Here we go, a bunch of rich doctors wanting to make sure their bloated payments from Medicare continue have successfully been able to petition the public into increasing the most regressive tax (sales taxes);
Secretary of State Jason Gant today announced that the petitions submitted for an initiated measure to increase South Dakota’s sales tax have passed the certification process, and the issue will be placed on the November 2012 general election ballot.
Doesn’t anyone find it a bit ironic that we would raise taxes on a basic need like food to pay for healthcare and education? If someone can’t afford food, what good is healthcare and education?
This is sad for a number of reasons, but I have two that the public needs to keep in mind;
Initiated Measure 15 would increase the sales tax from 4 percent to 5 percent, with Medicaid providers and K-12 schools sharing about $180 million in new annual revenue.
This only for the first year. After that the legislature can change this formula on the drop of a hat. Does anyone recall the promise of video lottery contributing to education? I’m sorry, call me a cynic bastard, but I know how Pierre works, they see money being given to social programs, they take that money away and funnel it into tax breaks and contracts for their rich and connected buddies, and it is all legal, and I am not even being sarcastic.
The other issue I have with the increase is that money for education already exists. 1) We need to stop giving tax breaks to foreign oil companies because they ‘promise’ to throw us a bone 2) The investment fund, which has $800 million sitting in it could make up for the shortfall, and we would not even have to tap the principal. Right now the interest from that fund goes into the general fund, we could redirect it into education and medicare.
Let’s admit it, our healthcare system is broken. I was having drinks with a friend last night who told me an interesting story about an outpatient procedure his kid had to have. After he received his bill he noticed the surgeon’s fee was about 25% of the bill, but he could not figure out what the other 75% was. So he asked them to provide an itemized invoice. They could not produce it, so he told him he would pay half or see them in court. They accepted his offer, and still never provided the itemized invoice.
Make no mistake, this isn’t about education, this about making sure our bloated healthcare system continues to get funded. I also suspect some Republican lawmakers salivating at the prospect of scooping up this money in the following year.
For once I hope South Dakotans see past this ruse.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqHP8hYAmsE[/youtube]