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In today’s economy we have Millionaire Corporate Bosses and Millionaire Politicians telling us we can’t have medical coverage because it is too expensive. That’s an “anti-family values” economic position. On September 13th Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the single payer medical plan bill, SB 1414, that had been just been approved by the Democratic majority of the State Legislature requiring that big businesses, especially companies like Wal-Mart, provide medical coverage to their employees.

The companies that would have had to pay into the fund that the legislation would have created, the California Fair Share Health Care Fund, were those that did not provide any or little medical coverage for their employees. These companies force their employees to use emergency rooms and California’s Medi-Cal Program, which places the cost directly into your family’s budget.

But it gets worse! The Orange County Board of Supervisors, at their weekly meeting, heard the desperation of dozens of retired county employees when they testified that their medical coverage shouldn’t be cut. But the Supervisors did it anyway. This decision is one that many big business CEOs are making to make higher and higher profits at the expense of their employees. For the last 10 years there has been a huge increase in the attacks on private sector medical coverage and now it looks as though the Orange County Supervisors’ decision that could set the standard throughout the State.

The move by President Bush and the Republican Congress to cut the federal tax rates for the wealthiest Americans when he first came into office, has had a devastating impact on the funding of State medical care as well. Undercutting the Progressive Tax Rates for federal taxes has caused a $3 trillion increase in the National Debt to $8 trillion today. Remember that the federal tax rate was 90% on incomes over $400,000 in 1954 and the highest tax rate today is 35%. And then Bush and Congress cut the Capital Gains Tax Rate as well.

The rich are taking the most out of the American economy through an ever increasingly “regressive” income tax. America’s middle class are paying a larger share of federal taxes than ever before. On top of that, California is receiving less than 80% of the federal taxes we pay that come back to the State in federal payments, contracts, wages and grants, this according to a report by the ‘Public Policy Institute of California’ titled “Just the Facts – California’s Tax Burden.

The federal model supported by the President and the Republican Congress, is being followed by Republicans in California as well, through their refusal to re-instate the 11% tax rate that had been the highest rate for those in the highest tax brackets. This refusal has left the middle class paying more of the State’s total taxes.
In Schwarzenegger’s partisan veto message on SB 1414, the headline stated; “Gov. vetoes job killing bill that would have required large employers to spend arbitrary amount on health care.” He also said in the statement that he looked forward to working to develop a comprehensive and systemic approached to health care that provides affordable health care and ensures that people don’t get sick in the first place. Putting off any decision to fund a program into the future continues to burden middle income families paying for themselves and every uninsured Californian, even those who are working every day where their company owners don’t provide any form of healthcare. Schwarzenegger doesn’t seen to care that you and I are paying for this as long as he doesn’t have to burden Wal-Mart or his other big campaign contributors.

Having gone through some recent health care situations myself I know how important medical insurance or at least a California medical safety net can be. For the richest of those in California and the Governor, who have the best health care, to refuse to pay up is a disgrace. For the California voters to keep electing them is foolish. Had enough?
We have an alternative. Phil Angelides, the Democratic Candidate for Governor, has a four step plan - and he put it in writing - to reverse the undermining of workplace and California-funded healthcare. He proposes to do the following:

- Work to expand health care coverage, beginning with providing healthcare to all Californians.
- Regulated HMOs to make sure that the health care premiums pay for health care, not excessive CEO pay and profits.
- Demand that large employer be responsible and provide coverage to their workers and stop passing on the cost to taxpayers.
- Fight to control prescription drug costs.

The Angelides plan is 180 degrees from the “tax the middle-class, and do nothing” actions of Schwarzenegger. If Californians don’t put people in office who truly stand for our best interests, then actions like the Orange County Board of Supervisors’ move to strip benefits from retired workers will continue to occur.
Had enough? Vote!