I voted yesterday. Well, I placed my vote in the mailbox via early ballot. This is for a special issue in AZ called Prop 100, and even though you readers from out of state don't care, I am going to bitch about it. I know, I don't usually get all political, but this is getting too close to home. All you Arizonians, read up, and vote NO.
Now, AZ just had a tax placed on previously non-taxed food items. This is in addition to and on top of it.
Prop100 is asking for an amendment to the State Constitution, to raise the State Sales Tax by 1% for the next 3 years. The revenue from the 1% increase cannot be used for government, but is especially for a supposed breakdown of 2/3 to Primary & Secondary Education, and the remaining 1/3 to Public Safety (Police, Fire, etc) and Health & Human Services.
This has many people wanting and encouraging others to vote YES as it helps pay teachers and fund schools. It helps pay to keep up the police force and Fire dept services. I am all for that, don't get me wrong. Especially since there have been cuts in those areas recently due to GOV'T OVERSPENDING.
Wait, didn't we have a Prop301 years ago to increase education funding? That was supposed to be in effect years ago, why do we need more money now? Oh - it got passed, but never acted on.
I read through the pamphlet regarding all the pros and cons of this Prop100, and I am going to quote one submission that really covered it well, and pushed me to my NO vote. So, Sis and RM - if yer reading, be sure you vote NO on May 18 or early ballot.
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10 Reasons To Reject Proposition 100
1. Small business Opposes it - A survey of NFIB/Arizona's 7,500 small business members found 71 percent oppose the one-cent sales tax increase.
2. Big Business, Big Labor Support It - Large out-of-state corporations, healthcare special interests and government employee unions support this temporary fix to a chronically flawed government.
3. Tax Hikes are Job Killers - This 18 percent tax hike will further exacerbate major drivers of small business failure and job loss - historically low consumer confidence and dramatically lower consumer spending.
4. Our Sales Tax is Already Too High - Arizona taxpayers already pay the 5th highest sales taxes in the U.S. Annually, the average Arizonian pays $1,440.83 in sales tax which is 43 percent above the national average.
5. Double-Digit Rate for Many - Upon passage, 34 communities, more than a third of Arizona's cities, will have a combined state, county, and local sales tax rate higher than 10%.
6. Private Sector Squeezed - State government must prioritize, economize and downsize rather than load heavier tax burdens on our citizens and small businesses.
7. Over-Promising - One cent of last year's sales tax collected $751 million. Proposition 100 proponents make the unbelievable claim that their additional one cent will raise $943 million next year, $968 million the next and $1 billion in the third year.
8. Under Delivering - Even accepting the $2.911billion in new revenue, the state's structural budget deficit will still total more than $6.5 billion over the three year life of the tax hike.
9. Inevitable Spending Cuts - With annual deficits remaining in the billions of dollars even after passage, threats to popular spending programs will remain and grow.
10. Common Sense - "The last thing we want to do is raise taxes in the middle of a recession," President Barack Obama, August 5, 2009,
- Farrell Quinlan, State Director National Federation of Independent Business - Arizona, Phoenix
- Michael A. Crowe, Chairman, Leadership Council National Federation of Independent Business - Arizona, Mesa
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Item #3 says 18 percent, I think it is a typo and should read 1 percent - don't know if it was the printing company or the actual letter sent in.
Either way... VOTE NO.
PeacE
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