Read Marilyn Ruestman's lips- no new taxes

In her latest column, Rep. Marilyn Ruestman, R-Joplin, promises not to vote for any tax increase during her final year in the state legislature:

Looking back, I’m proud to say that I’ve been able to keep campaign promises. One of the most important was NO NEW TAXES! My colleagues and I in the Majority have kept our word to you.

I am opposed to increasing taxes of any kind. I will not vote for a tax increase, nor will I encourage my constituents or colleagues to vote for one. I believe there are far more taxes than are necessary. The problem isn’t that government doesn’t have enough money. The problem is that it squanders the money it has on bureaucratic waste and massive social programs. In Missouri, we were able to balance our budget and offer tax decreases and tax credits with NO NEW TAXES!

I am disheartened and angry that, after fighting for the Missouri taxpayer for seven years, the “misleadership” in Washington wants to pass federal taxes for the citizens of my district and this state!

Here is a list of the tax increases and new taxes in the recently released Senate Health Bill being offered by Senator Harry Reid of Nevada:

Individual Mandate Tax – Starting in 2014, if you do not buy a “qualifying” health insurance plan, you will be taxed.
Health Savings Account Withdrawal Tax Increase – If you must withdraw money from your HSA for any reason other than healthcare, the tax will be raised from 10 to 20 percent. This discourages people from investing in HSAs rather than an IRA.
Medicine Cabinet Tax – You will no longer be able to buy over-the-counter medicine tax free by using your HSA, flexible spending account or health reimbursement account.
Excise Tax on Comprehensive Insurance Plans – A 40% tax will be created for the “Cadillac” insurance plans which annually cost in excess of $8500 for an individual or $23,000 for a family. Note that in the seventeen most expensive states, health insurance already exceeds this cost.
Employer Mandate Taxes – For each employer who does not offer coverage, if just one employee qualifies for a health tax credit, that employer is taxed $750 for each full-time employee (applies to employers with more than 50 employees). There is also a tax for requiring a waiting period to join employer-based insurance plans.
Employers will have to report insurance premiums (even though you don’t actually receive that money) on your W-2 for the IRS. There is only one reason to report health premiums on individual tax returns: taxes. With this new reporting requirement, you can bet a tax will later be added.

Who ultimately pays these taxes? The employers? The rich? NO. You do! Companies are not just going to absorb these costs; they’re going to pass them along to you. It seems like common sense, but the progressives who are running Washington simply do not care.

I want to renew my promise to you. I will not vote for any new taxes in my final session. I will continue to fight for tax decreases. We should all remind our Senators of where we stand on taxes. I urge everyone to contact U.S. Senators Bond and McCaskill this week at http://bond.senate.gov and http://mccaskill.senate.gov .