Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Obamacare’s Taxes Hitting the Middle Class

Even as President Obama claims he doesn’t want tax increases to hit struggling middle class families, evidence has piled up in recent weeks about the effects Obamacare’s massive “temporary refund adjustments” have had on the economy.  Earlier this month medical device manufacturer Welch Allyn announced it was laying off ten percent of its workforce – amounting to several hundred jobs – due to the “new onerous U.S. Medical Device Tax scheduled to begin in 2013 as mandated in” Obamacare.  To these workers, the idea that Obamacare’s tax increases will not affect the middle class is a broken promise.

Separately, many federal workers received an e-mail noting that Flexible Spending Account limits will decline in 2013 from $5,000 to $2,500, thanks also to Obamacare. (It’s also interesting that, unlike the rebate checks issued under the law, the e-mail contains absolutely zero references to “the Affordable Care Act” or “Obamacare” in explaining the reason for this tax increase.  Coincidence?  I think not.)  Candidate Obama promised families their costs would decline by $2,500 – but instead, middle class families will lose $2,500 in tax-free savings.  It’s yet another example among many about how President Obama has broken his promises – and those broken promises are breaking the back of the middle class.