Jonathan Oberlander looks at how Obama’s proposed healthcare plan is being funded:
The Obama administration’s just released budget blueprint marks the beginning of a new health reform battle. The largest source of money for financing health reform comes from a proposal to reduce itemized tax deductions for families making over $250,000. By paying for expanding insurance coverage partly through tax increases on wealthier Americans, the Obama administration is making health reform a redistributive issue. In 1993, the Clinton administration tried hard to avoid the stigma of "tax and spend" Democrats. The Obama administration is, in contrast, explicitly committing to taxing the wealthy to spend on health reform.
In short, the health reform debate is now a debate about taxes.
The Dish 