The lone holdout
After an emotional two-hour debate, House members voted 146-1 to reject a $300 million tax increase intended to put Democrats on the spot on the 2005 Medicaid cuts.
Offered by Rep. Steve Hunter, R-Joplin, the proposal would have increased the income tax rate by half a percent on everyone making more than $50,000 a year.
“I voted for those cuts and I feel bad,” he said. “I think we need to restore them.”
Hunter is critic of the progressive income tax system and favors a consumption tax. Earlier in the debate, he characterized his proposal as, “This is about all of the pages I could tear out of Das Kapital.”
Democrats smelled sarcasm.
“You’re telling me that Mr. Anti-Tax’s conscience is clear in proposing a $300 million tax increase?” said Rep. Jeff Roorda, D-Barnhart.
Hunter, who is term-limited, was the only legislator to vote for the measure.
Rep. Gina Walsh, D- Bellefontaine Neighbors, also said the proposal was disingenuous.
“It is simply an attempt to catch members on both sides of the aisle making a bad vote,” she said. “I’m not going to sit in this chamber and listen to this.”
Republicans said they were giving Democrats a chance to vote for restoring the cuts.
“Everybody that has made those comments (in support of restoring the cuts) has the opportunity to do what they say is the right thing,” said Rep. Shannon Cooper, R-Clinton.
Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford, D-St. Louis has a bill that would increase taxes on those with higher incomes while lowering taxes for people who make less. In an emotional speech, she said the debate was offensive.
“Rather than having a strong discussion about restoring health care for our friends and neighbors, we are playing a trick,” she said.
Much of the afternoon’s debate was focused on the Medicaid cuts. While House members rejected that amendment, they easily approved a one-time exemption to the state gas tax during the summer months. They also gave initial approval, 104-37, to repeal the state income tax for corporations.
The cost of those two measures is $120 million and $400 million, respectively.
The bill still needs another vote in the House before it would be sent to the Senate. There is just more than two weeks left in the session.
Oh I see, Democrats only want tax increases to provide healthcare if they propose but restoring healthcare isn’t important enough to vote to restore it if a Republican offers it.
Roorda is right, something does stink and it is the hypocrisy of the democrats. Mott-Oxford is offended, indeed! She is offended because she and her party aren’t getting the “benefit” of being the knights on white horses.
Just goes to show that democrats are all talk and no walk.
Read the article again. Mott Oxford had her own proposal to raise the money to restore the cuts by increasing the tax on the higher incomes and reducing it on the working poor. The republicans, rather than take a look at that real solution, proposed a fictitious one of there own that no one would vote for (read that part again, too. The only one - of either party - to vote for it was that clever little man that proposed it). Ha, Ha, Missour’s poor! You are nothing more than political fodder for republican amusement. The fact that first-round approval was given to REPEAL the corporate income tax on the same day is despicable. You should be ashamed, but of course you’re not.
Once again,To grasp the how stupid steve hunter is .just think of Jetho Bodine….But dumber!! Only this fool from Jopin believe that” 50K a year is RICH”!! …His words not mine. If Hunter had his way Corparate america would pay NO taxes..ever!! This fool’s level of respect has hit the bottom even with his own party. He is a senior member of the leg. body …A chairman of a Leg. Committee, and has yet to pass any of his own priority legislation. This clearly shows that he rose to his level of incompotence the day he was elected and now is being used by the majority as nothing more than the village idiot (sorry if I offended any village idiots) preforming legisative parlor tricks while our citizen get put though the ringer
Jacks, if you had any brain whatsoever, you would already realized that Corporations pay NO taxes, EVER!!!. The consumers that purchase the products or services that the Corporation provides are the ones that pay the taxes, it just funnels through the corporation.
My, I’m so shocked! More Republican quackery, more Republican thuggery in the Missouri House! Heavens!
Rep. Steve “Hoosier” Hunter should go back to Joplin and stop wasting our time and money playing political games and grandstanding…
Why not propose a $300,000,000 tax on all Missouri seniors over the age of 65 to restore the [Republican] cuts in Medicaid….Let’s see how committed the Democrats really are to our elderly and needy. Makes about as much sense… Right, Joplin Hoosier?
Looney…you’re finally starting to understand the meaning of a “consumption tax”.
Let’s tax the yacht builders and the Lear Corporation first…. and let the country-club Republicans start paying their fair share whenever they buy another toy.
Corps. pay no taxes huh? Well then following your stream of logic Amazed, Corps dont pay anything. They dont pay salarys, pensions, stock dividends, bonouses, after all ,all those costs are ultimately passed down though the Corp. after the consumer buys their service or product. So if the Corp. pays no taxes why the need for tax relief? Then that would also mean that the tax payer pays all of the payroll tax. Then we as a nation should be working to raise wage earners pay instead of whats best for the investment class. woudnt that ultimately be best for everyone? asfor as my brain is concerned,It doesnt spell or ttype very well,but it can reason just fine!!
Someone needs to get Amazed a mirror so he can see from whence the lunacy cometh.
Hunter wasting time on the taxpayers dime? This is news?
He’s made a career of this kind of stuff.
Without a consumer to purchase a good or service, a company doesn’t exist. No one works there, receives a paycheck, pays any income taxes. Someday you knuckleheads may realize that.
If our intelligent and benevolent government leaders were to impose more taxes on Anheuser Busch, do you think that Auggie the IV, V, or whatever number they are up to will downsize the Gulfstream? Absolutely not. They just raise the price on the beer they produce and everyone that CONSUMES their product pays the tax.