On SotU

I have been sick of late. It began as a mere sore throat and eventually evolved into a full-blown consumptive cough so wet and diseased sounding that I briefly considered going out shopping for a proper outfit to wear while wasting away, complete with shoes. And perhaps a hat. Nothing, it seems, brings out my inner-Victorian like a head cold. After a day home from work and the liberal application of warm, sleeping pets, I am pleased to say that I’m making a full recovery.

I did not, however, watch President Retread’s State of the Union. I was too sick to get drunk, and too smart to sit through it sober.

Because I don’t live under an overpass, though, I have of course heard about many of the . . . things . . . he said. Calling them “policy initiatives” would be a gross insult to the world of ideas. What can you hope to expect from a man roughly as bright as a desiccated firefly ass hours after its brutal amputation by a sticky and undisciplined 6 year old?

Not much, obviously. It seems, though, that no matter how low we set the bar President Retread manages ably to clothesline himself upon it rather than going over. Case in point, his recent suggestion that tax breaks be offered to those Americans with jobs but without insurance, to be financed by taxing as income the employer contributions of employed Americans with insurance.

Now, to be fair. This isn’t a new idea. This turd is one that has been suggested before and is simply being presented to the unsuspecting public with a fresh coating of sparklies. Further, the plan wouldn’t tax all Americans with employer-provided health plans, just those Americans with good health plans. If your insurance sucks, well then, it can continue to suck beneath the radar of new taxation.

Now, in general, I’m a pretty pro-tax kind of girl. We pay less in taxes than any other Western industrialized nation; in we return we expect (and get) far less from our government than other citizens. Because, for reasons large and small, there are really ALL KINDS of things that the free market really sort of sucks at, I think this is a crappy trade for the vast majority of Americans. Including, namely, me and most people I know and love.

President Retread isn’t talking about restructuring the tax code, though. No, he’s talking about paying for a tax break for one group by adding another tax somewhere else. The problem? Dear god, where do I start?

If one finds oneself in the lowest tax bracket, one likely won’t pay enough in taxes to even benefit from the full deduction. Lots of people, like ME for instance, really can’t afford to have my health care taxed as income. Do I benefit from it? Duh. Can I eat it? No. My insurance plan is reasonably good, but it might not be the “gold standard” type of plan that would qualify as taxable. However, how many workers have accepted crappy pay raises or worked at crappy jobs because the benefits were good? Lots. Plus, this friggin’ idea isn’t indexed to the rate of inflation in the health sector. So even if you’re reasonably good insurance isn’t taxable now, it might be in about—say—20 minutes.

Breathe, girl, breathe.

This idea is so stupid in so many ways that it is easy to miss the bigger issue: this plan fails to address the fact health care ought to be a basic right. Instead, it is slowly becoming a precious commodity that is increasingly hard to afford for vast numbers of Americans.