Action Alert: Bad Budget Compromise Being Heard Today, Rally in Opposition at The Capitol

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Geezus, I spend a couple of days in Phoenix attending the Arizona State Bar convention and all hell breaks loose (and I don't mean the wall-to-wall entertainment idol worship of the media villagers over the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson).

No, as Michael Bryan reported, our Accidental Governor and the GOP insane clown posse leadership have reached a tentative budget compromise that will be heard in a special Saturday session of the legislature today. Budget deal calls for tax overhaul

The "cure" that these ideological extremists have come up with is far worse than the disease. Their intent is to kill the patient, or as their mentor and leader Grover Norquist said, to drown the baby in the bathtub.

The plan aims to make the state more reliant on its vulnerable sales tax for the next three years and, in 2012, give up nearly half a billion dollars a year by switching to a flat-rate income tax. GOP leaders, Brewer have budget deal

It would also repeal nearly all of the state's tax credits except for a few, like private-school tuition credits and contributions to charities that help the poor. That means credits such as those for the blind, the elderly and taxpayers with child or elderly dependents would be eliminated.

Say What?! Here are the key details according to the Arizona Republic:

Key points of 2010 state-budget agreement

• Outlines $8.4 billion in general-fund spending, down from this year's $9.7 billion.

• Creates a flat income tax starting in 2012; a yet-undetermined rate would be capped at 2.8 percent.

• Refers a temporary sales-tax increase to the November ballot.

• Cuts $630 million in state programs.

• Keeps university funding at a level to qualify for federal stimulus dollars.

• Repeals the state equalization tax, a property tax that funds education.

• Takes $22 million intended for cities and gives it to education.

So our Accidental Governor, who has for weeks said she would not agree to the GOP insane clown posse budget because it would "decimate" education, health care and other essential government services — as if she was suddenly the champion of the downtrodden masses — is now willing to say "never mind," because the GOP insane clown posse is willing to give her a special election this November (are they also going to appropriate the funds for this expensive enterprise?) to allow the voters to decide to increase the regressive sales tax "temporarily" for three years. The Accidental Governor proposes to "backfill" the "decimating" budget cuts she is agreeing to from the new revenue from the increased sales tax.

This of course presupposes that voters will actually approve increasing a regressive sales tax.

Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, said he finally gave in to the governor's plea for a sales-tax referral because he believes that if the issue fails at the ballot, it will allow the Legislature to cut even more from state government.

"I don't believe we've made enough reductions in our budget," he said. "If (voters) pass a tax increase, obviously we will have more revenue. If they don't, I think that sends a pretty strong message to the Legislature that we're going to have to make significant reductions." GOP leaders, Brewer have budget deal

I'll give Bob "Bluto" Burns his due, he is one evil bastard.

The compromise also allows the legislature to "sweep" – a polite word for "steal" – the vehicle registration fees shared with local governments, something our Accidental Governor is also on record as having said she opposed. The Arizona League of Cities and Towns is prepared to go to court over these "sweeps."

To attract the votes of the Grover Norquist "no new tax" pledge Republicans, our Accidental Governor also caved in on the permanent repeal of the state equalization property tax (something which was enacted to comply with a court order from several years ago to equalize school district capital funding – school district lawyers may want to reopen this case now), which primarily benefits utiities and corporations.

And she agreed to — just who the hell let Steve Forbes in the room? — a "flat tax" income tax beginning in 2012. This insane idea should be put to the voters to decide, not a simple majority of ideological Republicans in the legislature. Arizona's current income tax rates are already among the lowest in the nation. The top tax rate is 4.54 percent for income greater than $150,000 for individuals and $300,000 for couples.

It's no guarantee that these Grover Norquist acolytes will vote for this budget deal. They fear offending Norquist and his minions from hell more than they do the governor or the consequences of a state government shut down (I suspect many of these ideological extremists not-so-secretly desire a state government shutdown).

Ideological extremist Sen. Ron Gould (R-Lake Havasu City) said "There's no scenario under which I'm going to send a tax increase to the ballot nor vote for one," Gould said. He added, "If you go to the flat tax, you're going to bring the rate up on the people at the bottom to flatten it off on the top." You're feigned concern is touching, Ron. Although, this may be the one time that this "no new tax" pledge works to defeat this bad budget compromise.

The net effect of all these proposals would be to shift the marginal tax burden to the lower income brackets, and give Rich Uncle Penny Bags yet another tax holiday. Those individuals in the lower income brackets paying a higher marginal tax burden would also see government assistance available to them in times of need dramatically scaled back through massive budget cuts that are certain to be piled on top of the massive budget cuts in this proposed 2010 budget.

This budget deal boils down to ideological class warfare. There is no "shared sacrifice" in these hard economic times. The GOP servants of the investor class and corporations are protecting their masters' wealth and telling everyone else in this state, "fuck you!"

To the editors of the state's newspapers who have been praising our Accidental Governor for her "tough" stand against this legislature, she just proved to you that she has a spine made of jello — she caved in to the GOP insane clown possee because, as I have said from the beginning, Jan Brewer is an ideological extremist herself from way back (just like her GOP colleagues in the legislature) and she is not capable of being a moderating influence no matter how much you idiot editors at the Arizona Republic and the Arizona Daily Star try to convince Arizonans that she is. This leopard is not changing her spots.

The House Appropriations Committee will convene at 9:00 a.m. today in Hearing Room 1, 1700 W. Washington St., Phoenix.

In an attempt to stop this budget proposal and the devastation that will result for Arizona's schools and families if it were to pass, the March4Schools Coalition is organizing a protest for Saturday, June 27 at 9 a.m. at the Arizona State Capitol.

Please let everyone you know who cares about the future of our state know how important it is that the citizens of Arizona let the Republican Governor and Legislature know that they should stop this disastrous budget plan and instead pass a budget that protects Arizona's schools and families. Our children are counting on us to protect their interests.

March4Schools Coalition
Protest Against the Proposed Republican Budget Plan
Saturday, June 27, 9 a.m.
Arizona State Capitol Lawn
1700 West Washington, Phoenix, AZ
go to www.march4schools.org for more information