ruth marcus is not interested in facts, anymore than the person who signs her paycheck, idiot son donald graham, is interested in running a newspaper that informs people.

I think Marcus became so uncomfortable after her column condemning McCain that she was compelled to return to the land of fake balance regardless of how ridiculous the contortions she has to go through. She's suffering tire swing and barbecue withdrawal symptoms.

See the thing is, McCain had a horrible week last week, so it's the media's duty to go after Obama this week to make things even Steven.

My guess is that what she means is that because some of that money is given back to the employees the net effect on those employees is less than $3.6 Trillion. The misleadingness then would be the implication that McCain's plan involves entirely stripping the $3.6 Trillion away from healthcare when in fact it just allocates that money badly.

Or am I misunderstanding something here?

I believe that McCain would increase payroll taxes to pay for his health plan. The benefit would be paid out to those who drop out of their employer-based plan, pay for their own insurance, and thereby qualify for a tax 'credit', that would still total less than the cost of their insurance.

So the way to raise revenue is to depend on those people who maintain their employer benefits and thereby don't qualify for the credit. THIS IS A TAX INCREASE!! No two ways about it. You're going to have $ deducted from your paycheck, money deducted from your wallet, and a little coming back if you throw your family's welfare on the mercy of private insurance... without a group purchasing plan to negotiate rates on your behalf.

McCain Campaign = BS

Didn't Marcus continually get her facts wrong on this issue back when Bush was running the same bamboozle?

Waiter: I'm afraid your appetizer cost a dollar more than was listed, but your entree was a dollar less, so it's all a wash, bill neutral you might say.

You: so you're raising my bill?

ostap, it's a tax increase on employer-provided health insurance which would be used to fund his tax credit. Employer-provided health insurance is being taxed more. That makes it fair to call it an tax increase on employer-based health insurance. Get it?

Or, every time a Democrat proposes a plan that distributes money to people and pays for it by raising taxes on something else, will you be howling in protest when someone describes that as a tax increase?

Waiter: I'm afraid your appetizer cost a dollar more than was listed, but if you go to the convenience store and buy your appetizer there, your entree will be a dollar less, so it's all a wash, bill neutral you might say.

You: so you're raising my bill if I keep the same appetizer?

"See the thing is, McCain had a horrible week last week, so it's the media's duty to go after Obama this week to make things even Steven."

News flash: Obama is a scary black man!!