Since the recession began, the State of Arizona (and most other states) along with the federal government have been embarking on a dangerous journey of cutting funding to programs that benefit marginalized citizens. They seem to believe that the only way to come up with additional revenue is to strip away help from the people. They cut funding for education, police, firefighters, and health care. In Arizona there have been deep cuts in proGrams like AHCCCS.
How else could they generate revenue? Each year in Arizona, between two-thirds and three-quarters of the businesses that file state returns pay only the fifty dollar minimum. That includes successful firms that use deductions and tax credits to reduce their taxable income to zero. Arizona's corporate interest rate is set to fall by 30% between 2014 and 2017, and could end up one of the lowest in the nation. That decrease will save businesses an estimated 270 million dollars in taxes over those four years. That is greater than the amount cut from K-12 education and ASU in this year' budget. Changes in our state tax code have sliced state revenue by more than 86 million dollars already. New changes could cost another 84 million dollars by 2018. I believe in shared sacrifice, but it seems to me that these corporations are sacrificing anything at all. Meanwhile, you and I sacrifice in every way imaginable. Our children are not getting the education they deserve. In many cases, state budget cuts have been so severe that underpaid teachers are forced to buy school supplies for their classrooms. Arizona spends $7,608 per pupil annually, 49th in the nation. If you are unfortunate enough to be dependent on the state for health care, you might as well be left for dead. 2 people did die when they were kicked off the transplant list. Jan Brewer decided that we couldn't afford to save their lives. She was trying to save $1,260,000. That is 1/10th of 1% of Arizona's annual budget. Now you know how much she values human life. Thanks to national attention, 98 surviving patients were returned to the transplant list. I guess she would rather have the citizens of her state die than have Wells Fargo or Chase pay any taxes. Arizona wages an ongoing war against it's homeless people. We make it a crime for them to sleep outdoors, but we have no interest in making it possible for them to move up from their unfortunate positions.
On July 18th, the Arizona legislature put a freeze on AHCCCS benefits for a category called ''childless adults''. Childless adults are people who are under the 100% poverty level who don't qualify for benefits under another eligible category, such as aged, blind, disabled, pregnant, or under 18. People who are mentally ill, but not severely mentally ill won't be able to get benefits. Childless adults who lose their jobs won't have anywhere to get benefits.
Corporations profits and CEO's salaries are at a record high, In 1980 CEO pay averaged 42 times that of the average worker. In 2010 CEO pay averaged 343 times that of the average worker. Our wages continue to drop, and our jobs continue to be shipped overseas. Corporations have tricked the states into a race to the bottom with the promise of jobs to get states to cut corporate taxes. I t is a deception. They are ruining our economies and ravaging our lands. It is time to send them a message. They should pay taxes just like you and me. Haven't we given enough lately?
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Occupy Phoenix raided 12-9-11- HiDefby zyrgle336 views
@shhhon Link is working now. 1080p HD video takes a long time for Youtube to process. I hope it was worth the wait.
zyrgle 1 month ago
hmmm it's still not working for me
shhhon 1 month ago