On the heels of his $1.25 a pack cigarette tax proposal, Jim Doyle has another bright idea.
Guess what it is?
You got it! Doyle is going to propose a new tax.
How can that be?
In his 2006 State of the State address, Doyle said:
Three years ago, I stood here and promised the people of Wisconsin I wouldn’t raise their taxes – and I kept my word.
I said no to higher sales taxes…
No to higher income taxes…
No to higher excise taxes…
And in fact we’ve cut taxes …
…for veterans…
…for businesses…
…for manufacturers…
Repealed automatic increases in gas taxes…
Expanded middle class tax deductions…
…for health care
…for college
And next year, the tax on Social Security benefits will be history.
All together, I have signed into law tax cuts worth more than $660 million. That’s right, more than half a billion dollars in tax cuts.
Oh yes … one more thing. We moved forward on property tax relief – with the toughest limits on property taxes in Wisconsin history.
Doyle is a tax cutting maniac, isn't he?
Listening to that, one would think that he's obsessed with taxes. He lives to say "no" to new taxes and he lowers taxes already in place.
He's a tax-slayer!
Read his lips: No new taxes.
What a load!
From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
In his Tuesday budget message, Gov. Jim Doyle is expected to propose a tax on hospitals to leverage hundreds of millions of dollars in additional federal Medicaid cash to help pay for health care reforms.
Depending on how the tax is structured, it could bring in $300 million or more by mid-2009, legislators and industry experts estimate. That would be enough to help pay for Doyle's goal of providing access to affordable health care for 98% of Wisconsin residents.
Doyle declined to confirm that a hospital tax will be in his budget. The Journal Sentinel confirmed, however, that the Democratic governor will try to follow the lead of Illinois and other states by proposing the tax. He is expected to recommend less than the 6% maximum tax that current federal rules allow.
"The federal government has sort of opened up certain methods by which they will provide more money to the states," Doyle said. "Any state has to be looking at those."
...Even though it has not yet been formally recommended, the tax is already being fought by the Wisconsin Hospital Association and Republicans, who control the Assembly. Some local hospital administrators have already asked their employees to tell their legislators they are against the levy.
Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem) said he expects Doyle's budget to include a tax on hospitals - a move he calls a "shell game."
"One of the biggest concerns of people across the state, business and families, is the cost of health care," Huebsch said. "We're now going to tax that. This completely flies in the face of us trying to get a handle on the cost of health care."
..."If hospitals are taxed in this state, there's no question those taxes are going to be passed on to patients in our hospitals," [Eric Borgerding, senior vice president of the Wisconsin Hospital Association] said.
What were Wisconsin voters, the ones who pay taxes, thinking when they voted to reelect Jim Doyle?
As Republican Mark Green said during the campaign, "If you think the tax burden isn't too high, I'm not your guy."
Obviously, Wisconsinites didn't listen to Green or they didn't care. Maybe they bought Doyle's deceptions. Perhaps they're masochists and can't get enough of Doyle's tax hell.
I think what bothers me most of all is that Doyle insists that he's keeping taxes under control and looking out for Wisconsin families. Supposedly, he's on our side.
He's not.
I think coming up with ways to take more and more of our earnings is Doyle's favorite hobby.
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