CNSNews.com posted an article detailing some of the new taxes the Democrats are forcing onto all Americans despite Obama’s campaign pledge to not raise taxes on those earning less than $250,000 per year. While many of the tax increases are not direct, Americans will still have less money every month thanks to the Democrats’ policies. They cannot possibly believe that they will not hurt low and middle income Americans (or they just don’t care) with tax proposals such as:

• $15.2 billion in new revenue from sick and disabled Americans with high out-of-pocket medical costs from a provision that raises the threshold at which medical expenses become tax deductible, from 7.5 percent of income to 10 percent of income.
• $4 billion in penalty fees paid by individuals who don’t have health insurance.
• $23 billion in penalty fees paid by employers who do not comply with the federal insurance mandate.
• $22.2 billion over 10 years from a new tax on prescription drug makers.
• $38.6 billion from a new tax on medical device manufacturers.
• $5.4 billion derived from changing the definition of a deductible medical expense for health savings accounts.
• $14.6 billion from limiting to $2,500 the tax-deductible amount in flexible spending arrangements between employers and employees.
• $83 billion in new taxes paid by workers who will receive less employer-sponsored coverage or lose that coverage altogether but will be compensated with (supposedly) higher wages or monetary benefits, which are taxable.
• $16 billion in new taxes and Medicare payroll tax revenue due to changes in Medicare.

Where in the Constitution is the federal government granted authority to legislate medical care? States should simply refuse to comply with whatever mandates are passed until Congress can prove they have the authority. With the federal government so grossly overstepping its bounds, perhaps the people will question the constitutionality of many other pieces of legislation and existing federal laws. We can only hope for that kind of awakening in this country before we are taxed into a totalitarian, centrally-planned nightmare.