I Am Right
7/7/2011, 06:02 PM
RUSH: This Arizona stuff, folks... Remember when I told you that if they keep raising taxes on tobacco, they're gonna eventually run out of money because they're using tobacco taxes to fund health care programs for kids. I said, "Well, wait a second, now, we need to be giving smokers medals." Medal of Honor, medal of service, we really need to put 'em on a pedestal. Smokers are paying for the S-CHIP program, the state children's health program. "Arizona has a major public health problem: Too few people are smoking. That’s not the only fiscal problem the state faces. But it’s one of them.
"Like many states, Arizona’s public finances are in miserable shape. And according to Associate Editor Peter Suderman, much of the state’s budget trouble can be attributed to a decade-old decision to finance an expansion of low-income health insurance coverage with revenue dependent on tobacco industry profits. A little more than a decade ago, the state grew its low-income health insurance rolls, claiming the new enrollees would be paid for by revenue from a deal with tobacco industry. Now, with smoking rates (and tobacco industry revenues) falling, a budget crisis brewing, and a growing number of individuals eligible for Medicaid, the state has chosen to pare back its health coverage for low-income adults."
They don't have the money. All the smoking taxes and the grab of profits from the tobacco industry are not producing enough money. They realize they can't raise taxes anymore or they'd be in even worse shape. So they're telling these low-income people, "Hey, buddy, you know, we really care about you. We're gonna make sure you have health insurance. You know how we're gonna do it? We're gonna tax those evil cigarette smokers and cigar smokes and those evil tobacco companies. At the same time, we're gonna make it impossible for 'em to smoke anywhere. We're gonna ban smoking everywhere, but we're gonna make sure you got health insurance from the tax revenues. And, by the way, we're gonna make sure those people quit 'cause it's a health issue. We don't think they ought to be smoking. They put pressure on the health industry, get cancer and so forth."
So it's all come to pass. Fewer people smoking, fewer people buying tobacco products, fewer tobacco company profits, less revenue. And so low income people, the poor in Arizona are being told, "Sayonara, you're on your own." I told you, folks. It's gonna happen in New York. It's gonna happen wherever they are primarily using tobacco tax revenue to fund anything. Most of it at the states is tied to health care for either kids or for poor people because that's how they gut-wrenched your heart, that's how they got everybody to go along with it.
"Like many states, Arizona’s public finances are in miserable shape. And according to Associate Editor Peter Suderman, much of the state’s budget trouble can be attributed to a decade-old decision to finance an expansion of low-income health insurance coverage with revenue dependent on tobacco industry profits. A little more than a decade ago, the state grew its low-income health insurance rolls, claiming the new enrollees would be paid for by revenue from a deal with tobacco industry. Now, with smoking rates (and tobacco industry revenues) falling, a budget crisis brewing, and a growing number of individuals eligible for Medicaid, the state has chosen to pare back its health coverage for low-income adults."
They don't have the money. All the smoking taxes and the grab of profits from the tobacco industry are not producing enough money. They realize they can't raise taxes anymore or they'd be in even worse shape. So they're telling these low-income people, "Hey, buddy, you know, we really care about you. We're gonna make sure you have health insurance. You know how we're gonna do it? We're gonna tax those evil cigarette smokers and cigar smokes and those evil tobacco companies. At the same time, we're gonna make it impossible for 'em to smoke anywhere. We're gonna ban smoking everywhere, but we're gonna make sure you got health insurance from the tax revenues. And, by the way, we're gonna make sure those people quit 'cause it's a health issue. We don't think they ought to be smoking. They put pressure on the health industry, get cancer and so forth."
So it's all come to pass. Fewer people smoking, fewer people buying tobacco products, fewer tobacco company profits, less revenue. And so low income people, the poor in Arizona are being told, "Sayonara, you're on your own." I told you, folks. It's gonna happen in New York. It's gonna happen wherever they are primarily using tobacco tax revenue to fund anything. Most of it at the states is tied to health care for either kids or for poor people because that's how they gut-wrenched your heart, that's how they got everybody to go along with it.