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Since it seems you're the same moron that commented on the millionaires tax...I'll just include my response to those Fox news talking points...with facts...I know, facts to right wingers is like garlic to vampires, but here we go:

California is in the budget hole it is because of all the TAX CUTS (and the housing bubble caused by Wall Street) instituted over the past couple of decades, including for corporations. The fact that we have the disastrous Prop 13 AND that we're only 1 of 3 states in the nation that require a super majority to raise taxes at all BOTH DISPROVE your "argument".

A few basic points based on numbers crunched from the California Budget Project...as there is PLENTY of money to provide health care to sick and elderly:

The Share of Corporate Income Paid in Taxes Has Fallen by Nearly Half Since 1981

Tax Cuts Enacted Since 1993 in CA Cost $11.7 Billion in 2008-09 alone...

Lowest-Income Households Pay the Largest Share of Their Income in State and Local Taxes: Bottom fifth pays 11.7%, top 1% pays 7.1%.

Tax policies and economic trends are largest contributor to the state’s budget problems:

Corporate income taxes have declined over time as a share of General Fund revenues and as a share of corporate profits. If corporations had paid the same share of their profits in corporate taxes in 2006 as they did in 1981, corporate tax collections would have been $8.4 billion higher.

Extending the Bush tax cuts (overwhelmingly for the rich) alone cost California $14 billion this year...

Add to that the recession caused by Wall Street induced housing bubble and you have the other piece of our deficit puzzle.

Its of course also a myth that those poor rich people (this would tax only what people make ABOVE $1 million a year)are leaving the state...in fact, last year alone, the number of millionaires in California increased by 27%...even as they are taxed at a lower proportional rate than the poor.

Think Mitt Romney...taxed at less than 14% on the over $20 million he "made"...by doing nothing.

As we know (not you, but as educated people know), the rich are taxed at the lowest rate in 60 years yet have a larger share of the wealth than at any time in 80 years. This, at a time we are devastating education, health services, infrastructure and public safety?

Why in the world would we not tax the super rich a tiny bit more to keep our state competitive and the economy growing?

The top 1% in this country have more wealth than bottom 90% combined (YET they pay half the tax rate on ordinary income prior to 1981)....and the 6 Walton children from Walmart have more wealth than the bottom 30% of America COMBINED....yet are taxed at about 17%.

As the California Budget Project notes, "In response to sizeable budget shortfalls, lawmakers have repeatedly cut state spending in recent years. The Legislature reduced General Fund spending from $103.0 billion in 2007-08 to $87.3 billion in 2009-10 – a drop of 15.3 percent – as policymakers responded to the dramatic decline in revenues caused by the most severe economic downturn since the 1930s. In 2010-11, General Fund spending is estimated to be lower as a share of the state’s economy than in 33 of the prior 40 years, and expenditures will fall further under the spending plan approved by the Legislature in March."

A CBP analysis of state data shows that the cumulative impact of these cuts amounts to $2.7 billion between 2008-09 and 2011-12. These cuts require Californians with Medi-Cal coverage to pay more out of pocket for health services, reduce patients’ access to health services, and require seniors and persons with disabilities to enroll in managed care plans. This has led to Reduced funding that counties use to operate the Medi-Cal Program; Eliminated state support for community clinics; Required seniors to pay Medicare premiums; Reduced payments to medical providers by 10 percent; Required Medi-Cal enrollees to pay more for health services; and Eliminated coverage for adult dental care and other benefits."

A millionaires tax is exactly what's needed if we are to make the most basic public interest investments at a time they're needed most. Or, we can continue to go the Banana Republic route...with the rich getting richer, investments in our future getting smaller (and the safety net that provides a lifeline to growing numbers of Californians), and the poor (new study shows 1 in 2 Americans qualify as poor now) increasing.

Thankfully, polls show about 70% support for this tax...and remember too, the economy never did better than when taxes on the rich were at its highest (1950's through 1970's).

Its about priorities...your priority is to cut taxes for the rich and big business at the expense of human beings and our future...wonderful...we get it.

As an obvious sociopath I do have one question for you: how many lives are you willing to sacrifice to protect the massive wealth of the super rich?

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