Let’s be realistic about our expectations for the State of the Union. We’re unlikely to see a newly-energized President trailing clouds of progressive glory, ascending the podium while the PA […]

What a week. Call it the Shock Doctrine in reverse: The Massachusetts election and yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling may force the Democrats to move to the left to ensure their […]

It hurts to lose a Senate seat but, hey – setbacks happen in politics. What’s really discouraging is the sight of Democrats, from the White House on down, refusing to […]

Labor leaders met with the White House last week to hammer out a deal on the health excise tax.  Depending on the outcome of today’s Senate race in Massachusetts, that […]

The Washington Post has an uncanny knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, pushing the wrong policies and making the wrong moves. That’s four wrongs in […]

The AFL-CIO has announced that it is coordinating a “National Call-In Blitz” today.. If you call this toll free number – 1-877-3-AFLCIO (1-877-323-5246) – you can “urge your representative to […]

The New Republic’s Jonathan Chait has penned an ode to the excise tax on health benefits. He says his “faith in the Cadillac tax remains ardent,” even after being led […]

People are saying that the so-called Cadillac tax “might fall flat” and “has real problems.”  And those are its defenders.  I can’t remember any new policy in recent history whose […]

A blogger contact has told me of a new argument in favor of the health excise tax: Since the tax will be imposed on insurers, the Senate’s limit of 15% […]

The theory behind the “Cadillac tax” on health plans is little more than wishful thinking based on dubious research. Advocates believe that forcing employers to cut benefits will lead to […]

The beat goes on: David Leonhardt, the Times economics blogger and tax supporter, had this exchange regarding the Senate’s health excise tax on NPR’s “Marketplace” program: Leonhardt: (It’s) a tax […]

Blogger and video producer Lee Stranahan has produced a video that includes footage of Barack Obama denouncing the so-called ‘Cadillac tax’ during last year’s Presidential campaign. Stranahan, who is an […]

Amid indications from President Obama that he wants the House to adopt the Senate’s health tax, we learn that he will meet with labor to discuss their concerns about the […]

Respected health writer Maggie Mahar (“Money-Driven Medicine”) got curious and decided to fact-check the excise tax. Wisely, she follows the money – which in the world of health care follows […]

In a new piece at The Huffington Post, your humble correspondent begins the New Year in a time-honored fashion: with an act of confession for past sins. The piece is […]

A Washington Post poll taken in mid-October showed that 61% of people surveyed opposed the excise tax, with only 35% supporting it. A USA Today/Gallup poll taken at the same […]

Conventional wisdom has it that print journalism (and its editorial columns) are dead. Tell it to Bob Herbert. His column lambasting the excise tax went viral today on both the […]

The President came close to endorsing the so-called “Cadillac tax” when he was interviewed about health reform on NPR. Here’s what the President said when the subject came up: “I’m […]

Ezra Klein has responded thoughtfully to my criticism of him.  I felt he should have mentioned the numerous studies which challenge the assumptions behind the excise tax, given his strong […]

Nothing brings the readers a-runnin’ like the word “actuary” in a headline – especially at holiday time! Well, maybe not … but this is important: An actuary with the respected […]

The progressive  “journo/blogospere” is sharply split over the Senate health bill.  Some, like Jane Hamsher and

Our new piece on the politics and policy of the Senate’s health reform deal is up at The Huffington Post, and it addresses the excise tax at several points: “if […]

The pro-Senate health bill contingent keeps trotting out the example of Switzerland to buttress their arguments.  Here’s a quick recap of why the comparison doesn’t work:  First or all, Switzerland […]

Business columnist and Fortune Senior Editor Allan Sloan just wrote a piece in the Washington Post about the excise tax. It’s smart, cogent, and well-written. (Translation: Wish I’d written it.) […]

Many of us admire the wealth of talent on display in the White House, so it’s disappointing when there is a breakdown in the accuracy or completeness of information being […]

I just put up a piece in The Huffington Post outlining what I consider 10 myths or assumptions that are currently being used to weaken resistance to the current draft […]

That somebody is Kate Pickert, who wrote about the excise tax at TIME’s “Swampland” blog. Editors will be editors, so we can’t necessarily blame her for the piece’s misleading title: […]

I have a piece up on my own blog which challenges numbers-whiz Nate Silver for his takedown of progressives. He doesn’t think they should be fighting for a better health […]

The $149 billion number – the amount of revenue the CBO estimates the excise tax will bring in – has becoming gospel in Washington. But there’s a very good chance […]

The battle to resist the excise tax continue, with a front line of resistance forming in the House and Senate. Efforts include the movement to drum up support for the […]

Kirsten Powers has an editorial at the New York Post attacking the excise tax. “(N)no topic has gotten more ink during the health-care debate than cost,” she observes. “This question […]

Recently the Senate passed Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s Women’s Health Amendment, which requires health insurance companies to provide free mammograms and other preventive health services for women. This was lauded by […]

Bernie Sanders, Al Franken, and Sherrod Brown have introduced a bill in the Senate that would replace the excise tax on higher-cost health plans with a tax on very high-earners. […]

Matt Yglesias is right to skewer a truly terrible idea from Sen. Tom Carper. Sen. Carper wants a health tax based on the rate of increase a health plan experiences […]

A recent poll released today provided the first comprehensive look at the political popularity of the excise tax on higher-cost health plans, and the results should raise grave political concerns […]

We’re summarized some of our content on DailyKos. Stop on by if you have any comments to add. As we told the Kossacks: A lot of folks in Washington like […]

Two new papers published today in Health Affairs could help turn opinion against the excise tax, especially from an academic perspective. Using a combination of analysis and interpretation, six researchers […]

“We’re finding that about half of the large employers we work with will be at or above the (excise tax threshold) limits.” Senior Health Benefits Consultant We promised yesterday to […]

The AFL-CIO has sent out an email blast in support of the campaign to overturn the excise tax on health benefits. The letter is addressed to constituents of Rep. Jerrold […]

Kaiser Health News has summarized some new findings from the Mercer consulting group that are quite compelling. We think they’re so significant they should each be absorbed separately. The first […]