They're doing what?!?

I spend a little time in the mornings reading over the washington post, usually when I'm having a cup of tea, or in this case, waiting for the computer to finish processing some data for me. Well, the end of the year is coming up, and I know that when anyone thinks of the end of they year, s/he thinks of taxes. So, I start reading this article, which deals with Dubya's plan for a tax code over haul. And then I get to this paragraph:

The changes are meant to be revenue-neutral. To pay for them, the administration is considering eliminating the deduction of state and local taxes on federal income tax returns and scrapping the business tax deduction for employer-provided health insurance, the advisers said.

Okay, so they want the total amount of revenue generated by taxes to be the same. Eliminating the deduction for local and state taxes seems fair enough. Then, WHHAAA??? There is a health crisis in this county! J & I pay just under $400 /month for our health insurance provided through my employer, and that's not including a $15 copay on all office visits and another copay on prescription drugs. And now, this "pro-business" administration wants to make it more expensive for my employer to provide me with health insurance?!?

It's hard enough for many small businesses to provide health insurance, even with the tax breaks. There is no reason for the government to be taking that tax break away. It just means that more people are going to require government aid in paying for health-related services, which means money will be drained from the government. And since people without insurance (and those who are underinsured) tend not to seek out medical help until they're in grave pain / serious condition, the costs per person will go up.

I feel like Frank Grimes right now. "It boggles the mind!"