(So do you really want HB 3 right now folks? - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Texas needs a fair broad-based, low-rate business tax. But is our state so leaderless and bereft of principle that to pass HB3 we have to laden it with special tax goodies for the powerful and well-connected?
These special interest tax loopholes are worth up to $1.5 billion, according to the SA Express News. If we closed these loopholes, we could provide a $5,000 pay raise for Texas’ middle class teachers, who are paid $6800 less than the national average. But who cares about our teachers and the middle-class taxpayers who will subsidize these tax breaks? What do they matter when there is a Roman feast to be had?
Here are some goodies obtained by the restaurants, oil and gas industry, banks, financial vehicles of the wealthy, and real estate firms (which I am sure are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg):
I apparently didn't make my point clear in "Doctors' Greed Gone Wild," since most comments defended doctors and the need to raise Medicaid reimbursements. Medicaid reimbursements clearly need to be raised substantially and Texas needs a real health care plan so we dramatically reduce our nation-leading percentage of unsinsured.
But the doctors' "unreimbursed" care deduction is the wrong way to deal with these issues and is grossly overbroad. The right way to deal with Medicaid is to substantially increase Medicaid reimbursements in specific amounts for specific procedures and treatments. The wrong way is to grant a blanket across the board tax deduction for all payments for all procedures for Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, Workers' Comp, and the Military's TriCare plan. Even less justified is the additional tax break for insurance company under-payments as determined by doctors.
People need to read the details of the deduction in HB3 and not just bemoan our generally sorry health care system. This crappy deduction will not achieve its public justification and is grossly overbroad and poorly thought out.
To me, this deduction reeks of greed and not the public interest.
(Another prospective new writer for the upcoming month, I'd like to see what y'all think. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
The Doc’s amendment to HB3-- allowing doctors, dentists, and other medical professionals to deduct their costs for "unreimbursed" care-- takes greed to a new level. The amendment is nothing but a disguised tax expenditure to benefit a privileged few at the expense of other taxpayers and funding for our kids’ education. Talk about power-drunk piggies at the trough.
Health care professionals have the highest earnings in the US. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the top 11 of 13 occupations in earnings are health care professionals. Anesthesiologists top the list, making a median annual income of over $326,000. The average person in the US earns around $28,760. And with Texas' grossly regressive taxes, health care professionals, who rank among the wealthiest Texans, are paying today in state and local taxes 3% of their income-- while middle class Texans are paying 8% and the poor 11%.
But oppressed and suffering terribly financially, Texas medical professionals decided it would be right and just if they got a special deduction for “un-reimbursed” care. Many others provide charitable services-- lawyers, public relations specialists, accountants, non-professional people, etc--but only the docs get a charitable deduction. How sweet it is.
