The Florida legislature is in the processing of passing a budget that is though of as austere. It didn’t need to be, they had options and choices they could have made. They could have chosen to properly apply the corporate tax so that companies that operate and profit in Florida but aren’t based here paid their fair share and they could have closed numerous loopholes and write offs. Florida routinely passes on about five billion dollars.
Instead the decided to give government workers what will most likely be a five percent pay cut, slashed a billion in health care that will affect tens of thousands of sick, mentally ill and physically handicapped citizens and slashed school budgets. Furthermore when all is said and done they will have passed even more costs onto the middle class through increased insurance costs, higher tuition rates and elevated electricity and phone fees.
The Florida legislature had a choice and they chose to protect the rich and corporations and hurt children, the working poor, the middle class, the sick, the dying and the disabled. In the end the real choice they made was to forgo their humanity.
Chris Guerrieri
School Teacher
No comments:
Post a Comment