Drudge reports: "Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) received a handwritten note Thursday from Joint Committee on Taxation Chief of Staff Tom Barthold confirming the penalty for failing to pay the up to $1,900 fee for not buying health insurance.

Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor and could face up to a year in jail or a $25,000 penalty, Barthold wrote on JCT letterhead. He signed it "Sincerely, Thomas A. Barthold."

The note was a follow-up to Ensign's questioning at the markup."

There might not be enough jails.

It was sarcasm

Lets go back to just using gold and see what the governemt has created in terms of wealth. Would there be as many millionaires with just so much to go around? The government "allows" whatever is happening, to happen.
You had better understand that without our Government, you would have nothing.

It looks that way one paper? Those are just a FEW of the things he is trying to do. He has no clue what he is doing except trying to throw money at the problems. It's funny you keep say how he inhierited these problems..but yet everything he has done has made them 10x worse. He said that the unemployment rate would not go above 8% and now its 9.7% and climbing as of September 4th. But yet do we see him taking a cut? No. Do we see him cutting back on spending? Hell, no. If anything he is spending more.

It takes money to make money? More evidence of economic illiteracy. Government does not create wealth, it redistributes wealth earned by the private sector. Government can encourage the creation of wealth by allowing the private sector to flourish with minimal restriction, or it can discourage the creation of wealth by taxing away the gains of our most productive citizens.

To claim that the actions of the left-wing idiot in the White House and his fellow travelers deserve any credit for any improvement in the economy is to fly in the face of reality. To cite just one example, at last count about 80% of the "desperately needed" $800+ billion dollar stimulus funds have yet to be spent. Since this was ALL deficit spending, taxes will soon have to be raised to pay for it. Now THAT will have a pronounced effect on the economy, but not a good one.

JR74, It looks that way on paper, but what if he hadn't have stepped in and the banks failed, the auto industry failed, the stock markets tanked, record unemployment, etc., all at once? What else would that have effected...every part of American life as we know it?

Obama inherirted the biggest mess since the great depression. There is no easy cure, nor easy answers. He's doing the best he can with what he was given to work with. The old adage, "It takes money to make money", sure does apply here.
His first priority was to keep as many jobs going as possible and to keep people's desire to spend up, and with the stimulus packages and auto bailout, he helped accomplished that. There's still a whole lot left to the puzzle that needs working on to correct what the last administration let happen.
Sure, he is trying to take on too much at one time, but everything he is trying to deal with, needs dealing with if America has a chance to come back to her former glory.

"Suzy
The economy is still not good, but it shows signs of coming back slowly. Those signs may be deceptive though.
Presiden Obama has been in office for 9 mos. He inherited this economy and no one should expect him to fix it overnight. It just may not be fixable after the Republicans had it for the amount of time that they did."

It wasn't in as near as bad shape as it is now. That's why BO has spent more money than any of the former presidents combined???? If BO Could Enact All Of His Campaign Proposals, Taxpayers Would Be Faced With Financing $1.297 Trillion In New Spending Over One White House Term.
Obama's Second Stimulus Plan Includes $50 Billion For States And Infrastructure Projects.
Obama Will Cover Loan Guarantees For The Auto Industry At A Cost Of Approximately $4 Billion.
Obama's Energy Plan Will Cost $150 Billion Over 10 Years, Equal To $15 Billion Annually And $60 Billion Over Four Years.
Obama's National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank Will Cost $60 Billion Over Ten Years; Equal To $6 Billion A Year And $24 Billion Over Four Years.
Obama's Home Foreclosure Prevention Fund Will Cost $10 Billion.
Obama Will Increase Foreign Assistance Funding By $25 Billion.
Obama Will Provide $2 Billion To Aid Iraqi Refugees.
And that's just a few of the things he wants to do. All of the above listed, along with many more, can be found on www.barackobama.com. And he was asking for 12.1 billion dollar ceiling in the national debt for the healthcare plan.

