First They Came . . .

 

I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.

— Barack Obama, Sept. 12, 2008

There must be some mistake then because I just got an email from our accounting department stating that effective January 1, 2011, over-the-counter drugs will require a doctor’s prescription when an FSA claim for reimbursement is submitted.

That doesn’t even make sense. Of course I don’t have a prescription for OTC drugs. Why would I pay a doctor to write me a prescription for something that I can just walk into Walgreen’s and buy it?

Hi Doc, I’ve got a terrible cold so I just stopped by to drop a $30 co-pay and get a prescription for some Nyquil.

And if I can no longer pay for ibuprofen, aspirin, cough/cold medication, etc., with pre-tax dollars through my FSA, that makes my taxes go up. Did I mention that I earn less than $250,000 a year?

They came first for the smokers with last April’s increase in the cigarette tax from 39 cents a pack to $1.01 (even for smokers making less than $250,000), and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a smoker.

Then they came for the tanners with the 10 percent tanning bed tax (no exemption for tanners making less than $250,000), and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a tanner.

Then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak up . . .

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *