Everyone knew Gruber was critical to ObamaCare, and when he was caught on tape high-fiving himself for helping to fool what he described as “stupid” American voters with the Affordable Care Act’s web of false promises and ludicrous projections, he was speaking from the Administration’s heart.
There seems to be a lot of confusion regarding how federal subsidies impact the price of goods in the marketplace. While subsidies are often seen as a mechanism to make products cheaper, the reality is, government subsidies do the exact opposite.
The Silicon Valley Business Journal is reporting that “Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors is on track to win $15 million in new tax breaks as part of the final round of this year’s California Competes tax credit.” According to Governor Brown’s GO-Biz website, tax credits are awarded to businesses that come or stay and grow in California. With much of his $13.3 billion net worth coming from tax subsidies, Musk may celebrate his latest gift of “government cheese” from Reno, where Tesla’s highly-subsidized $5 billion giga-factory is being built.
That’s right, ObamaCare victims: those massive premiums you’re struggling to pay, while simultaneously forking over fat tax payments to subsidize the premiums of your neighbors, are much lower than they really should be, because vampire government is also sucking tax money out of you to pay the insurance companies off. The whole scheme falls apart right about the time Barack Obama leaves office, confident that a huge and surly army of insurance welfare dependents, backed up by heavy political and lobbyist artillery from rent-seeking insurance companies, will make his boondoggle indestructible, no matter how unpopular it gets.
With major insurers in some states proposing up to 51 percent Obamacare insurance premium increases, liberal Democrats are scrambling to avoid a political and financial disaster. One proposal is to merge California’s financially troubled “Covered California” exchange with the even more insolvent state exchanges, like “Cover Oregon,” which was forced to shut down last year.
Just as the last Republican in Detroit or Baltimore will be blamed for every problem faced by those troubled cities, despite generations of unchallenged Democrat rule; just as the public education system will never have enough money, no matter how lavish its per-pupil expenditures, and disappointing its results; just as the War on Poverty needs fresh financial ammunition, despite spending trillions over the course of decades to negligible effect; so everything wrong with Amtrak will be blamed on whoever resists the next demand for subsidy money.
Dr. Carson, I know you are smart, very smart. But you know medicine. You need very smart people to advise you on energy policy now, before you address the topic any further. I have a cadre of energy experts that I could make available to you—and any candidate who wants smart energy policy. Call me, maybe?
As the Supreme Court takes up a case that would rule out subsidies for health insurance in roughly three dozen states, which would crush insurance markets in those states and cripple Obamacare, Senator Ted Cruz—along with Senator Marco Rubio—is offering his own health insurance proposal.
Most observers of the legal battle over Obamacare’s subsidies are now familiar with the two clips (one video and one audio) in which economist Jonathan Gruber takes the plaintiff’s side, saying only states which set up an exchange will receive subsidies. But a third example of Gruber saying much the same thing has, so far, received very little attention.
Energy Secretary Ed Davey handed out more than £4 billion in lucrative subsidies to renewable energy companies yesterday, but industry lobbyists and green campaigners have insisted that the sum still isn’t enough. Meanwhile, Conservative Parliamentarians have reacted furiously to news that
A report found that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gave away $37 million that was meant for housing subsidies for the poor to those who weren’t eligible for the program.
The go-ahead has been given for the world’s biggest offshore wind farm to be built just 80 miles off the Yorkshire coast. The scheme will see 400 turbines spaced over 430 square miles and will cost taxpayers £10.5 billion in subsidies,
The next ObamaCare disaster critics have been warning about is upon us, as the approach of Tax Day means it’s time for subsidy recipients to settle up with the Internal Revenue Service.
