Obama’s Revenue Plans Hit Resistance in Congress - NYTimes.com

Obama’s Revenue Plans Hit Resistance in Congress - NYTimes.com: "WASHINGTON — President Obama is running into stiff Congressional resistance to his plans to raise money for his ambitious agenda, and the resulting hole in the budget is threatening a major health care overhaul and other policy initiatives.

The administration’s central revenue proposal — limiting the value of affluent Americans’ itemized deductions, including the one for charitable giving — fell flat in Congress, leaving the White House, at least for now, without $318 billion that it wants to set aside to help cover uninsured Americans. At the same time, lawmakers of both parties have warned against moving too quickly on a plan to auction carbon emission permits to produce more than $600 billion."

As Congress prepares to reconvene after a recess, senior lawmakers and aides say they are only now beginning to confront the lack of new sources of money, especially for moving the nation toward universal health coverage, a goal for which Democrats hope to deliver a plan this year.

Among other setbacks for the White House, 10 Senate Democrats joined Republicans this month in pushing to protect more wealthy American families from the reach of the federal estate tax, a change that could cost the Treasury $100 billion over 10 years. Businesses and their Congressional allies are coming together to try to fend off an effort to close corporate tax loopholes.

Administration officials say they have not given up on pushing at least some elements of their original plans through Congress. Even if they cannot prevail, they say, they can find some new sources of revenue that, along with new efficiencies in care and savings in Medicare and Medicaid, will allow them to forge ahead with the health care plan.


Here come the cuts for people who most need it in the form of what they can get from the government. They will cut pensioners living ion the very basics now even more to push forward their socialized plans against the wishes of so many who remain ignorant of the consequences.

Senator Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat and chairman of the Finance Committee, has indicated that he is open to taxing some high-value coverage plans, and Mr. Conrad has said he also suspects that taxing high-end plans will ultimately have to be part of the health care equation.

But Mr. Obama campaigned against the idea of taxing health benefits when his Republican opponent, Senator John McCain of Arizona, proposed it during the presidential campaign. Just the other day Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said that the president remained opposed to the idea and that it could run contrary to his pledge not to raise taxes on Americans earning less than $250,000 a year.

Any effort to dip into employer-paid health benefits, then, could put the Democratic-controlled Congress at odds with Mr. Obama or force him into a stark reversal, both unattractive options.

Given the difficulties in finding a way to pay for health care, and given the extended time that Democrats have allowed themselves before money to pay for it must catch up with the spending, Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire predicts that Democrats will not pay for it at all or will use gimmicks to mask the costs. “They are going to play games,” said Mr. Gregg, the senior Republican on the Budget Committee, “and ultimately they are going to add it to the deficit.”

But Democrats say they are committed to finding ways to pay for a significant health care overhaul, as well as a new energy policy and other Obama initiatives.

Administration officials say there is a tremendous amount of money to be found in savings gained through changes in health care delivery and information technology, and such savings will reduce the revenue Congress must find. “By combining Medicare and Medicaid savings and these game-changing efficiency improvements with some additional revenue,” said Mr. Orszag, the president’s budget chief, “I think a deficit-neutral health care reform is eminently doable.”