Jul 2, 2010

Rogers: tax worse than cancer and mustard gas


The Rogers Newsletter, AKA the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, carried a Mike Rogers press release today entitled “U.S. Rep. Rogers: Get your tan now” about the 10 percent tax on tanning beds that went into effect on July 1 as part of the historic health care insurance reform passed last March.

The Brighton Republican says “the 10 percent tax "kills jobs, hurts women (and) college students." Perhaps someone should tell Mr. Rogers about the harm caused by tanning beds to women and college students, as well as men and non-college students.

In fact, experts at the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, the cancer arm of the World Health Organization, “moved tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation into the top cancer risk category, deeming them as deadly as arsenic and mustard gas."

The good news is they will now have health care to treat the cancer, and people can no longer be denied health care coverage because of the pre-existing condition of cancer.

6 comments:

Motor City Liberal Returns said...

When Republicans rail against taxes they should make it clear, they don't mind the middle-class, working poor pay or raise their taxes..It's the corporate taxes and taxes on those who make 250,000 and more a year shouldn't have to pay.

carraig said...

When Democrats rail in favor of new programs and taxes to pay for them they should make it clear that they know that the middle class, working poor will ultimately pay more and proportionately more of any increase in tax burden.

This is because every bill has escape hatches, carefully placed, so that even as it appears that they are focusing on the rich, they are unable to do so. Then having committed to the spending and not getting the revenues, they increase taxes on those who don't have the ability to avoid them, and their burden increases. Or they add to the deficit.

Smart people who look at the system know that efforts to tax the corporations and the rich will fail miserably. So our only protection from complete indenture as ordinary non-billionaires is to keep the beast relatively small.

The alternative is France or Italy or Germany or Sweden.

Communications guru said...

I know. When Democrats initiate a new program they prefer to pay for it, unlike Bush, who took a budget surplus and turned into a record deficit and plunged us into the worst recession since the Great Depression. It seems a little disingenuous for you to claim a tax on tanning beds will hurt the middle class and working poor when you had no problem with Bush’s tax cuts for the richest 1 percent.

Our only protection is the graduated income tax.

“The alternative is France or Italy or Germany or Sweden?” I don’t get it. There is nothing wrong with those countries.

Not Anonymous said...

The socialist Democrats haven't paid for anything. They put in "paygo" but then they claim their spending is emergency spending and therefore, not subject to "paygo".

Corporations don't pay taxes. Never have and never will. They didn't tax tanning salons. They taxed the people that use tanning salons. They didn't increase the taxes on gas and oil. They increased the taxes on the person buying the gas and oil.

Increase taxes on the rich and they'll put their money into municipal bond funds where there are no taxes or very little in taxes.

We have never taxed our way into prosperity, nor have we spent our way into prosperity. However, we have always gotten economic stimulus from tax cuts.

The Bush tax cuts were across the board. They weren't just for the rich, they were for the poor that pay taxes as well.

All men are created equal, but they are never taxed equally. Those that earn a better living, are penalized for earning a better living while those that refuse to work hard, refuse to even work for the basic necessities, sit back and wait for government to take someone elses money that they've earned and give to those that don't work as hard, don't take care of basic needs for themselves or their families.

France, Italy, Germany, and Sweden have higher tax rates than we do. Although our corporate tax rate is the second highest in the world. But again, corporations don't pay taxes. Those costs are passed on to the consumer through higher prices.

Socialist Democrats either don't understand this or refuse to believe the historical facts.

Communications guru said...

First of all, anonymous coward, there is no such thing as a Socialist Democrat in the United States, and that is just a false, Republican smear. Considering we are in the Bush recession, the worst since the Great Depression, it is emergency spending.

Corporations do pay taxes, and there is no reason they shouldn’t; after all, according to the U.S. Supreme Court they are people. The tax on tanning salons will be used to fund insurance to uninsured Americans. That’s money well spent. But to claim it will “kill jobs, hurts women (and) college students” while ignoring the fact that the dangers of tanning beds is equal to that of arsenic and mustard gas is ridiculous.

The Bush tax cuts benefited just the richest 1 percent and no one else. Again, anonymous coward, read the conclusion of the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Like I said, there is nothing wrong with our allies in France, Italy, Germany and Sweden.

Again, anonymous coward, there is no such thing as a Socialist Democrat in the United States, and that is just a false, Republican smear.

Again, anonymous coward, I’m still waiting for you to back up your fairy tale that we were “nearly shoulder to shoulder once.”

Are you stupid, can’t read or are you finally admitting you are a liar, anonymous coward?

Grung_e_Gene said...

Why does Sean Hannity want the Tax burden increased? Why be upset when 47% of Americans pay no tax? Because Hannity only wants the Middle Class to pay taxes. To Hannity and the conservatives Capital belongs to the Capitalists. Q.E.D.