Would you accept higher taxes if it meant getting universal health care?

[TZ]

Poll question: Would you accept higher taxes if it meant getting universal health care?

Because thats what the Europeans do, and I think if the American people were willing to do this, we could have universal care.


*Trying to prove that there are other sacrifices besides just cutting off care to very sick people to help everyone...

[TheCowsCameHome]

1. Only after seriously eliminating waste in government.

[Hamlette]

19. where? what?

unless you are going after defense, there isn't much else to cut.

Divide your tax dollar into 5

20% goes to defense
20% goes to interest on our debt
20% goes to medical costs
20% goes to social security
20% is left for everything else government does.

Which part of that 20% you going after?

[Mithreal]

23. The little conservative inside you is showing.

[TheCowsCameHome]

37. I don't think so.

[Mithreal]

45. If by waste you mean military spending and protecting corporate profits

than I definitely jumped the gun. Easy to misunderstand simple statements.

[Ter]

29. Never

Just eliminate taxes for anyone making under $100,000 a year (yes, total elimination). Anyone making over 500k a year should quadruple their taxes to offset the cost of the under 100k people paying nothing. Moderate increases on those who make $100,00-$250,000, and sizable increases on those who make $250,000-$500,000. Damn, I should run for office, this idea sounds amazing.

[mkultra]

33. so essentially, NO

because no one has ever done that. no one.

[Deep13]

2. We're going to need higher taxes anyway.

Not only for health care, but also for other needed projects and the institutional debt that is killing us. Maybe having a military that is bigger that every other country put together is something we cannot afford.

[Captain Hilts]

3. It's about financial security and socializing risk. nt

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

4. A rise appx. 50% of current premiums.

That was the single payer plan all along.

[dionysus]

5. yes

[Auggie]

6. Absolutely

[izquierdista]

7. Absolutely not

It's not necessary. Take the money from the bloated war budget and have the Pentagon make do with less.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

10. Except we need to cut the war budget AND raise taxes.

And that's regardless of whether or not we provide universal health care.

[harun]

15. The rest of civilization pays income taxes and gets Health Care, we pay income

tax and get a giant war machine.

[Cass]

8. How do the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy figure into this scenario?

I think if we're going to start talking higher taxes, those are the first taxes that ought to be raised.

Next, they ought to close corporate tax loopholes and shelters.

Once those things are done, I would most definitely support an increase in my income taxes for universal health care.

[TZ]

11. obviously I think the Bush tax cuts have to go

But the European Tax rate overall is MUCH higher than what we pay now in the states. It would be a big jump for some, but I think in order to get really good health care for all, thats ultimately the route we have to take. Unfortunately the selfish right cries about not wanting to pay for "other people's health care" so they wouldn't accept it, but I think its whats needed to be done. But any politician who actually did this would probably lose his job fairly quickly.

[Cass]

14. Michael Moore once mentioned that while we think various European countries are taxed more than we

are for health care, when you actually look at what we pay individually toward our health care vs. what they pay in taxes, we pay so much more than they do. Its a good point and one that is not mentioned often enough on the news show discussions.

But to your poll question, once the wealthy and the corporations are brought into line, I would support it without question.

[Jennicut]

9. Compared with the rest of the world, our tax system is a mess

The wealthier should be paying more. My family falls into the middle class and I would be willing to pay more if needed. But the wealthy need to pay their fair share first.

[LiberalFighter]

12. Define that!!

Do you mean higher taxes because we would be paying more taxes or because the cost would be more than our current health care coverage?

If it means that my taxes are are higher but lower than the premiums AND if my employer increases my wages a bit because they no longer will be paying for the health care then yes.

If it means that I pay health care taxes and I continue to carry health care through my employer then no.


I would pay a bit higher taxes than some so that the less fortunate would have health care coverage as long as the taxes are less than what I and/or my employer pays

[TZ]

13. Lower premiums, no deductibles

and total coverage for those who can't afford to pay. But much higher taxes. I think the Europeans in general pay about 60% in tax rates. Pretty damn high.

[LiberalFighter]

20. If that is all it is then I'm against it. But if it is anything like I posted I would support it.

You do realize that if implemented correctly taxes could still be higher but the overall effect would be more net income? Because instead of the employee paying for the health insurance they would be paying a tax which should be lower than the insurance premiums.

