Patterico's Pontifications

11/6/2009

Criminal Penalties in House Health Care Bill

Filed under: Health Care — DRJ @ 4:34 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Pelosi Care — “Buy a $15,000 Policy or Go to Jail”:

“Today, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail. The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.”

Criminal penalties apply when a person willfully fails to pay a health care tax, i.e., the government must prove the taxpayer had the ability to pay but intentionally refused.

— DRJ

40 Responses to “Criminal Penalties in House Health Care Bill”

  1. I can’t get riled up over this revelation. They said they would compel the purchase of insurance all along.

    It’s all one big abomination, of course. But, at least this time, they revealed their cards long ago.

    Ed from SFV (1333b1)

  2. Simple strategy. Vote against ANYONE who votes for this bill.

    Dr. K (adb7ba)

  3. WOW, I bet you could sell a whole lot of crap this way.

    bill-tb (365bd9)

  4. Well, it is all of a piece. Either they can indeed pass a law requiring an individual to purchase medical insurance, or they cannot. If they cannot, they can’t tax you as coercion.

    It all boils down to whether the Commerce Clause can be used to mandate that all US residents engage in defined commerce. If they can regulate all commerce AND make me engage in any commerce they desire, then they can pretty much run my life if they want. Reducio ad absurdum, if you ask me.

    Kevin Murphy (805c5b)

  5. It seems like a great way to revive GM and Chrysler. Make everyone buy an American car and tax them and jail them if they don’t. After all, we regulate cars, so this is just more of the same.

    Kevin Murphy (805c5b)

  6. This ought to go over like a lead balloon.

    JD (dc4402)

  7. Maybe all of the soon to be unemployed “journalists” can become corrections officers.

    Much more job security.

    Huey (b957d9)

  8. “Buy a $15,000 policy or go to jail”

    At this point its just another check to write…
    resignation has set in at the end of a long work week trying to squeeze a buck out of construction and keep 20 guys employed through Christmas.

    I’ve been writing six figure annual checks to Workers Comp for years at very marginal benefit to my employees.

    I’m used to getting threatened with jail and fines. Every employer is already under threat of penalty for making mistakes in payment and/or reporting.
    Not to mention the threats ICE makes if you screw up their byzantine I-9 system.

    Congress doesn’t live by their own rules… because they can’t.
    I mean except for Charlie Rangel. He seems to have a good grasp on the system and how to work with it.

    SteveG (97b6b9)

  9. SteveG – Charlie Rangel tries to comply with the law, just ask him, but he just makes innocent mistakes, over and over and over and over and over again. That shit’s complicated. If you don’t believe him you’re a racist!

    daleyrocks (718861)

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  11. People what even think like that shouldn’t be in power. She’s a very dangerous hoochie and hostile to America. I pray she fails, but the dirty socialist NPR and the fascist Gore worshippers at Newsweek and the toadies at MSNBC and CNN and the rest of the little president man’s media is on her side.

    happyfeet (f62c43)

  12. So the big-hearted democrats are protecting the uninsured by putting them in jail? Very nice.

    LASue (5f0073)

  13. I’ve already resigned myself that this load of — paper is going to pass in some form or another.

    Pelosi has already signaled that she will force it through no matter the consequences to her party members.

    Reid will knit something together and force a party-line vote in the Senate. He knows he’s toast, so he’s planning on going out on a toaster of glory.

    Who knows what will happen in 2010?

    I’m kind of anemic on the chances that the GOP will be able to muster enough backbone to elect enough people to restore sanity in Congress. And that’s as if you can depend on the GOP to restore sanity to anything even if they regain a majority in either chamber.

    But on the chance that the GOP is successful, how would it unknit this monster of a governmental clusterfark?

    So my prediction is this:

    Some sort of monstrous “health-care” bill will be approved and signed into law.

    One, maybe two, Supreme Court justices will resign fairly quickly afterward.

    There will be much hopey-changey celebrations. The President’s image will be restored as the one who can make all goodness and light.

    I will die and my children will be left to say: What happened?

    You don’t believe me? Gaze upon the majesty of the British Empire.

    Ag80 (3d1543)

  14. Except that here in Cali, there’s no room in the jails – we’re releasing inmates by the tens of thousands, so that might pose a problem. Have they made other provisions?

