simply worthless...Senators Cannot Agree on Fix to the Health Law

[spanone]

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Monday failed to repeal an unpopular element of the health care overhaul even though Democrats and Republicans agreed it needed to be jettisoned to prevent businesses from being saddled with undue tax paperwork.

Caught in a partisan dispute over how to proceed with eliminating new tax reporting rules, the Senate twice was unable to reach an agreed-upon threshold of 67 votes to eliminate a provision that critics have seized on to illustrate the failings of the health care legislation championed by Democrats.

A Democratic plan to overturn it attracted only 44 votes in support with 53 against; a Republican plan that would have cut other programs to make up the shortfall caused by the repeal fell short on a vote of 61 to 35.

Under the provision, which was added to the health care law to help pay for it, businesses that spend a cumulative $600 or more with a vendor, supplier or contractor would have to file a 1099 form with the Internal Revenue Service identifying the recipient of the money.

The idea is that the new reporting requirement would increase compliance with tax laws, generating added tax payments that would help pay for new health care coverage. Lawmakers in both parties now say that the provision goes too far and that it would put a burden on companies now exempt from reporting such spending while requiring an expansion of the Internal Revenue Service to keep track of the added paperwork.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/us/politics/30cong.html?hpw=&pagewanted=print

[Imajika]

1. So basically, in an overwhelmingly Democratic run Senate...

...the Republican plan was significantly more popular.

"A Democratic plan to overturn it attracted only 44 votes in support with 53 against; a Republican plan that would have cut other programs to make up the shortfall caused by the repeal fell short on a vote of 61 to 35."

I shudder to think what the new Senate is going to look like with Republicans having 47 votes and so many Democrats up for reelection in 2012. Hell, they may HELP the Republicans pass more tax cuts for the rich and vote to abolish HCR altogether.

To be fair, the 1099 rule is awful and does need to go, but you'd think in an overwhelmingly run Democratic Senate that our plan for doing so would at least attract more votes than the Republican plan.