Cha-ching! AHCA will be bonanza for the rich

Friday, March 24, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., came out swinging on the American Health Care Act this week on the House floor, zeroing in on a report from the congressional Joint Economic Committee showing that tax cuts in the legislation would save the wealthiest 0.1 percent of Americans $207,390 each in a single year.

Here’s the transcript of her remarks, which she tweeted Wednesday morning:

This GOP disastrous health care proposal is really just the largest transfer of wealth to the super-rich in this nation’s entire history.

In fact, it gives the top 1 percent of earners a windfall of tax breaks and subsidies, and the super-rich are going to be able to buy a lot of things with this new money.

It’s been estimated they could buy one new Lamborghini, 26 new Rolex watches or 44 sets of Super Bowl tickets thanks to this tax cut.

In effect, you are shifting wealth from Main Street, America, to Mar-a-Lago, from my district to Mar-a-Lago.

Forty-four thousand people in my district in Southern Nevada will lose their health insurance according to the Center for American Progress.

You know, our president -- well, not our president, he’s not my president, but anyway -- said he didn’t know health care could be so complicated.

Well, if you look at this bill, it’s really not very complicated. It’s quite simple. Premiums go up, benefits go down, deductibles go up, coverage goes down, prices go up, health care for women goes down.

Vote no on this bill.

Titus’ comments got us thinking: What else could the super-rich pay for with their $207,390 in tax savings? Here are some items:

• Fountain-view rooms on Saturday night at the Bellagio ($425.85 as of Wednesday morning) for themselves and 487 of their friends.

• A three-bedroom, three-bathroom, 1,478-square-foot home at 10247 Montana Mountain Lane, listing at $207,990 on Zillow. Yes, we know that’s $600 more than the tax-cut savings. But we figure the extra cost wouldn’t be that much of a hurdle.

• Twenty top-tier seats to the Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil show ($196.20) once a week for a year.

• Three meals a day for 1,000 people for more than half a year — 207.3 days, to be exact — at Three Square, where each dollar of donations provides three meals.

• Meals on Wheels ($7.15 per meal, delivered) for 29,005 homebound people.

• The annual salaries and benefits of three entry-level Clark County School District teachers ($60,077) for a year, with $27,159 left over for class supplies.

• A basic Apple iPad ($329) for 630 CCSD students.

• A full year’s worth of Regional Transportation Commission bus passes ($80 for a 46-ride pass, which is good for a month) for 216 people.

Vaccinations ($35), spaying or neutering ($85) and a week’s worth of food and care ($100) for 942 animals at the Animal Foundation shelter.