Democratic Presidential hopeful, Dick Gebhardt claims he will raise taxes by $2 Trillion if necessary to pay for his socialist (a/k/a fascist) healthcare system. Fox News notes that "Gephardt's plan requires all companies to insure their employees, whether full-time, part-time, self-employed or retirees," although there is no explanation as to how companies would insure the 'self-employed'.

By Gephardt's own estimates, the plan would cost $213 billion in 2005, increasing by $15 billion to $20 billion each of the following two years.

$213 billion is probably an extremely low estimate, which would explain why Gebhardt wants to raise taxes by $2 Trillion to pay for it. Gebhardt's plan would increase taxes for married couples, decrease child credits, and increase the inheritance death tax. Also, each tax bracket would be raised. The bottom bracket, currently at 10% would go up to 15%, and the top bracket (35%) would be set back at 39.6%.

Gebhardt even acknowledges that the price tag is so high that it could add to the federal deficit. The punch line, of course, is that this is supposed to stimulate the economy.