Polis stays true to form. Working to destroy America!
WASHINGTON — It was a risky move for a first-term Democratic congressman to take on a central tenet of his party’s health care reform plan, but U.S. Rep. Jared Polis’ offensive against a surtax on wealthy Americans has apparently paid off.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi back- pedaled on the proposal over the weekend, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, given the chance on the Sunday talk shows to back the surtax, twice demurred.
But Polis — a liberal congressman from one of Colorado‘s most liberal districts — has suddenly found himself under attack from, well, liberals.
“If you dig into the substantive concerns, you find that Polis’ argument is full of holes,” said Faiz Shakir, editor of an influential blog at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. Health care reform has more holes than Swiss Cheese!
At the heart of the skirmish is the question of how to pay the trillion-dollar cost of health reform, one of the trickiest questions of the debate and one that is already dividing Democratic lawmakers. Can you say Health Care Rationing?The House version of the bill raises about half that money from a new tax of as much of 5.4 percent on families earning more than $350,000 or individuals earning $280,000.
Polis led a mini-revolt of House freshmen last week against the surtax, circulating a letter that gained 21 Democratic signatures and claiming that it would take a heavy toll on small-business owners, many of whom don’t file as corporations.
Taken together with similar complaints by conservative Democrats, the revolt shook House leaders and produced a quick pivot by Pelosi, who said in a weekend interview that she would be open to a higher threshold — a tax on families making at least $1 million.
President Barack Obama called the doubting freshmen to the White House to hear their concerns on Friday, and Polis is set to meet with Sebelius today. Polis called to Principle O’s office!
“What many Democrats criticized the Republicans for when they were in charge was that it was a rubber-stamp Congress,” Polis said Monday. “For health care reform to be a good issue for the Democratic Party, we need to succeed in reform that not only covers the 48 million uninsured but is also good for the economy.” What about the 83 million Americans who will lose their insurance under health care reform?
At the same time, Polis has come under attack by the Democratic left — a lesson on the complex politics of health care reform and the nervousness of grassroots groups who fear that the reform effort may collapse the way it did under President Bill Clinton. All Real Americans are praying it does!
Polis’ office has been hit with scores of calls and e-mails calling on him to explain his position. Just like when his constituents were calling him about cap and tax!! And House Democrats have been circulating fact sheets suggesting that the surtax would hit, at most, 4.1 percent of small-business owners. (Polis said those businesses have the most employees.)
“If he doesn’t sign on (to support reform), I think yes, he does ultimately face a pretty big progressive blowback,” said Shakir, the progressive blogger. I mean we need to destroy has many small businesses has possible right?
Polis spokeswoman Lara Cottingham said her office tells callers that her boss supports the overall reform effort — Polis in fact supports a single-payer, government-run health care system, often a cause of the party’s left — but would rather see the costs spread out more evenly, including a possible surtax on big corporations. Read between the lines more taxes for you and me!
“We can do a lot better than what we have currently,” Polis said. District 2 can do a lot better than Representative Polis. “I think the easiest way is to spread it across more (kinds of) taxes so it’s a smaller increase on any one of those.”How about no taxes!
Polis has goose stepped right along with the adminstration to date. I would be real surprised to see him stand his ground on this issue. Don’t want to get in the Speakers Dog House do we?
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