Yay Arizona Hospital and Health Care Association!
Posted by: Donna
I’m an overjoyed Diva this morning to learn that AZHHA is sponsoring an initiative to fund health care for low income Arizonans though a small tax increase on the wealthy.
I love this:
As crafted, any earnings below $150,000 would be taxed at current rates. But anything above that would be subject to a surcharge.
So an individual making $200,000 a year would pay 4.5 percent on the first $150,000 and 5.5 percent on the last $50,000.
Rivers said the decision to raise the money from high-income individuals, versus a tax on purchases of things like tobacco, alcohol or even sugared sodas, was deliberate.
“We think it will meet with widespread public acceptance,” he said. More to the point, he said the “modest increase” that affects just a handful of Arizonans “is unlikely to generate well-organized, well-financed opposition which, quite honestly, makes getting the initiative passed in November easier than if you’re facing a multi million-dollar ‘no’ campaign.”
“We were just being very practical about this,” Rivers said.
They are being practical here because opposition to the tax will fall into roughly two camps:
1. People making over $150,000 a year
2. Morons
There’s a tendency to overestimate the moron factor in the Arizona electorate because of the makeup of the Legislature. But I predict this initiative will pass easily, as the one in Oregon did recently, and as other progressive initiatives have passed here in Arizona. And in Oregon, there were actually 2 measures on the ballot – the income tax increase on the rich and a slight increase in corporate taxes. The corporate tax piece did generate fierce organized resistance from the business community, who (predictably) ranted and raved and spent a ton of money trying (and failing) to convince voters that it was a commerce-destroyer and jobs-killer. But since the Arizona initiative appears to be taxing high income people and not businesses, the country club conservatives are going to have a harder time playing that card. Basically, if they protest the initiative they’re going to look like a bunch of rich jerks who want to take health care away from kids. So the main resistance will come from the anti-tax moron mob. Who will look like the morons they are, and also like a bunch of mean jerks who want to take health care away from kids.
The Tribune article mentions this interesting factoid as well:
Brewer also wants lawmakers to approve a resolution asking Congress to come up with the cash Arizona needs to keep its health care program running between now and when new federal aid becomes available in 2014.
How about calling it something cutesy like “the Cactus Kickback”? That has a nice ring to it.
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One question that comes to mind (regarding really rich people who are willing to spend tons of money to promote their ditto head religion) is: Are the likes of Buzz Mills and Steve Pierce just the tip of the iceberg in this state? And what do you suppose they are putting in the water up there in those parts north of here? If there are many more of them then they just might put up a well funded effort.
And how do you dump over two million dollars into your campaign account (many weeks ago) and still be without a website? I can’t find one anyway.
His site is http://www.buz4gov.com/
Go to his About page and see how he’s been feeding at the government trough his entire life, despite his insistence that he wants to cut gov’t spending.
People who earn over $150,000 definitely deserve a surcharge. It’s their fault that the povs can’t afford health insurance and, really when you get right down to it, them richies “earned” their loot on the backs of the proletariat, right?
You’d have to be a moron to not let them get away with it. Thank you, Marxist Diva!
Get Real…yawn.
I can’t find the “about” page. That is a really poor website for a two million dollar budget. I would guess Symington’s firm spent less than three hundred dollars on it. More money to go for consulting I suppose. I think he gets milked all the way to November.
Donna,
Why don’t you Socialists check out how your ideas actually work in the real world ? I am referring to Massachusetts. It has what you folks say you want . Well check it out .
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/03/02/mass_healthcare_reform_is_failing_us/
Hey Alan, look to Somalia for a template of how your ideas work out.
Donna,
” Hey Alan, look to Somalia for a template of how your ideas work out. ”
For true sarcasm to work their has to be an element of truth . The similarity between Obama-care and Massachusetts care is obvious . What is your point ?
Alan, the sarcasm works because of the dissimilarity between Somalia and your Free Market Fairyland. Yet Somalia has everything you want: No taxes, no gun laws, no regulations on business.
[...] with the horrifying prospect of an initiative that would raise the state income tax on couples making $300,000 a year from 4.54% to 5.5…, they acted with remarkable speed. Robert Robb was quite distraught about it, and grateful that [...]