PROMISE #6: ‘My Plan Won’t Raise Your Taxes One Penny’

 SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL): “And if you’re a family making less than $250,000 a year, my plan won’t raise your taxes one penny — not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.” (Barack Obama, Remarks, Orlando, FL, 8/3/08)

SEN. MARY LANDRIEU (D-LA): “Yes, we’ve had to raise some taxes and fees to pay for this bill.” (CSPAN’s Washington Journal, 12/22/09)

“Penalty Payments By Employers… 2010-2019… -52 [Billion Dollars].” (CBO Director Doug Elmendorf, Letter To Rep. Nancy Pelosi, P.8, 3/18/10)

$30 BILLION IN TAXES ON PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS

Tax On Private Health Insurance Plans: “32.0 [Billion Dollars].” JCT: “I. Revenue Provisions 1. 40% excise tax on health coverage in excess of $10,200/$27,500 (subject to adjustment for unexpected increase in medical costs prior to effective date) and increased thresholds of $1,650/$3,450 for over age 55 retirees or certain high-risk professions, both indexed for inflation by CPI-U plus 1%; adjustment based on age and gender profile of employees; vision and dental excluded from excise tax; levied at insurer level; employer aggregates and issues information return for insurers indicating amount subject to the excise tax; nondeductible… 2010-2019… 32.0 [Billion Dollars].” (“Estimated Revenue Effects Of The Amendment In The Nature Of A Substitute To H.R. 4872, The “Reconciliation Act Of 2010,” In Combination With The Revenue Effects Of H.R. 3590, The “Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act (‘PPACA’),” As Passed By The Senate,” Joint Committee On Taxation, P.1, 3/18/10)

“The fee on health insurance providers… Taxes may be borne by: consumers in the form of higher prices; owners of firms in the form of lower profits; employees of firms in the form of lower wages; or other suppliers to firms in the form of lower payments. … we estimate that eliminating this fee could decrease the average family premium in 2016 by $350 to $400.” (Thomas Barthold, Chief Of Staff Joint Committee On Taxation, Letter To Sen. Kyl, P.2, 5, 6/3/11)

$20 BILLION IN TAXES ON MEDICAL DEVICE MANUFACTURERS

“Excise Tax On Manufacturers And Importers Of Certain Medical Devices… 20.0 [Billion Dollars].”  JCT: “Impose 2.9% excise tax on manufacturers and importers of certain medical devices… 2010-2019… 20.0 [Billion Dollars].” (“Estimated Revenue Effects Of The Amendment In The Nature Of A Substitute To H.R. 4872, The “Reconciliation Act Of 2010,” In Combination With The Revenue Effects Of H.R. 3590, The “Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act (‘PPACA’),” As Passed By The Senate,” Joint Committee On Taxation, P.2, 3/18/10)

PROMISE #7: Mandate Not ‘The Solution’

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL): “Here’s the concern. If you haven’t made it affordable, how are you going to enforce a mandate. I mean, if a mandate was the solution, we can try that to solve homelessness by mandating everybody to buy a house.” (CNN’s “American Morning,” 2/5/08)

CBO: “Federal mandates that apply to individuals as members of society are extremely rare. One example is the requirement that draft-age men register with the Selective Service System. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is not aware of any others imposed by current federal law.” (“Budgetary Treatment Of An Individual Mandate To Buy Insurance,” Congressional Budget Office, P.13, 8/94)

“Penalty Payments By Employers And Uninsured Individuals… 2010-2019… 36 [Billion Dollars].” (CBO Director Doug Elmendorf, Letter To Sen. Harry Reid, P.6, 11/18/09)

  INDIVIDUALS: “A person without insurance could be required to pay a financial penalty, starting at $95 in 2014 and rising to $750 in 2016, with a maximum of $2,250 for a family.” (“Senate Health Plan Seeks To Add Coverage To 31 Million,” The New York Times, 11/19/09)