    Dana (e9ba20)

  15. At this point it seems that Nancy’s is going to strap it on and have a go at my already sore butt… but geez, couldn’t she have bought the “Irish Curse” model?

    SteveG (97b6b9)

  16. Except that here in Cali, there’s no room in the jails – we’re releasing inmates by the tens of thousands, so that might pose a problem. Have they made other provisions?

    Comment by Dana — 11/6/2009 @ 5:49 pm

    They’re planning on vacancy at Gitmo, where conditions that are inhumane for terrorists will be much-more-better-than-good for healthcare-tax dodgers.

    Matador (e01f85)

  17. The death knell of the Clinton bill was criminal penalties for doctors who provided health care outside of the Clinton coops. The left is always ready to punish people who hesitate in accepting their good works. Stalin had a similar concept; “You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.”

    It’s just a matter of degree.

    Mike K (addb13)

  18. Comb the fine print for language authorizing funding for re-education camps.
    Those’ll make Gitmo and Abu Grahib look like fun memories.
    No one is gonna care about a dog barking in your face or a little sleep deprivation. You’ll rather face a beating than another lecture from the women wearing the Napolitano masks and singing “ummm ummm ummm”

    SteveG (97b6b9)

  19. Hey, I just want to give a shout out to Granny McRictusbotoxface.

    Heckuva job Nance!

    daleyrocks (718861)

  20. They’re planning on vacancy at Gitmo, where conditions that are inhumane for terrorists will be much-more-better-than-good for healthcare-tax dodgers.

    Aha! It all makes sense now: the left pushes hard to pass an abysmal health bill while simultaneously pushing to get the Gitmo prisoners to a supermax to free up space for the really, really serious criminals. Kudos to Nancy and Harry for such clever multi-tasking and planning.

    Dana (e9ba20)

  21. It took a constitutional amendment for the government to be allowed to levy an income tax – a tax not based soley on census or enumeration, taxes which were provided for in the constitution. In some ways I think having the federal government forcing citizens to buy health insurance at unequal rates, essentially a tax for the privilege of living and breathing in this country, is a similar issue.

    daleyrocks (718861)

  22. “But on the chance that the GOP is successful, how would it unknit this monster of a governmental clusterfark?”

    The entitlement wouldn’t kick in til 2013 would it? (or was that just the Baucus bill?). If so, that gives us a couple years to undo it before it becomes another Third Rail.

    cassandra in MT (a86528)

  23. Time to go to Canada.

    Not a Yank (d79f66)

  24. Who wants to be the first Judge to oversee a citizen going to jail for failing to purchase a gov-mandated product or service?

    Ninth Circuit, we’re looking at you.

    Techie (482700)

  25. When they come to arrest people for failing to buy health insurance, I hope they remember Col Troutman’s advice to the Sheriff, they’ll need a lot of them, from sea-to-shining-sea!

    AD - RtR/OS! (b8e0ad)

  26. I think such penalties make perfect sense and good policy—certainly if they apply ONLY to registered Democrats and, in general, self-identified liberals (uh, oh, make that “progressives”).

    Mark (411533)

  27. 24.Time to go to Canada.

    If you’re going to Canada or anywhere else in the western world to escape universal health care, you’ll be S.O.L. Health care there is flat-out run by the government.

    But don’t let me stop you from going to Canada.

    Myron (44751e)

  28. Bring it on!

    Let’s all go to jail.

    Patricia (b05e7f)

  29. Next, Myron and his ilk will require you to purchase a Chevy, with civil and criminal penalties should you not. For the general welfare.

    Command-and-control is a beautiful thing, ain’t it, Myron?

    JD (9d3477)

  30. If you’re going to Canada or anywhere else in the western world to escape universal health care, you’ll be S.O.L. Health care there is flat-out run by the government.

    But don’t let me stop you from going to Canada.

    Uh, he was being ironic…

    Gerald A (a66d02)

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  35. Well, so much for the freedom my parents gave me. If we can’t have our freedom lets at least bring our soldiers home since they have nothing to fight for.

    Bob Hand (f5d67b)

  36. This is outrage. More unnecessary taxes.

    independence (1fb663)

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