Is John Hall getting cold feet on health care reform?
Rep. John Hall told the Poughkeepsie Journal that he has some reservations about using an income tax surcharge to help pay for “public-option” health care reform.
“This is a bill that is still in a state of flux,” Hall said, noting he’s working to make sure small businesses are not harmed.
It’s not like all of our taxes will be raised to help pay for health care. Only high-wage earners will be affected, and then, this income-tax surcharge will be nominal:
The plan, which would impose a surtax on individuals making more than $280,000 and couples making more than $400,000, is part of a bill the House could vote on by the end of the month.
Hall, is of course, worried that the current plan might have negative effects on many of his constituents. The House Ways and Means Committee reported that some three-quarters of small businesses aren’t incorporated and some of those business owners will have to pay the tax surcharge. The committee estimates that a surcharge would affect 4.1 percent of small businesses. That’s a very small percentage of small businesses—I also find it odd that any small business would not incorporate, especially those making more than $280,000 a year.
Overall, this plan help the vast majority of small businesses, not hurt them. A public-option health plan will encourage entrepreneurship; people who have stayed in corporate jobs because they need health-care benefits will now be empowered to venture into self-employment. Small businesses that have not been able to provide health-care coverage for their employees will now be able to draw from a deeper talent pool as potential employees won’t have to weigh the option of entering into a job with out proper benefits. Thus, this health-care plan would stimulate small businesses, instead of dragging them down.
Furthermore, Rep. Hall should understand this tax surcharge on America’s top earners would be negligible. For example, a family earning wages of over $500,000 would pay just $1,000 in income tax. A great majority of families in Hall’s district make less than half that number. So I, for one, am a bit dumbfounded by Rep. Hall’s reservations.
I may be reading too much into the Journal piece, but I’m still worried about Rep. Hall getting cold feet. Please call him at (202) 225-5441 and let him know it.
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