If I have a "Cadillac plan," will I have to pay the proposed tax myself? No. The 40 percent tax will be charged directly to the insurer. That is, the insurance company has to pay 40 cents on every dollar spent above the $8,000 or $21,000 cutoff. Some portion of that tax, however, is likely to get passed onto the consumer.

Doesn't matter who pays the tax, or even that the tax should be on the out-the-door price of an F-22 Raptor (and not a 1950s-era and peacetime Cadillac), if the tax is scheduled to be a deduction.

This is the arrangement that enables Nancy Pelosi to enjoy all the benefits of a war against Iraq without being required to turn in her anti-war vestments and to stop celebrating the sacraments .