I vote HELL NO any day.Im going to stay mum about what I thing about all the bleeding heart liberals.

ahhh, I see Observer. The poor and elderly are expendable, so they do not deserve the same kind of care that people who can afford insurance, get.
By all means, lets get rid of government programs, and let those unfortunate people die in the streets, so that your costs will go down. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Realizing that I am addressing the economically illiterate (Suzy), I will give it one last try. Medicare caused an increase in demand for health care because what was previously coming out of individuals' pockets was now paid for by a government agency. When something is perceived as free, people tend to demand a lot of it, which is exactly what happened. Since there was no concomitant increase in the supply of health care, the inexorable Law of Supply and Demand came into play, and prices soared. The proof of this is readily available from the Department of Commerce Consumer Price Index. The rate of increase in the healthcare component of the index in the 37 years prior to the beginning of Medicare was a small fraction of the rate of increase in the last 37 years. There is no variable other than the introduction of Medicare that can explain even a fraction of the difference.

The impending bankruptcy of the Medicare Trust Funds was obvious to anyone who cared to look. Lyndon "Hill Country White Trash" Johnson followed his mentor FDR's path with Social Security, i.e. put it in and let future generations deal with how to pay for it. Guess what, we are that future generation.

Not to nit pick either, but if Medicare did go away (which it won't), the rates should go down, since they have to make up the underpayment somewhere.

But that isn't reality, providers already have everyone use to higher rates.

To ask them to lower rates because they don't have to pass on costs anymore would be about as successful as trying to take a big meaty bone away from a pitbull dog.

Not to seem nit-picky here, but just how did Medicare cause the rise in the cost of healthcare? Are they responsible for the uninsured?, high drug costs, high malpractice insurance premiums etc.
If medicare ceased tomorrow, would that lower prices, or would the hospitals have to increase their charges to those with insurance to cover the difference? Are doctors, hospitals, drug companies, nursing homes, home health care, all of a sudden going to cut their rates?
Just let me know what you come up with.

Name one government entity which is in competition with private enterprise that is profitable or run efficiently. I can't think of any.

Drive down Red River right now, look at the latest and greatest piece of equipment currently in a trailer type building, I would bet dollars to doughnuts that Citizens will purchase it and build a brand new building to house it in.

What things cost.... well that depends on who is paying the bill.

Medical providers charge different rates depending on who is paying the bill, if insurance or medicare is paying they charge more, if a individual without insurance is paying they charge less.

Medical provider know that insurance companies or the government will pay more, though not all of what they charge, so they inflate the cost so that they will receive about what it really costs.

That is the part of the inflation in health care costs. A much bigger part, IMO, is the need that every hospital, no matter how large or small, has that they absolutely MUST purchase every new and improved piece of diagnostic equipment.

If a patient does not have any tests done by the latest and greatest piece of equipment, they still pay part of the cost of said equipment in higher rates for hospital stays, Kleenex, nurses salary ect.

Does anyone honestly believe that a hospital,(such as Citizens), expect that only the patients that use a 1.5 million dollar piece of equipment will pay it s cost off? No, the cost is spread among all patients.

And in 5 years when the piece of equipment has not even paid for itself, something newer and better and YES, more expensive will come out, and don't you know the hospital just has to have it.

So raise the rates even more, FOR EVERYONE.

it still depends on what things cost.

Getting back to the topic of healthcare, let's look at some facts rather than Suzy's opinions. Since its inception 37 years ago, Medicare costs per covered person have risen from $404 per year to $9,756, an increase of 2,315%. Medicare is not suffering from runaway healthcare costs; Medicare CAUSED runaway healthcare costs. This is just another example of a Ponzi scheme foisted upon an unsuspecting public by the same pack of liberal/progressive/socialists that is now trying to demonize the health care industry or, on alternate days,the health insurance industry for a problem that THEY CAUSED. As Margaret Thatcher famously observed, "The problem with Socialism is you soon run out of other peoples' money.

I know it does. Why shouldn't they both count? It's still costing us and taking away from other, more important things. Plus, these cost do not even facter in a number of other things, which puts the total "well over" a trillion dollars.
Google hidden costs of Iraq war.

