Cig/hospital taxes: It’s not either/or but both

The Clarion-Ledger Editorial, 3/18/8

Mississippi lawmakers are about to start tossing political footballs back and forth, but citizens shouldn’t participate.

Specifically, the game is how to fund Medicaid, and if the state’s cigarette tax or the state’s tax on hospitals should be raised.

The game pits Gov. Haley Barbour who has opposed raising the cigarette tax (saying he’s against raising taxes) versus House Democrats have generally supported it. But Barbour himself has backed raising the “fee” (as he calls it, not “tax”) on hospitals.

Mississippians could strain their necks in coming weeks as members of the Legislature toss these political footballs – some might say “hot potatoes” – back and forth.