
But now it turns out that Trump and his rich buddies who both populate and contribute to the GOP have an added incentive to gut the bill which provides affordable health insurance for over 20 million Americans: If they do, they stand to pocket one hell of a tax cut.
What makes this true? Well, Obamacare didn’t just change insurance arrangements. It also raised taxes on corporations and individuals. So if the laws is repealed–and that has been the dream of Republicans since it went into effect– the taxes which help subsidize the ACA would also be repealed. And the benefits would mostly go to those with incomes above a million dollars or more. In other words, people like the President-elect and his filthy rich buddies.
Yep, while there are several sources of revenue to support the extension of healthcare to tens of millions in the ACA, the largest by far is from a new levy on income. Technically it’s part of the Medicare Hospital Insurance tax. But this new tax is a “surcharge,” and it differs from the rest of the Medicare tax in two ways:
- It falls exclusively on wealthy households; married couples with annual incomes above $250,000 and on single people with annual incomes above $200,000.
- The surcharge includes investment income. And since the wealthy tend to have more holdings in stocks and real estate, it hits them harder than anyone.
The current tax hits millionaires and above especially hard, adding some $36,000 in taxes for those with incomes above $1 million. Ouch!
So if you were wondering whether or not–and just how quickly–the GOP would be gutting Obamacare, just follow the money and it becomes clear why Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell are so hot to do away with the ACA: They have rich benefactors who want to pay as little as possible.
Welcome to the American plutocracy.
This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org