[RaleighNCDUer]

16. I'd say yes with a qualifier -

that qualifier being the understanding that 'UHC' means making comprehensive health care services available to all people regardless of their income. Universal health care is NOT universal if people cannot afford to take advantage of it even if it is available. Nobody should EVER go into bankruptcy because of health care costs.

Universal health insurance is NOT universal health care.

[Dappleganger]

24. +1

[Laelth]

17. A majority of Americans have been answering "YES" to this question since the early 90's.

See where that has gotten us. Very few of our alleged "representatives" actually represent the American people.

:dem:

-Laelth

[mopinko]

18. easy to vote in an online poll, harder to actually get people to pay.

i really think this is why single payer was never on the table. a generation of republican bullshitters telling people that their taxes are too high has poisoned the well, imho.

[invictus]

21. I would accept higher taxes for Single Payer only, not for subsidizing private insurers.

[slackmaster]

22. Higher taxes for whom?

As a working middle-class Californian I think I pay more than my fair share already. I think some very wealthy people and businesses don't pay enough.

[Hello_Kitty]

25. HR676 funds health care for everyone with a payroll tax.

A US household with an income of $54K a year would pay $2700 for everything. No co-pays or out of pockets of any kind.

[Stinky The Clown]

26. I voted yes, but I know that there is NO need to raise taxes if we dismantle the insurance companies

Take profit and advertising out of it and the cost to each of us will go down while covering us all.

[TZ]

27. Not happening.

Can you imagine what destroying a whole business sector would do? As much as I despise insurance practices, I do NOT want to see a whole field of people abruptly unemployed.

[Stinky The Clown]

31. Won't happen

It takes X number of people to service Y number of insureds. The number of insureds will go up when we add in the presently uninsured population. Insurance companies would become service providers to the government, processing claims by medical providers. Their work load would increase, not decrease. The specific nature of their business would be similar to what it is now, but they would be stripped on the power to deny claims or make outrageous profits while stiffing providers and fucking the insured.

[winyanstaz]

28. I voted NO...because

If we just stopped the wars..we could easily pay for health care without raising taxes

[levander]

42. Or, if we just implemented health care cost controls...

What's this about raising taxes? We already spend way more than on health care than other countries who have universal coverage.

You don't need to raise taxes to do this. You just need a smarter bill than what Washington's got now.

[Jester Messiah]

30. I'd only accept higher taxes AFTER churches lost their tax immunity. [nt]

[jesus_of_suburbia]

32. That's not going to happen anytime soon.

[Jester Messiah]

41. Perhaps not, but as we're discussing hypotheticals... [nt]

[BreweryYardRat]

34. Fuck yes.

I'd pay less in taxes than I would in insurance.

[ibegurpard]

35. second this

n/t

[moondust]

36. I think that's what a lot of people don't understand.

Years and years of right wing anti-tax, anti-communist/socialist hysteria has turned too many brains to mush.

[Mimosa]

38. Some of us don't have $$ for 'higher taxes'

Heck many of us who are self -employed can hardly maintain paying the taxes and trying to paying the premiums for the health insurance policies we try to hang onto now! I think lots of DUers are richer than me, based on the assumption that 'we' have money to spare, or even savings. :(

[TheCowsCameHome]

+1

[Lydia Leftcoast]

46. But if the higher taxes were LESS than your current insurance policy and

the health care system had no deductibles?

I'd be thrilled to pay the equivalent of my monthly premium in extra taxes if it meant that I and every other American could get health care at no extra charge--no deductibles, no copays.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

39. only if the health insurance companies paid more tax too

[jtrockville]

40. Only if health insurance is abolished.

I'd be delighted to pay higher taxes if we had universal health care. However, I suspect I wouldn't need to pay a dime more than what I pay now - just take the middleman out of the equation.

I feel obliged to help people less fortunate than me. I object to helping people who are more fortunate than me. So if the extra I'm asked to pay goes toward providing health care to those who can't affort it, bravo. If it goes toward padding the pockets of insurance industry executives, then it's a scam.

I couldn't simply vote yes or no so I refrained.

[Hamlette]

43. But the 89% won't buy their own insurance. But it will destroy the dems which apparently is what

we want?

[windbreeze]

44. only if it will stop costing me more than $600 a month for health insurance n/t

[Odin2005]

47. Yes.

[LWolf]

48. Other:

Need a very specific structure to comment.

I don't think we need higher taxes. Universal, single-payer, NOT-FOR-PROFIT. Cut out those profiting from not providing care, and we may not need to raise taxes.