Sent to local papers:
"Dear Editor:
Senator Bishop and his fellow republicans keep digging and wonder why the hole gets deeper. They don’t understand why Michigan needs more revenue.
In 1994 property taxes were capped. A little later the state restricted local government’s ability to increase taxes. Today a formula exists to reduce voter approved millage rates.
Revenue sharing with local governments started to shrink.
In 1999 Engler and company put in place a plan to reduce income taxes year over year, and they are still going down.
The same crowd vowed to reduce the SBT and eventually abolish it. They succeeded ahead of schedule.
Then the auto industry flushed itself; and the toilet is still running.
Actually republican, and some democratic, legislators are pretty smart. They keep digging because, like their counterparts in DC, they know it takes a deep hole to bury the truth.
Sincerely,
Chuck Fellows"
5 comments:
Over and over in the last campaign, the SBT and Michigan's financial problems were discussed with voters. Voters are very much aware that when the republicans recklessly cut the SBT that Joe and Susie Q. Citizen would pay for it by having their services cut. Let's keep our long memories for the next election.
The problem with the "services" tax is that it hits everyone, and it hits those least able to pay it the hardest. What we need:
a) Replace the SBT with SOME sort of biz tax --- I Am tired of reading & hearing that The Dems want to RAISE taxes when all they are trying to do is fill the hole the repubs left by irresponsibly eliminating the SBT w/o a replacement. Biz SHOULD pay their fair share. They SHOULD NOT get a free ride (and this is how is should be framed ... not by Mackinac Ctr doublespeak).
b) Graduated income tax. Those with the most SHOULD pay a higher rate. And please no "liar's stats" saying that they already pay too much.
c) Reform Prop-A so that long-term homeowners don't get LOCKED into their current house due to the so-called pop-up. California saw this in the 1980s after their Prop-13 had been in effect for a generation or so, and it created hardship on their retirees. They were looking at fixes when I left Cal in 1990. I wonder if they came up with a decent fix?
When I left CA in 2003, the income tax was almost 9% and the sales tax was 8.6%.
I have to laugh when the repubs claim that Michigan is a high tax state when we are below average in taxation.
Excellent Chuck. Keep the letters going. We need to get the truth out.
Great work, good to know there are some honest people around that are not afraid to speak their mind.
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