Obamacare includes such a variety and volume of negative policies that it’s hard to keep track of them all. Here is a list of 10 terrible provisions that every American should be aware of: It increases taxes on families earning over $250,000. In 2013, the employee portion of the Medicare payroll tax will increase from 1.45 percent to 2.35 percent for families earning $250,000 or more and individuals earning $200,000 or more. The income threshold is not indexed for inflation, so more and more middle-income families will be hit by …
It’s a rare moment indeed when Catholic priests speak from the pulpit on political issues, but across the country, pastors and bishops are taking a stand in opposition to Obamacare’s attack on religious liberties. Those individuals are joining with leaders across many faith backgrounds in saying “enough is enough” — they refuse to stand idly by as the White House mandates that virtually all religious employers, with the exception of churches, provide health care coverage for contraception — including abortion-inducing drugs — thereby trampling upon their constitutionally guaranteed free exercise of religion. …
Vice President Biden didn’t get the story quite straight. As the Obama Administration reels from the backlash for Obamacare’s anti-conscience mandate that forces religious employers to provide coverage and pay for abortion-inducing drugs, Biden yesterday set out to convince America that the Administration has a “new” version of the mandate that respects religion. The only problem is, the version is neither new nor respectful of religious liberty. To set the record straight, we’ve put together a point-counterpoint response to the Vice President’s remarks. Simply put, the federal government should not …
Earlier this week, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee moved legislation forward that would repeal one of the most intrusive and unpopular parts of Obamacare: the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). A board of unelected government officials tasked with finding and implementing ways to control Medicare spending from the top-down, IPAB opens the door to rationing of care, both direct and indirect, without congressional approval. The bill to repeal this onerous part of the health law has 226 co-sponsors, 17 of whom are Democrats. Meanwhile, support for better ways …
Efforts to repel the Obama Administration’s attack on liberty of conscience suffered a setback today on the floor of the U.S. Senate, but in the process kept alive an issue on which an extraordinary variety of Americans are willing to continue fighting – and with good reason. The core hubris of President Obama’s attack on conscience is his apparent belief that manipulations of language alone can defuse the controversy over his preventive services mandate and its destructive effects on religious entities and other employers. But there is subject matter that …
Two years ago, Congress and President Obama rushed to pass the enormous 2,700-page health care law that most didn’t even have time to read. As time has passed, Heritage experts have analyzed the law and written extensively on the need for its repeal. The major components of Heritage’s Case Against Obamacare are summarized below. Individual Mandate: Obamacare includes a requirement that everyone buy government-approved health insurance or face a penalty. This mandate is unconstitutional and violates personal liberty. Employer Mandate: Obamacare includes a requirement that employers with 50 or more …
Since 1791, when the Bill of Rights was formally adopted, America has enjoyed the legal protection of religious freedom, enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Today, 221 years later, centuries of progress in the protection of religious and other liberties is at risk of being rolled back in one fell swoop. The culprit: Obamacare. As we all know, President Obama’s health care law will mandate that religious hospitals, charities, and schools abandon the tenets of their faiths and provide their employees insurance coverage of abortion-inducing drugs, contraception and sterilization. This anti-conscience mandate is but …
U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams (R-FL) is taking aim at a possible rule from the National Labor Relations Board that she believes infringes on the constitutional freedoms of American workers. Speaking at Heritage’s Bloggers Briefing, Adams explained why she introduced the Keeping Employees Emails and Phones Secure Act. She said the legislation would protect employees from the NLRB’s overreach. Labor unions have already waged a high-profile campaign to secure NLRB approval to make changes to the union election process. Now, Adams said, the NLRB is moving forward with a plan that …
While the President’s FY2013 budget ignores the looming crisis of entitlement spending, the House and Senate Budget Committees, to their credit, are keeping their eyes on the ball this week with hearings on the three largest threats to the country’s economic health: Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. These hearings usefully keep attention focused on the urgency of the problem and will be even more valuable if they lead to proposals for real solutions. Naturally, such events invite a bit of political theatrics, as Members on each side critique reform proposals …
Congress recognizes more each day that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known widely as the Obamacare statute, interferes unconstitutionally with the liberty of Americans. From the Obamacare individual mandate to buy health insurance that awaits the action of the Supreme Court, to the Obamacare mandate that many religious hospitals, charities, and schools abandon the tenets of their faiths and include in their group health insurance for employees coverage of abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization, Obamacare assaults the Constitution and American freedom. Fortunately, Members of Congress and the American …
