RNC Women

During the debate last night in the U.S. House over the federal takeover of health care, lots of talking points about pre-existing conditions were trotted out by Democrats on the House floor.  Nancy Pelosi even claimed during the debate that once the health bill was enacted just being a woman would no “no longer be considered a pre-existing condition.”

What the Democrats didn’t talk about was the new pre-existing conditions that they were voting to impose on American small businesses. 

The bill approved by the U.S. House nearly triples the penalty on small businesses who don't offer health care insurance to their employees from $750 to $2000 per employee and applies these taxes to part-time as well as full-time workers.  The bill also includes an unprecedented extension of the Medicare tax to all non-wage income.  These tax increases will raise the top marginal rate on small business owners and the top tax rate on investment income - discouraging the activity needed to grow the economy and create new jobs.

Small business is the engine that makes our economy go.  Studies show that nearly 80 percent of all new jobs are created by small businesses.  Yet the Democrats’ health takeover will heap thousands of dollars in new taxes on to the backs of the small businessmen and women who power America. 

For too many Democratic members of Congress, this vote was less about protecting American jobs than it was about preserving the political fortunes of President Obama.  That’s not the right reason to enact a bill of this size and scope, and this bill is not the way to make health care more accessible and affordable for everyone. 

The American people deserve better than what the Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives gave them last night.