Suzy That figure includes Iraq and Afghanistan.

cost of war since 2001

$911,305,001,895...and counting

Mike had continually said that the war in Iraq cost $100 million a month, after I had had pointed out the error of his math, he responded " Legion, you are obsessed with that". Yet he is the one that claims he just wants facts, well I guess he does as long as the facts are ones he agrees with.

Oh and just to make sure ....... Iraq war costs are from

http://costofwar.com/

AND instead of what some people want us to believe....

Cost of War in Iraq
$684,074,091,102
Figures as of about 4 minutes ago....

That is 684 billion, ask your self what was the TARP bailout? ( true Mr. Bush) $700 billion

The second stimulus package ( and that one is all President Obama s ) another $700 billion.

So in one piece of legislation, more money was spent in one day than since the over 6 years of the cost of the Iraq war.

Yup, it's all because of war costs..... NOT.

Almost 7 years of war? The war still has cost less than one of two "stimulus" bills.

Figure that one out when the economic collapse gets blamed on the war in Iraq.

Seems the news is helping Obama by lulling people into a false sense of security.....no more doom & gloom...all of sudden it's all sunshine & roses.

LOL...ABC is not smearing Obama....

Real GDP per capita
(year 2005 dollars)

1992 $32,255
1993 $32,747
1994 $33,671
1995 $34,111
1996 $34,977
1997 $36,102
1998 $37,238
1999 $38,592
2000 $39,750
2001 $39,774
2002 $40,107
2003 $40,728
2004 $41,806
2005 $42,697
2006 $43,425
2007 $43,926
2008 $43,714

http://www.measuringworth.org/dataset...

Funny, a increase from 1992 until every year until 2008,
(last year data is available).

Growth, though not as robust some years as others from 1992 to 2008.

. [According to the BEA, U.S. per capita real GDP was slightly less than $38000 in

the first quarter, real GDP decreased 6.4 percent. (July 31, 2009)
http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/ind...

One thing about Obama and his branded logo O, he is not stupid he took the economic down fall used it as a tool to fuel his healthcare ideas. Where he has mislead this country, actually is an out right lie by using insurance cost and health care claiming it is a major part of the economy, when infect the fuel you burned in your car has a bigger impact on the economy then healthcare, which was one of the leading causing of the economic down turn. Obama’s health care is nothing more than a pet project. Because when you have 85% having vs. 15% not having health care the numbers just don’t add up when it comes down to rational thinking, other words by his design it was only to care for the 15% of have not. It goes back to his idea of wealth redistribution. (IMO)

You don't hear about it on the news, because the media has more "important things" to concentrate on, like healthcare reform and smearing the President.
the only thing that has improved is that some people are starting to spend a little more....for now. That may not last long either.

How is the economy recovering? Are new jobs opening up in the NorthEast employing all the workers laid off? Has California dug itself out of its financial hole? Are people no longer losing their houses? Funny, don't hear about any of that anymore on the news, only that the recession is over. I just don't understand how the "great depression of the milennium" ended so quickly.

The economy is still not good, but it shows signs of coming back slowly. Those signs may be deceptive though.
Presiden Obama has been in office for 9 mos. He inherited this economy and no one should expect him to fix it overnight. It just may not be fixable after the Republicans had it for the amount of time that they did.

The Fed Chairman said that the recession is over but the economy remains shaky because of high unemployment. The recession being over is just temporary because unforeseen facts can cause a relapse.e.g. It was reported that China was making a strong comeback because they were importing a lot of oil;there were merely stockpiling it...That's the reason oil dropped to $72 a barrel.

Horrible state of the economy? Huh? The media keeps saying the economy has recovered & we are back to normal.

Observer
Do you not think that it has something to do with run-away healthcare costs and the horrible state of the economy?

What's not to like? After all, this is brought to us by the same folks who brought us Medicare, which is facing a $30-40 trillion (yes TRILLION, not billion) deficit over the next 40 years. Just think what a wonderful job they can do with national, socialized health care.

Why isn't there a HELL NO vote available?