 COMPANIES: “Firms with more than 50 workers that did not offer coverage would have to pay a penalty of $750 for each full-time worker if any of their workers obtained subsidized coverage through the insurance exchanges; that dollar amount would be indexed.” (CBO Director Doug Elmendorf, Letter To Sen. Harry Reid, P.7, 11/18/09)

PROMISE #8: ‘Broadcasting Those Negotiations On C-SPAN’

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL): “That’s what I will do in bringing all parties together, not negotiating behind closed doors, but bringing all parties together, and broadcasting those negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are, because part of what we have to do is enlist the American people in this process.” (Sen. Obama, Presidential Debate, 1/31/08)

‘C-SPAN Cameras Won’t See The Real Action’ – “After months of buildup, the historic debate on health care reform opens on the senate floor Monday — but the C-SPAN cameras won’t see the real action.” (“Dems Seek Deal As Sen. Debate Begins,” Politico, 11/30/09)

“But now, as a senate vote on health-care legislation nears, those negotiations are occurring in a setting that is anything but revolutionary in Washington: three senators are working on the bill behind closed doors.” (“Small Group Now Leads Closed Negotiations On Health-Care Bill,” The Washington Post, 10/18/09)

“…there are controversial special provisions of the Senate health reform bill … First up, the ‘Louisiana Purchase.’ … Landrieu said in a speech on the Senate floor Feb. 4th that critics should ‘shut their mouth.’” (“White House Cuts Special Help For Nebraska, But Other Deals Remain In Reform Bill,” ABC News, 2/22/10)

“[Nelson’s] involvement with the Affordable Care Act–including the ‘Cornhusker Kickback,’ or the perception that he tried to sell his vote for favorable language in the bill–left a bad taste in voters’ mouths.” (“Nebraska Yet Another Blow To Senate Democrats’ Hopes,” U.S. News & World Report, 12/28/11)

“… a backroom deal for Florida that was nicknamed ‘Gator Aid.’” (“Florida Poll: Healthcare Law Hurts Obama, Democrats,” The Miami Herald, 3/28/10)

“…calling the carve-out the ‘Bismarck Bank Job.’” (“Conrad Drops Support For North Dakota Provision To Avoid Controversy,” The Hill, 3/18/10)

“Critics are mocking it as ‘the Rocky Top vote swap.’” (“Health Bill Vote In Sight, Dems Seeking Gains Include Provision For TN Hospitals,” Knoxville News, 3/20/10)

PROMISE #9: ‘Will Not Sign It If It Adds One Dime To The Deficit’

 PRESIDENT OBAMA: “I will not sign it if it adds one dime to the deficit, now or in the future, period.” (President Obama, Remarks To Joint Session Of Congress, 9/9/09)

DAVID BRODER, The Washington Post: “Every expert I have talked to says that the public has it right. These bills, as they stand, are budget-busters.” (David Broder, Op-Ed, “A Budget-Buster In The Making,” The Washington Post, 11/22/09)

DOUG HOLTZ-EAKIN & MICHAEL RAMLET: “A more comprehensive and realistic projection suggests that the new reform law will raise the deficit by more than $500 billion during the first ten years and by nearly $1.5 trillion in the following decade.” (“Health Care Reform Is Likely To Widen Federal Budget Deficits, Not Reduce Them,”Health Affairs, 6/10)

 PRESIDENT OBAMA: “I want to work with the AMA so we can scale back the excessive defensive medicine that reinforces our current system, and shift to a system where we are providing better care, simply — rather than simply more treatment. So this is going to be a priority for me.” (President Obama, Remarks To The AMA, Chicago, IL, 6/15/09)

“It is the sense of the Senate that— health care reform presents an opportunity to address issues related to medical malpractice and medical liability insurance.” (S .Amdt 2786 To H.R. 3590, “Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act,” P. 1858)

HOWARD DEAN, Former DNC Chairman: “The reason that tort reform is not in the bill is because the people who wrote it did not want to take on the trial lawyers in addition to everyone else they were taking on. And that is the plain and simple truth.” (Howard Dean, VA Town Hall Event, Minute 2, 8/26/09)