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RSC chairman wants 'ObamaCare tax hikes' on the debt deal table
Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Jim Jordan called the healthcare law's tax hikes a "big part of the fiscal cliff" and said they should be on the table during talks.
"ObamaCare raises taxes on middle-income families, employers and investors," Jordan said. "It hikes taxes on people with no health insurance, people with too little insurance and people with too much. Taxes are even going up on pacemakers, prosthetics, and other vital medical equipment
"The ObamaCare tax hikes are a big part of the fiscal cliff. Stopping them should be part of the solution."
The conservative RSC comprises more than two-thirds of the House GOP conference, and has helped make deficit reduction a major priority for the party over the last two years.
The group's members are uniformly opposed to healthcare reform and its taxes, which are designed to pay for the law. They include an excise on medical device makers and high-cost health plans, and annual fees on health insurance providers.
Opponents of the Affordable Care Act also highlight the penalty for not following the law's individual mandate to by health insurance, set to take effect in 2014.
Supporters say the taxes are necessary to offset the law's spending and allow it to reduce the deficit overall — a claim the Congressional Budget Office has supported.
Washington is embroiled in negotiations over how to reduce the deficit and avoid the "fiscal cliff," a combination of spending cuts and tax increases set to hit Jan. 1.
