| If death panels weren't enough for the Republicans, now Lamar Smith is sending robo-calls across his district claiming that President Obama will incarcerate people who don't buy in to the public option. Evidently Lamar has been spending too much time reading Free Republic and getting policy advice from Sarah Palin.
Harold Cook has the full audio:
"Under the health care plan Democrats passed, if you do not buy the government-prescribed health insurance, you can be fined or put in jail for up to five years. Do you want the government to have the power to make you buy health insurance?" -- Lamar Smith
So, I did a little research. First off, the Senate's two committee bills specifically prohibit penalities such as jail time. One can be assessed a tax for refusing to enroll in any insurance program. But both the Senate Finance and HELP bills specifically prohibit any punishment other than a tax for not getting insurance.
This distortion comes from the House bill's reference to the general penalties for folks who willfully refuse to pay their taxes. However, in practice, if someone refuses to pay the health-insurance related portion of taxes for political reasons or as an act of protest, a tax which will only be assessed if they refuse to enroll in any insurance at all, they're not going to jail.
Now, it is true that in America (as with most developed nations), if you choose to use illegal methods to deliberately avoid paying the taxes you owe you can go to jail. This level of tax evasion goes beyond accidentally misstating your income--we're talking about deliberate efforts to knowingly disguise income to avoid paying taxes on it. (Like, for instance, my former crazed Neo-Conservative boss who hid millions of income in the Caymans. True story.)
So honestly, unless there are some "good patriots" out there planning a Wesley Snipes-level of tax evasion (whom prosecutors allege owes over $2.7 million in unpaid taxes) you're not going to jail for not paying your taxes. And really? If you have so much money you even owe $2.7 million in taxes? You can afford health insurance, and you're not the problem here. (Other famous jailed tax evaders? Joe "Girls Gone Wild" Francis and Richard "Survivor Winner" Hatch. Not a good club. Pay your taxes.)
An interesting side note: folks who refuse to pay all or part of their taxes in a form of protest against the government (war tax resisters, for example) have virtually no history of receiving criminal prosecution. So, tax-haters, you can even protest this penalty for refusing insurance by protesting the tax, and have no fear of going to jail.
This scaremongering from Lamar Smith sounds like the rest of our Texas Republicans in Congress, who spent most of the House floor debate yelling about how having insurance imperils our freedom. Ah, yes. Our freedom. Our freedom to be denied insurance for a pre-existing condition like acne. Our freedom to go bankrupt from medical bills. Our freedom to choose between paying for prescriptions or paying the rent.
Texas Republicans want to preserve the status quo--24% of Texas residents uninsured, 20% of Texas children uninsured--the worst statistics of any state in the nation. These lies and distortions have been spreading around the Republican base, aided and abetted in part by one Sarah Palin, who in addition to fanning the flames of the "death panels" lie, has been promulgating the idea that Nancy Pelosi wants to throw good, honest tax evaders in jail.
Fact is, the average American family pays $1,077 per year to cover the costs of uninsured Americans, who--like those of us with insurance--still get sick, and are often forced into the emergency room as a result. So while the Republicans keep fear-mongering and riling up their base, Americans are dying from lack of basic care. Seems to me that I'd want my elected officials to focus more on that... Rather than suggesting that President Obama and/or Nancy Pelosi want me to go to jail. |
