Soak The Uninsured

"Here's a dirty little secret about health care reform that Democrats in Washington would prefer you didn't know: They're counting on people to stay uninsured.

The financing for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi includes $167 billion in penalty payments to the federal government. About $135 billion of that money would come from private employers who don't offer insurance to their workers; those employers would have to pay a tax equal to 8 percent of payroll.

The rest would come from individuals who decline to buy under the new individual mandate. Such individuals would have to pay a fine equal to 2.5 percent of gross income.

Of course, it's possible that the bean-counters are wrong, and both employers and individuals would pony up for insurance coverage in greater numbers than anticipated. But in that case, the total bill for Pelosicare would rise accordingly.

So the options are: bigger deficits, higher taxes -- or lots of companies and individuals paying hefty fines. Do the members of Virginia's congressional delegation like those choices?"

Richmond Times-Dispatch