Obamacare’s Tax-Time Torment

The published Texas Insider editorial, Obamacare’s Tax-Time Torment, defends the voice of many citizens dealing with taxing and new insurance policies. The conservative blogger, Michelle Malkin, defends the side of  “hard-working Americans” who are struggling to meet the “April 18 IRS filing deadline.” Throughout her article, Malkin interviews different citizens who are concerned with this issue and gives statements of local authorities, making her story credible.

Media has increased as a communication method. Twitter, even though informal, can lead to the findings of what people actually think about issues in their lives. An example she listed, was how one “poor citizen” lamented how they were trying to get their tax records in order. One common thread mentioned as the problem was the “bumbling Obama care bureaucracy.” No names were given to protect the identity of the witnesses. Malkin gives several examples that support her side of the story. 

For instance, in Minnesota, an estimated “18,000 people” that were switch to the new Obamacare health insurance policy have not “received their 1095-A form”. As for this backed up method, city officials, blame “technical difficulties” and as mentioned in her editorial, promised to send out more documents soon. Another example that makes a valid point, is how the “Aloha State” is currently “digging out the mess” of this new state exchange policy. Many taxpayers where affected, and after trying to figure out the quantity, the IRS told them they “have not been able to provide error rates for 2014.” It’s kind of intimidating and stressful to see the lack of organization and leadership to correct fundamental issues for each citizen regardless of where they live.

In this day and age, new databases and technology improvements should be by now implemented by the government to provide precise information to tax payers. As explained in this editorial, is not just the common human mistakes that can occur ,which are understandable, but of thousands of people being misinformed and waiting long periods of time to fix this issue. Malkin ends her editorial strongly by mentioning a quote of a small-business owner (a handy man). He mentioned “no one on the Hill cares about what people like us are thinking”. Making the reader think if "we"- the taxpayers- are actually being heard.