Help needed. Explaining to friend that CNN and NYT are NOT wildly liberal news sources.

[Shanti Mama]

14. My latest post to my friend...

No "excerpt" formatting on FB so it'll be a bit more difficult for her to read.

We're on a roll! I'm curious...what news sources do you use?

I think I've been politicized by living in such an incredibly poor country. I've become much more progressive, considering the impact of actions on the poorest of the poor and not just me. Not to imply that you're self-centered! Just that my worldview has shifter over the past 14 years. I just gave xxx [my daughter] the "Poverty and Social Justice Bible" put out by Sojourners, to help her understand the difference between Buddhism and Christianity.

I just spend about 45 minutes doing some research, which I've written up below. I don't expect to change your mind, but I do appreciate being able to share my views and this information with you. I haven't touched on everything you wrote so there will be more to follow. Right now I have to go help my kids with homework.

I found out that the National Association of Realtors prepared a document (9http://www.realtor.org/small_business_health_coverage.nsf/docfiles/government_affairs_invest_inc_tax_broch.pdf/%24FILE/government_affairs_invest_inc_tax_broch.pdf) that goes over various scenarios for this tax, which does, in fact exist but in a much different form than I think you’ve been told. A real estate broker summarized the tax as follows (http://www.erichempler.com/real-estate-tax-in-obamacare/):

Type of Real Estate it Applies To
In the new Health Care Bill, “Obamacare“, there is a tax for investment income for high income households called a 3.8% Medicare Tax. (Why it’s part of a Health Care Bill is beyond me.) This tax will not affect all Investment Income and not all Real Estate Transactions. It is not a Sales Tax, but a Levy Tax against profit on certain Real Estate transactions that meet a high threshold.

Who Gets Taxed
The Real Estate Tax in Obamacare is applied to households with a combined income above $250,000 or individuals with an income above $200,000. This is the first stipulation that must be met regardless of the type of Real Estate Transaction.

The next stipulation is that you make a return on the sale of the Investment Property above the capital gains threshold, which is $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for couples. This is pretty high and the party or parties would only be taxed on the amount above the threshold. For example, if you sell a property and earn a $600,000 return as a couple, you will be subject to a 3.8% tax on $100,000 provided your adjusted gross income is above $250,000 for the year. If not, then there is no tax.

Back to me writing again. I don’t think the IRS agent hiring info is accurate. When I googled “obamacare irs agents” there were lots of hits from conservative sites talking about it. However, Forbes (not a publication that likes Obama http://www.forbes.com/sites/beltway/2012/07/03/some-tax-few-will-face-obamacare-uninsured-penalty-and-irs-hamstrung-to-collect/) says the IRS will not be enforcing mandate. Here’s just the beginning of the article:

OBAMACARE: TAX OR PENALTY? CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT, BUT IRS WON'T BE ABLE TO COLLECT IT
The Affordable Care Act’s tax on those who choose not to buy health insurance was the linchpin of the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the law’s constitutionality. But in reality, the tax (nee penalty) is a mouse.

The tax itself is modest, at least to start. It will affect relatively few people. And it will be almost impossible for the IRS to make anybody pay it.

The Urban Institute’s Health Policy Center estimates that if the law were in effect today, only about 7 percent of the non-elderly, or about 18 million people, would be faced with the choice: Get insurance or pay the tax. To put it another way, 93 percent, or 250 million, would not—either because they already have insurance or because the ACA explicitly exempts them from the levy.

But that doesn’t mean that 18 million will owe the tax. Many will buy insurance rather than pay the fee. About 11 million, or about 60 percent of those subject to the tax, will be eligible for government subsidies to buy their own coverage.

And now me again (not Forbes)... I wanted to double check this IRS agent thing and it seems that it's just flat out not true. From http://www.factcheck.org/2011/02/irs-and-the-health-care-law-part-ii/:

FULL QUESTION
Dear FactCheck: Can you verify this statement in the article at US News and World Report that the IRS "will need an battalion of 1,054 new auditors and staffers and new facilities at a cost to taxpayers of more than $359 million in fiscal 2012 just to watch over the initial implementation of President Obama’s healthcare reforms."

FULL ANSWER
The IRS is actually asking for more new workers than reported in an article by U.S. News and World Report — a story that has generated a lot of Internet buzz after being picked up by news outlets, such as Fox News and The Daily Caller. The IRS budget request for fiscal year 2012 shows that the agency is seeking at least 1,269 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) at a cost of $473 million to help implement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

But many of them are needed to deliver new tax credits, not to dun taxpayers. The agency is seeking to add 291 "revenue agents" — most of them (193) to "ensure accurate delivery of tax credits." The agency’s technology staff would see the biggest increase with the addition of 537 IT program analysts and specialists.

Me, again. So, 17,000 agents, versus 291, is a bit of a stretch!

That's it for now, but I'm not finished! I have yet to tell you what makes me so squeamish about Romney, why I don't trust him past the tip of my nose. And I want to research the small business angle of Obamacare. I already know what I think about it, but want to look at a variety of sources. I guess you think CNN and the NYT are too liberal, but in my view they're quite careful and often run on both sides of the center. Still, I'm going to look for "factual" info.

Hope you're enjoying this!
Best,
Shanti Mama

And then, with DU's help (sorry not to give credit where credit is due, but I don't want her knowing that I'm getting help):

I can't help myself! Thought of a different way to google the real estate tax and came up with these. This just reaffirms to me how important it is to be careful with what we believe. The truth is often hard to come by. Please open these links and see how easily we're all misled.

http://www.factcheck.org/2012/04/realtors-the-3-8-sales-tax-and-247-medicare-premiums/

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/jul/25/chain-email/3-8-percent-tax-real-estate-transactions-health-ca/

http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/realestate.asp